The plate as palette: Set the table and the mood with creative dishware

(AP) — The way a meal looks has been important to the dining experience since forever. But perhaps never more than now, when chefs know that images of dishes can be shared online as well. And there’s a movement toward relaxed, homey, handcrafted.

Design is all over new tableware, in restaurants and at home.

The classic white ceramic circle has ceded some ground to a variety of creative shapes and colors. Stoneware is in. Other plates in a variety of colors and shapes help create a vibrant and celebratory mood.

Mud Australia has matte-finish ceramic pieces in soft hues like pistachio, duck egg, mist, and blossom, that would make a dreamy set to dine on. Casa Cubista offers handmade plates with bold swaths of glaze, colored dips and graphic abstracts, while Crate and Barrel’s Kiln wonky dinnerware looks fresh off the potter’s wheel.