apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here's all I know. We've got white plates and sage green plates. When I photograph food on the white ones, it looks boring. I've been trying to break into the Tastespotting scene (I'm just not that good yet), and am convinced I will need some special dishes just for photographing food. I'm not sure what they'll be yet, but they won't be the plain white ones I have.

I think that this exact dish would be better on something with a little color. Something with just a little more contrast.

different foods belong on different plates -- not everything looks it's best on white plates... for example, I think my goulash and dumplings (or pork and dumplings) would look rather blah on white plates (there is some colour, but not enough to generate excitement), but both meals looks great on my Meissen Blue Onion plates -- which are culturally appropriate as well.

That said, I like the cake on the white plate (above), but largely because I have the Delia Smith How To Cook books pop into my head when I see it...

I bought a bunch of those UO "squircle" plates. In looking at them now, I realize I bought them in Skittles colors: purple, green, yellow, orange, red. Though I actually do decide what color plate or bowl I pull based on what I'm eating... weird, eh?

italics off!

Maybe for photography in most cases but I prefer some color - ideally a mix of different colors. White, although simple and pretty gets boring after a while...

PS....what is "italics off"?????

Unless you have room for a variety of dishes, which I don't, I think that white plates look best most often. Because of roommates, I have at times had celadon, dark green and blue dishes, which frequently makes food look an unappealingly brown. Colors typically look brighter on a white dish.

However, my mother has some Japanese dishes that are sort of a brown/black color, and I think they would make a good alternative. Dark foods tend to disappear on them, just like light foods do on white plates, but colors still look good.

my plates are handthrown pottery, a very dark blue/black irregular glaze. Food looks great on 'em

I have white plates after years of having cobalt blue ones. Never get cobalt blue plates. Most things look really unappealing on them and seem cold, even if they aren't. I had cream colored dishes for a while that I liked, especially for hearty foods like soups and stews and cassaroles but the glaze crazed and I got rid of them.

I love the Japanese dishes my mother has with the deep pool of colored glaze in the bottom that's deliberately crazed. We only ever use them for Christmas Eve Dinner (a special occasion for us that involves sweet and sour pork, fried rice and gyoza).

Ta, "Italics off" was Any Such closing the tag for the itallics that the original poster left open. It's /i inside the triangular brackets.

any such name - I have the exact plates, also in a variety of colors (eight, actually), and I also coordinate them with what I'm eating!

when my husband and I were registering, we were constantly told that white looks best.
In the end we have a set of multi-colored fiesta ware that we love. and another set of light light light brown.

HOWEVER- when it comes to deli counter stuff, something about food sitting in red bowls in the display, really puts me off. that should be white.

For the longest time i searched for black glass plates. They're so shiny and everything looks a little more glamourous in them (my college cafeteria would serve stir-fry in these giant restaurant sized bowl-plates that were black glass, and that's where i got the idea). Unfortunately i never found any, and black glazed pottery has an uneven surface and is much thicker, so its just not the same thing.

I think i prefer food on neutral colors, so no oranges or reds for me. I also know that studies have found food served on green plates tends to lower people's appetites!

Hate to veer us off track, but is there a link for that coconut cake recipe somewhere?

Our everyday plates/bowls/etc. are Fiestaware in the dark, cobalt blue and a butter yellow that is no longer in production. As one eats with all of their senses, I do choose the color based upon what we are eating.

kls987, as someone who does the tastespotting scene...

I buy my white dishes or clear glasses for food photography from Goodwill. little bowls, saucers, martini glasses... they are always the best because you never need more than one for a shoot and people discard their single items. I have a collection of five or six things just for photography and it wouldn't be darned if those are always the ones that end up on the front page. (one of them was even on here for the ice cream contest!)

I love eating out of my vintage Corelle (wheat, daisies, funky stripes), but I am registering for white plates for my wedding next year. I've got to love that 'white canvas' look when I put effort into a dish.

I have black plates. my meals look more colorful on this form of "blank" canvas. I also tend to cook with bright veggies, maybe that has something to do with it....

I have white porcelain dishes and I love them. you can dress them up and still use them for everyday. I agree with ottan that if you don't have a lot of storage space white is a good idea because it is so versatile.

and I do feel that the food looks better in them--when I make soup or a casserole in my le creuset (which has a sort of cream colored interior) and then I put it in my white dishes I find the colors look fresher.

I have a set of white dishes...I like how clean and simple they look. Then I also have a few colored bowls to add a little interest once in a while. But I generally don't like colored dishes, and I almost never like patterned dishes.

Right now my dishes are pretty much all white, but growing up, my parents had lovely brown stoneware dishes, and I think they usually looked great and matched the homey, earthy kind of food we ate. Also for some reason every time I envision a cup of coffee I think of it in one of those beautiful brown cups, not in my white ones.

I have a variety of Fiesta dishes in white, light blue, minty green and dark blue. The dark blue is my favorite. I think it's just a matter of personal preference - there's something about food against the dark background that is infinitely more satisfying to me.

I do use basic white plates mostly; however, I did buy special lacquer plates with bamboo mats and japanse bowls for either cold or hot asian noodle soups.

I would like to find some really nice rustic looking plates that would nicely set off Italian food, which I love to cook. I'm thinking something that almost has a stone effect. The only ones I've been able to find have been just cheesy, i.e., pictures of hens or roosters around the plate.