One of Australia’s best loved cooks, Adam Liaw, believes current dinnerware is outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
As a result, Liaw has collaborated with tableware specialist, Noritake, to produce a collection that he believes reflects our current eating habits as well as our demand for sustainability.
“I had an idea about the dinnerware we use these days,” he says. “Most of the dining sets were designed for a way of eating that quite literally is hundreds of years old and we eat very differently now.”
The new collection, called EVERYDAY, comprises three bowls of different sizes—which will hold everything from cereals and desserts to rice, noodle and casserole dishes—three plates of varying sizes, plus an oval serving bowl with matching serving plate. Each piece is sold separately, so consumers can create their own dinner set to suit their individual needs.
EVERYDAY is made by Noritake from a highly specialised porcelain and its advanced firing process creates an extremely durable body that is high impact, chip and scratch resistant as well as dishwasher and microwave safe and oven proof to 180°C.
“When I thought about the things people would like a dinner set to do, there is obviously the functionality. The new range is oven safe, so you can put it in the oven up to 180 degrees, it’s microwave safe and it is dishwasher safe, so from a practicality perspective using a commercial grade of porcelain for that was really important.”
The dual-purpose dinnerware collection is designed for sustainable modern life. Bowls are of different sizes and designed to stack more easily in the dishwasher while plates have smaller footprints so they take up less space in cupboards.
“We have the trend towards smaller kitchens and we want more space in our kitchen, so stackability is important. Each piece in the range is stackable, so we can fit more into the cupboard.
“Also, we eat in a more shared fashion now. A lot of the dinnerware we used before was really geared to everyone having their own individual plate in front of them and I think nowadays families are sharing food more.”
Liaw has achieved his goal of contributing to sustainability by creating a range that doubles as storage—each plate forms a perfectly fitting lid for each of the bowls, so leftovers can go straight into the refrigerator, without clingfilm, and can be reheated in the same bowl (negating the need for plastic containers).
“Sustainability is something we think more and more about, especially the amount of plastic waste. We designed the collection so the bowls and plates fit on top of each other. If you’ve got something you just want to put in the fridge for a couple of days or just overnight and then heat up in the oven or microwave, it’s the perfect solution.”
The EVERYDAY collection is available from August 2022.
