Category: Dinnerware

May 21, 2019 Dinnerware, Tabletop, Trends

The Best Plates to Compliment Your Colorful Spring and Summer Menu

Make Any of Your Spring and Summer Dishes Look Fresh and Delicious with the These Amazing Dinnerware Lines

The Spring and Summer seasons bring a delicious, fresh, and vibrant array of dishes to be enjoyed to diners. The days of hot cocoa and savory stew give way to the days of lemonade and refreshing flavors. Spring and Summer menus are vibrant and varied, from salads with the heavenly combination of fresh vegetables and fruits, cool gazpacho, and platters laden with fresh seafood and meat. Sunnier days ahead means this is the best time of the year to renew your tabletop with fresh and exciting products. What better way to experience the enjoyable weather and renewal of the food scene, then by enjoying vibrant new cuisine on dinnerware that is just as resplendent?

Spring and Summer dishes such as salad, tapas, and cold soups are already beautiful, but when they are placed on dishes and bowls that are colorful or elegantly shaped, the entire thing comes together to create a dazzling dining experience. The bowl or dish that a meal is served in is just as important as the food item itself. At MCIC, there are several new and exciting collections of vibrant dinnerware to help really make your Spring and Summer dishes have that extra effervescence.  Dinnerware ranges from the bold and colorful, to the classic white and quietly understated.

Eclipse

The first collection from MCIC’s showcase is the Porvasal Collection. From this collection, everyone from expert food preppers to amatuer home chefs can choose peices from three wonderful, vibrant lines. The first line is called The Eclipse Line, which boasts a wide array of bowls and plates in a gorgeous, earthy bronze-brown hue that will make any dish pop. A garden-fresh spring salad loaded with crisp green vegetables, served in a golden bronze Porvasal Eclipse Bowl, would make even the staunchest meat-lover reach for the salad tongs while the Eclipse Oval Tray would be the perfect serving dish for a lovely cheese platter, with the white and yellow hues of cheese easily complement by that signature bronzed hue.  

Natur Sea

According to michelin.com, one of the biggest trends of 2019 is food inspired by the big blue ocean. This includes seaweed butter, noodles made from kelp, and fried salmon skins. The perfect complement to this trend is the Natur Sea Line that matches this oceanic theme. With its cool yet intense shades of turquoise and sea green hues, the Natur Sea Porvasal Flat Plate is ideal for serving sushi, the Natur Sea Porvasal Bowl for making creamy shrimp scampi pop, and the Natur Sea Porvasal Oval Tray would be ideal for serving glasses of tangy shrimp cocktails. For those jonesing for seafood, or just really loving the colors of the sea itself, the Natur Sea Line should definitely be given a try.

Orbe

Sometimes it’s not through bold and vibrant color that a meal can have the most visual impact. Sometimes the best way to go about presenting a wonderful dish is to use simple, white elegance. The final line from the Porvasal Collection, called the Orbe Line, can provide that perfect white backdrop that oftentimes works best. Within the smooth confines of an Orbe Montera shaped plate that looks like the ripple of water, a fresh and zesty gazpacho will look almost too beautiful to eat. Poached eggs will look even more like an egg lover’s dream, served in an Orbe Ovo shaped plate, that looks exactly like it sounds, like an egg. And finally, the reds, greens, yellows, and every color in between that make up a lovely shrimp ceviche will look heavenly in the elegant white Orbe Bloom bowl with its four petal flower shape in the middle.

Organic

For an organic feeling dining experience, there are several wonderful options to choose from MCIC’s Organic collection. For those who want to dive right in and enjoy fresh and fragrant spring fruits like strawberries, cantaloupe, and honeydew, why not enjoy them on a shiny orange painted plate that looks almost like its a fruit itself. Make tantalizing tapas even more desirable by mixing and matching the various shapes and colors that can be found in the Organic Collection. No two bowls are the same, so every dining experience using this dinnerware will provide a unique, thrilling, and tasty experience for the diner.

K-Line & Orleans

As mentioned before, sometimes it’s not bold and bright colors that can make this springs menu items pop, but elegant bright white dinnerware. MCIC has two unique collections of elegant white dinnerware that can make the food served in them really stand out and make mouths water. The K-Line Collection, boasts a wide variety of elegant white porcelain dinnerware in all shapes and sizes, so diners can enjoy a bright orange lobster bisque that really pops in an elegant K-Line Bouillon Stacking bowl, or a lovely grilled tilapia fillet on a nice K-Line Rectangular plate.

Orleans

The other collection is called Orleans, and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes that can fit any table. From the Orleans collection, diners can enjoy vibrant soups like the striking red Manhattan Clam Chowder, creamy green broccoli and cheddar, and golden ginger and spring onion egg drop soup in the Orleans Wide Rim Soup Plate, or enjoy mouthwatering steak with green chimichurri sauce on an elegant Orleans Narrow Rim Oval Plate. 

