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A Livingetc report describes London restaurants moving beyond plain white porcelain, with chefs including José Pizarro and Big Mamma UK’s Filippo La Gattuta using patterned and colorful tableware. They say plate choices should suit the food and the atmosphere, while acknowledging that decoration can compete with a dish for attention.
London restaurants are using patterned and colorful plates in place of the plain white porcelain long favored in fine dining, according to a Livingetc report featuring chefs José Pizarro and Filippo La Gattuta. The chefs describe the choice as a way to complement dishes and shape the mood of a meal, rather than treating plates as neutral backgrounds.
Pizarro, a Spanish chef and restaurateur, told Livingetc that he chooses tableware according to the individual recipe. White plates can suit some dishes, he said, while ceramics, terracotta, color or texture can change how others feel. His guiding question, as he put it, is where a dish will look most delicious.
At Big Mamma UK, which operates restaurants including Circolo Popolare, Carlotta, Gloria Shoreditch and Barbarella, executive chef La Gattuta said the group serves food on crockery handmade and painted by artisans in southern Italy. He described the ceramics as part of the restaurants’ effort to evoke Italian family dining. The report says a new Big Mamma location, Edmondo, was due to open the following month; it does not establish whether that opening has since taken place.
The feature also points to Carbone London, where floral, brightly colored ceramics accompany the restaurant’s retro-styled interior and rich Italian-American menu. These examples show different uses for decorative plates: some are linked to a restaurant’s atmosphere and others to a chef’s understanding of a dish or cultural food traditions.
How Plates Shape the Dining Experience
Tableware can affect how diners see a meal before they taste it. Color, pattern and texture may reinforce a restaurant’s identity or suggest the warmth and informality its chefs want to convey. For restaurants, plates are therefore part of presentation and atmosphere, not just equipment for serving food.
There is a trade-off: a decorated surface can also draw attention away from ingredients. Pizarro and La Gattuta do not prescribe a universal rule against particular motifs; their comments suggest that the dish and its setting should guide the choice. The report presents chefs’ views and examples, not evidence that patterned plates improve taste or diners’ experience in measurable ways.
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From White Porcelain to Ceramics
Plain white porcelain has long been used in fine dining because its neutral surface lets food stand out. The Livingetc report also cites its durability and stain resistance as practical reasons for its continuing popularity, alongside its association with understated elegance.
The London examples do not suggest white plates have disappeared. Rather, the chefs describe a broader approach in which the plate changes with the food, the intended atmosphere or personal memory. Pizarro recalled growing up in Spain with mixed tableware, food shared across the table and terracotta dishes known as barro. La Gattuta cited Italian majolica ceramics as an influence on Big Mamma’s tableware.
“It always starts with the food.”
— José Pizarro, chef and restaurateur, speaking to Livingetc
How Far the Shift Has Spread
The report gives examples from selected London restaurants but provides no industry-wide survey showing how common patterned tableware has become, or whether its use is increasing across the city. It also does not provide sales figures, diner research or comparisons of restaurant performance tied to plate design.
The reasons given are chefs’ own explanations, not independently tested findings. The source does not establish whether diners respond differently to patterned plates, how restaurants balance visual decoration with food visibility, or whether the reported Edmondo opening occurred after the article was published.
Whether Restaurants Follow Suit
The Livingetc report does not announce a new industry policy or a planned change shared by restaurant groups. Any broader shift will become clearer through future restaurant openings and tableware choices, as well as whether chefs continue to describe ceramics as a practical part of their approach to food and atmosphere. For now, the evidence is limited to the London examples and comments in the feature.
Key Questions
Are London restaurants replacing white plates?
The report does not say white plates are disappearing. It describes selected restaurants using patterned, colorful or textured tableware alongside the continuing use of plain porcelain.
Why do chefs choose patterned plates?
José Pizarro said the choice depends on the dish. Big Mamma UK’s Filippo La Gattuta said its ceramics help evoke Italian family dining and contribute to the restaurant experience.
Can patterned plates distract from food?
That is a concern raised in the report: decoration can draw attention away from a meal. The chefs quoted did not identify specific forbidden motifs and said the plate should work with the ingredients and overall presentation.
Which restaurants are cited in the report?
The examples include Big Mamma UK venues such as Circolo Popolare, Carlotta, Gloria Shoreditch and Barbarella, as well as Carbone London.
Source: livingetc.com
