Journey Plate

Context:

I love the creativity and art that goes into cooking and plating, and spent some time thinking about how a menu could integrate meaningfully with plates themselves to create a greater whole.

I designed Journey Plate in tandem with a five-course tasting menu to take the diner across five landscapes:

1. The Sea is a bowl for a starter soup, with space atop an island

2. The Tropics seat a salad along the shoreline, with recessed shallows for a vinaigrette

3. The Plains feature circular crop rings for a sauce, above which the first entree sits

4. The Forest uses a shallow grill filled with wood chips to impart a smoky flavor to the dish

5. The Mountain is an elevated bowl for a palate cleanser, with a dome to contain a cool scented cloud about the peak.