With so many options for this spring, the possibilities are endless for creating amazing dining experiences for loved ones and friends. With MCIC’s wonderful and varied line of dinnerware, there is something that will work for everyone, be it that punch of color to liven things up, or the quiet elegance that puts the food front and center for a feast for the eyes.

Written by Raidah Islam   

April 1, 2019 Dinnerware, Trends, Uncategorized

Porcelain: The Wonderful Go-To Dinnerware

Pictured: K-Line

Whether you are setting the table for a luxurious feast for a large party, or a cozy breakfast for two, the dinnerware the food is plated on is just as important as your menu itself. When choosing the perfect dinnerware for a beautiful tabletop setting, restaurateurs are faced with countless varieties of materials and styles to choose from. One dinnerware staple that has survived the test of time and has remained a classic is porcelain. With a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and different types of dinnerware options out there, sometimes just a pure white, porcelain plate is all a restaurateur needs to make a place in their patrons hearts.

What is Porcelain?

Dinnerware made from porcelain is aesthetically very elegant, and can elevate a dining experience to new height. So what exactly is porcelain, anyway? Porcelain is one of many variations that is derived from ceramic. As explained by Nicolette Bertolissi, porcelain is a combination of clay, kaolin clay, feldspar, silica, and quartz that is fired at temperatures above 2300°F.  As a result of this high temperature, porcelain is very durable in comparison to other types of ceramic.   

Pictured: Diamond Collection

History

The history of porcelain dates all the way back to 2,000 years ago in China during the Han Dynasty. The people of China used porcelain to make the cups from which they drank their vast arrays of herbal teas, and also in their artistic endeavors like the famous hand painted porcelain statues and vases. In the beginning, China just about had a vice grip on the supply of porcelain that could enter other parts of the world, like Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, a fateful capturing of a Portuguese cargo ship carrying thousands of pieces of porcelain by the Dutch lead to potters all throughout Europe trying to replicate the formula for porcelain. Once a German physicist finally did crack the code in 1704, whole porcelain factories dedicated to crafting everything from dinnerware to statues, sprang up all throughout Europe. This eventually lead to porcelain taking the rest of the world by storm, and becoming a true staple of dinnerware.

The Difference Between Porcelain and Other Types of Ceramics

There are variations of ceramic, but the composition of clay and the temperatures at which they are baked is what makes them different from one another. Aside from Porcelain, the main other variations of cermaic are earthenware, stoneware, and bone china, as described in this article by Katom.

Earthenware

Earthenware is one of the oldest types of ceramic around. Earthenware is also one of the simplest to create, made from a less refined clay mixture and fired at a lower temperature than porcelain or stoneware. The result of this lower temperature process is a thicker, more porous ceramic. By glazing the earthenware, its porous surface diminishes. While porcelain allows for a practical and elegant tabletop, earthenware can additionally make for a great aesthetic presentation. To view our Earthenware collections, click here.

Stoneware

The next type of ceramic is stoneware. Stoneware is the middle ground between earthenware and porcelain. Unlike earthenware, stoneware can be made thinner and lighter. However, like earthenware, stoneware needs to be glazed.

Bone China

A step up from porcelain is called bone china. It actually is porcelain, but with an added ingredient, bone ash. Incorporating bone ash into the clay mixture that goes into making bone china gives it a distinctive milky white and translucent look. Adding bone ash also helps make the ceramic more durable and less brittle. However, according to MS Trading Company, there are some drawbacks to bone china. Due to it’s durable and desirable aesthetics, bone china can come at a higher cost. Bone china is the most expensive ceramic out of the four types, and can be too delicate for daily use. Bone china is commonly used for special occasions, whereas porcelain can withstand the daily wear and tear of either home life or restaurant service. This makes porcelain dinnerware a perfect choice for the everyday restaurateur.      

The Benefits of Porcelain

Out of all the types of ceramic that have been discussed, there are many reasons why porcelain stands out against its competition. Some benefits to porcelain include the fact that the mixture from which porcelain is created and the high temperature at which it is fired allows for porcelain wares to be dishwasher and microwave safe, making it ideal for day-to-day use whether at home, or at a restaurant. As discussed by plumstreetpottery.com, because porcelain is fired at approximately 2500°F and higher, it makes for the most durable, chip and scratch resistant material for food serving dishes. Additionally, porcelain-wares can also withstand high oven temperatures, while also withstanding low temperatures in a freezer. 

Pictured: Orleans Coupe

Porcelain: The Right Choice! 

From the vast array of ceramics out their to choose from, the elegance and durability of porcelain stands out. Whether it’s porcelain with a lovely pattern painted onto it, or just pure white-wares, porcelain makes for an elegant and safe dining experience no matter the setting or occasion. Porcelain more than earns its reputation as a go-to dinnerware for the home, or for the restaurant. 

Check out all of our porcelain collections here.

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