Tablescaping – Elevates Meal Presentation

Nov 25, 2024 by Chef David

By Chef David and S. Levin

Tablescaping is an art form that can elevate your Shabbos or Yom Tov table by adding design aesthetics. It breaks the mold from traditional tables that use matching sets of dishes, encouraging creativity by mixing and matching different combinations.  It makes your dinner plate become the central focus of your table. Consider their size, shape, material, and color, then let your creativity go wild. We have seen families whose Rosh Hashana table features honeybee patterns, with harvest-themed plates for Sukkoth.

The creativity of tablescaping makes each meal distinctive elevating the dining experience.

The Look of Layering

One common approach used in elegant restaurants and tablescaping is layering dishes, called building a stack. This involves placing the plates for the courses you will serve in order on top of the dinner plate. The visual impact can be stupendous, and it is practical. After your table is set you only need to remove dishes, simplifying serving.

Some people add a decorative plate (called a changer) as the lowest layer providing a background for the setting. The changer is often for optics and can be removed before the meal is served.

Build Your Stack

We used two brands with unique styles for tablescaping  – introducing different colors, materials, and textures. Using glass bowls and plates provides a clean, modern appearance, adding simplicity, transparency, and beauty to the table. We layered this with porcelain dishware introducing vibrant color and texture. You can mix and match, layering transparent glass on top of glass, or building a stack of different patterned porcelain plates.

Tablescaping changes the table aesthetic, replacing matching patterned dishes with a vibrant splash of colors and combinations. This art form creates distinctive presentations, ranging from whimsical to formal depending on your preference.

Our Selections

We extended tablescaping beyond the place setting, introducing porcelain bowls with complementary colors, and patterns, similar yet different.  We matched them with a marine blue 6-piece plate set, though it is touted as a cake plate, the fish-themed patterns make it ideal for serving the fish course (each dish has a different fish-themed pattern).

This blue passion oven dish set is oven-safe and can be used as serving bowls. This pattern introduces deep shades of indigo blues and combines modern geometrics with petite florals. They are practical and stunning.

Both dishes are manufactured in Turkey and are oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe.

Porcelain from Porland

Porland is a glassware store specializing in colored porcelain. Their pieces are beautiful, distinctive, and bold. They describe their business as designing with passion, and manufacturing with expertise, bringing together the finest materials with exceptional knowledge. With breathtakingly bold patterns, Porland is a natural fit for tablescaping, creating an ambiance they describe as a ‘dance of aesthetics and quality’.

Porland is available online.

Glass from Duralex

We tried the Lys Dinnerware Set made by Duralex. These plates are tempered glass, which is 2.5 times stronger than ordinary glass, making them suitable for either hot or cold foods. They can withstand sudden temperature changes from 4°F to 212°F. They are impact and chip-resistant. (If they break, they are designed to shatter into small pieces).

Lys Dinnerware introduces the transparency of glass while providing a timeless elegance to the table. Lys comes in a range of colors, including marine blue, amber, green, and clear, and in a variety of styles including soup plates, dinner, and dessert plates. They offer the opportunity to mix and match, pairing colors and creating a beautiful table design.

Lys is stackable, which makes storage convenient. One word of caution, avoid using metallic sponges, pads, powders, or abrasives.

Our Selection

We tested the soup and dinner plates. They are large enough to accommodate a Yom Tov feast with room to spare. Using glass dishes lets the colors of the food stand out and speak for themselves. The soup bowl was 8.25 inches by 1.8 inches, and the dinner plate had an 11-inch diameter.

Duralex is made in France, dishwasher, and microwave-safe.

Duralex Story

Duralex is a French brand with a proud history, a specialist in the design and production of tempered glass tableware since 1945. They began in the 1930s when Saint-Gobain took over the La-Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin factory (which had been used to produce perfume bottles). Saint-Gobain became a pioneer in tempered glass technology. In 2008 the brand was reborn, with a new logo, redesigned packaging, and new styles.

Duralex is 100% recyclable, made from soda-lime glass that is created from sand, soda ash, and limestone, and is lead and cadmium-free.

Duralex is available online.

The Art of Tablescaping

Enjoy combining the clarity, simplicity, and utility of glass, alongside the vibrance and bold colors of porcelain. Set your table by mixing and matching colors, and patterns. Porland and Duralex are dishwasher and microwave-safe, making clean-up easy.

Don’t just spend time and effort cooking and plating. Add tablescaping to transform the rest of the dining experience into a cornucopia of colors, patterns, and themes (maybe give your mismatched dishes a use, and you can stop worrying about using your fine China).

Have fun setting the table. Let your table make a statement.