Ottolenghi Serving Plate ~ Face 2

With an abundance of colours, vegetable prints and positive vibes the FEAST collection reflects everything his creator stands for. The British-Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi created this range of expressive tableware with the most joyful of gatherings in mind: coming together with friends and family, sharing food and exchanging stories.

On this project the chef joined hands with Italian artist Ivo Bisignano. “Ivo is a good friend as well as a soul-mate for the creative process in all Ottolenghi graphics”, Yotam Ottolenghi states. “His art, in whatever medium, is honest, expressive, bold, joyful and colourful. Attributes we strive to achieve in our food.” The FEAST collection is characterised by an impulsive gesture of an ‘O’ shaped brush stroke. “I have an obsession for the O”, Ivo Bisignano explains. “The O shape of a face, the O of a circle, a dot, a double dot and of course: the O of Ottolenghi. The continuum of the O shape is something I find very intriguing.”

Apart from the graphic language of the O, the artist also incorporates abstract images of vegetables, an essential ingredient in Ottolenghi’s signature cuisine. “I have drawn thousands of vegetables in this process trying to achieve the effect of stamping actual vegetables on a plate”, he says. The result is a colourful esthetic that gives every user the personal freedom to create a celebration, a true feast, every single day. “The plates are like different spices”, Bisignano explains. “It is the combination and proportion of the different components that will define the flavour.” The various sizes in plates, the vibrant colours and different patterns all evoke the typical Ottolenghi feeling of ‘outrageous casualness’. Of creating tables that are informal but very abundant, eccentric even, at the same time. “We have tried to tell the Ottolenghi story in objects. It is a story of the tension between the earthy and the sophisticated, between passion and refinement, tradition and novelty. Ostensible opposites, existing together in dynamic harmony”, Ottolenghi says. “This collection is a collaboration nourished by camaraderie and by the sharing of lovingly-made food around a beautifully-laid table. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.”