Food presentation is just as essential to the success of a dish as its taste and flavor.

It is the beauty of the plated dish that entices you to take a bite. The design in plating makes the experience of food more than just eating and enjoying, but further into an expression of craftsmanship and art. Using the form, texture, and color to invoke emotions and even tell a story.

Handcrafted small-batch ceramics are everywhere these days. You see them in trendsetting boutiques, restaurants and in pages of popular magazines like Vogue.

Among certain creative-minded people, ceramics have replaced jewelry and furniture made from salvaged lumber as the craft du jour

Just as those earlier trends represented a tactile, down-to-earth counterbalance to our sped-up, technology-centered world, the rejection of factory-produced sameness in dinnerware and vases reflects a desire to get back to something more essential.

It’s entwined with the farm-to-table movement. It’s this desire to know the origin of what’s in your kitchen. We want to know where our free-range eggs come from, and where our coffee beans are grown and roasted. We also want the vessels we use to consume those things to embody a deeper story about craftsmanship and creativity – we want to know the artists and the farmers.

People are looking to have their humanity reflected back at them, and are moving back from slick and stainless steel to something warmer, more personal, something with meaning in the midst of our nano-second, fast-paced world.