When plates tell the menu

In the hushed shadows of gourmet restaurants, the art of the table was often played out behind the scenes, a discreet companion to feasts. Today, plates are an extension of the menu. They whisper in the guest's ear, inviting contemplation and tasting. In this subtle interaction between chef and audience, the art of the table is revealed in all its splendor, sublimating creation without ever dominating it.

Once a symbol of high-end dining, immaculate crockery, silver bells and white porcelain plates have given way to more authentic materials. Today, chefs are opting for settings that reflect their culinary philosophy. Raw materials, stoneware, wood, irregular-edged ceramics and patiently sourced crockery are the order of the day. This evolution reflects a growing awareness that the essence of tableware lies in the harmony between container and content. Far from being mere decoration, the art of the table is becoming a vector of emotion, essential to the gastronomic experience.

While some chefs prefer to draw from the prestigious collections of leading tableware brands, others opt for bold collaborations with ceramists to create unique pieces, offering a tailor-made setting for their creations. This almost alchemical process gives rise to works of art in which the craftsman and the chef converse in harmony.

Three examples where the plate becomes the first act of a sensory voyage

Jéremy Galvan and Ève Billard

Jérémy Galvan 's (2 toques) culinary sanctuary in the heart of the capital of Gaules is like a stage in a theater. With subdued lighting and an entrance transformed into a grotto populated by butterflies, guests are plunged into a unique sensory universe.In 2021, Galvan, in close collaboration with ceramist - and neighbor - Ève Billard, has revolutionized his art of the table, abandoning industrial tableware in favor of creations that capture the essence of his dishes.

During the period of confinement, a time conducive to creativity, Jéremy Galvan and his team explored working with clay, designing unique and functional containers. These rough prototypes were then entrusted to Ève to be sublimated. The result was a creative dynamic between the chef and Ève, a conversation in which culinary art and ceramic art mutually enrich each other. Inspired by Galvan's cooking, Ève creates new shapes or draws on the chef's sketches for her designs."Our collaboration is very enriching. Sometimes she works from my sketches, sometimes she imagines the containers for my creations, in harmony with the world of the restaurant. The brief is simple: to work on nature's imperfections," explains Jérémy Galvan.

Together, they designed a range of plates, cutlery and bowls, specially created to accompany the twenty-two sequences of a poetic menu. Each piece of tableware thus becomes an extension of the gastronomic experience, playing a crucial role in the narrative of each dish. For Galvan, cooking is a quest, similar to that of a director directing a film or a play: "you have to arouse desire, emotions and not be monotonous."

© Laurent Dupont

Arnaud Donckele and Virginie Boudsocq

A former art director in advertising, Virginie Boudsocq used to work with porcelain as others play tennis: as a hobby! Until the wife of a palace chef spotted some of her pieces in a boutique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in 2016. This chance encounter was the perfect breeding ground for her first commission: a mushroom plate, a piece that has since been copied many times over. She then founded her brand Olga.etc, named after her Italian grandmother. This unique plate soon attracted attention in the inner circle of haute cuisine, arousing the curiosity of chefs.

Virginie admits to a preference for large decorative pieces, but as orders came in, her career evolved towards the creation of tableware. "I started with sculptures and ended up making plates," she says with a touch of irony. But Boudsocq, who admits she doesn't have the technical resources of a major manufacturer, chooses "her" chefs sparingly. And even if her creations can be found on the tables of Emmanuel Renaut at Flocons de Sel (5 toques) or Alan Taudon at L'Orangerie (3 toques) in Paris, she works mainly with Arnaud Donckele, for whom she has made a dozen collections.

Thus, for the Plénitude restaurant (5 toques) in Paris, the chef asked Virginie to develop a line of tableware that goes far beyond simple containers. The restaurant's tables feature hydrangea flower sculptures that turn out to be photophores, vases devoured by vege I'm totally in love with his work, each piece is unique! "admits the chef. Virginie also designed dishes in the shape of laurel leaves for the Vague d'Or (5 toques) in Saint Tropez, where Donckele serves small bites of French toast."With Arnaud, we bring a much more creative and even architectural dimension to the tables," she explains.

Vague d'or - Cheval blanc

Thomas Besnault and Benoit Prud'homme

Near Tours, nestled in 30 hectares of forest, the Ardent restaurant, run by chef Thomas Besnault, draws inspiration from the surrounding nature to create a unique culinary experience. Here, brown, green, wood and earth are not just colors and materials, but the very foundations of the restaurant's aesthetic. The dishes blend in naturally, thanks to carefully selected crockery.
Thomas Besnault favors stoneware, with a few touches of ceramic and naturally colored glass. Each new dish instinctively finds its setting among these pieces, in a natural, instinctive harmony. "When we launch a new dish, we look at our plates and think, this is where it's going to go," Besnault confides. "We also think about how the customer is going to eat it in the most natural way possible."

The best example is "frayed spring venison", served on an upturned stoneware bowl. The texture of this bowl evokes a clod of earth, reinforcing the link with nature. The dish is eaten with the hands, recalling a prehistoric era when people ate without artifice, licking their fingers. This sensory and immersive approach is at the heart of the Ardent experience.

This harmony between dishes and tableware is made possible by the close collaboration between Thomas Besnault and Benoit Prud'homme, a talented potter based in Monnaie, Touraine. Since 1971, Prud'homme's Touraine workshop has been working with Nièvre clay, creating unique, hand-turned, glazed and decorated pieces. Their synergy has given rise to small plates to serve sorbet at the end of a meal, and a sauceboat inspired by a vase that the chef loved. "We'd need the same in miniature and with a spout", asked Besnault, and voila a unique sauceboat, with a crumpled finish reminiscent of a handprint, adding an aesthetic and tactile dimension to the service.