No matter how much I cook, no matter how many pictures of my dishes I post online, I can’t afford to spend a lot on dishes. My dishes are cheap, durable, and basic—most are from Marshalls or TJ Maxx.
I look at the most expensive ones, of course: I love them. Whimsical prints from Bitossi Home, the of East Fork, the vintage appeal of Ginori, and the absurd trompe l’oeil from Gohar World. But then I do the math on what it might cost to outfit my apartment with a set when a single plate costs upwards of $40. Though I don’t often host dinner parties, I’ve internalized my mother’s old-school advice that a good home cook should always be ready to entertain a crowd. In this view, special dinnerware sets exist primarily to show off to others—that’s why newlyweds fill their gift lists with collections of fine china. That will collect dust except for rare special occasions.
The affordable alternative: buy yourself a single fancy plate. The fancy plate doesn’t have to be, as we’ve already said, expensive. It just has to be a piece that offers a break from the monotony of everyday life. One of my fancy plates (a rustic piece of mottled pottery) came out of a secondhand drawer at a Christmas market: it cost about $10. Clearly the artist wasn’t proud of it, since he didn’t sign the base, but I love its rough imperfection anyway. The fact that it’s a one-off makes it seem even more special; anyone with money can buy Ginori.
My other fancy plate is actually even cheaper: a stainless steel tray I bought at a restaurant supply store for, if memory serves, less than $5. When I eat my buttered toast on it, I imagine a modern, timeless plate. Apartment 4F is vibratingMy five-minute plate of grapes, sliced cheese, a nectarine, and olives goes from evoking Lunchables to feeling like I’m at a restaurant. A Dutch still lifeas if he had sneaked out a plate of a Dionysian festival and then I went back to my desk to work. Even when the food it gets messy — A dish spread with mayonnaise or sprinkled with oil looks elegant.
The fancy plate is ultimately not about the price of the product, but about the sense of value you place on it: luxury is a state of mind. I use it only occasionally, mostly when I want my food to feel a little more intentional or a little more special in some way. To use the fancy plate daily would be to diminish its power to change perspective. Today I put a sandwich on it, just because.
If you’re cooking for your partner, you might want to buy two. Or don’t: let the fancy dish be your personal, quiet treat, or use it unprompted to show a little extra affection from time to time.
Luxury dishes to buy
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