Consider the foodie's Instagram account: a collection of vibrant, drool-inducing photos that draw your attention to an oozing slice of cheese, or a poached egg ready to pop. Now, consider the plates below them. We've grown accustomed to plenty of stunning dishes in LA, but what about the dinnerware that carries these curated photo-ops? Mismatched plates and antique bowls are popping up left and right, causing us to pay just as much attention to our dish's vehicle as we do to the actual food. Here, some of the prettiest dinnerware in LA, ready for your Instagram pleasure.
1. Maude
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
If Maude's dinnerware, including this dainty cup-and-saucer set, remind you of your darling grandma, don't be surprised. Chef Curtis Stone named the Beverly Hills restaurant after his paternal grandmother, and we're pretty sure she'd approve of this pattern.
2. Cento Pasta Bar
Photograph: Courtesy Cento Pasta Bar
Every dish at Cento Pasta Bar, a pop-up concept in Downtown's Mignon Wine Bar, arrives on a gorgeous and entirely unique plate, many of which they purchase from this website.
3. n/naka
Photograph: Courtesy n/naka
Nevermind the actual food—we could stare at the smooth, curved surface of this lotus-like dinnerware for days.
4. Sqirl
Photograph: Courtesy Sqirl
Do people wait an hour in line at Sqirl for the food, or to take photos of the food on pretty plates? Is it fair to say both?
5. The Gadarene Swine
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Plates and bowls at the Gadarene Swine, a vegan restaurant in Studio City, are meant to mimic the menu's of-the-earth motif. Translation: You'll find ceramic pots and weathered wooden bowls that could just as likely hold potted plants as they do gourmet dishes.
6. Faith & Flower
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
The decor at Faith & Flower can be borderline ostentatious (we're looking at you, frosted green goblets), but the plates here are a thing of beauty.
7. Terrine
Photograph: Erin Kuschner
Sure, those oysters look good, but that plate? Stunner.
8. Baroo
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Simple, elegant and serene, the dinnerware at Baroo changes to fit the mood of the dish—a pale, patterned plate to match a passionfruit tart, or something like the above: a solid bowl in a deep hue to let the colorful dish shine.
9. The Fiscal Agent
Photograph: Courtesy The Fiscal Agent
Yup, we know, the Fiscal Agent is better known for their amazing cocktails. But they serve food, too, and on the prettiest plates known to man.
10. A-Frame
Photograph: Courtesy A-Frame
We're crazy about that breakfast spread, A-Frame, but we're digging that plate underneath it even more.
