Celebrity Chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s New Dinnerware Makes Even Boxed Mac and Cheese Look Like a Work of Art

Tastemakers often team up with homewares brands for collaborations, and I’m always eager to see what my favorite chefs and food personalities have cooked up. Luckily, the new line of dinnerware from Yotam Ottolenghi does not disappoint.

The British-Israeli chef’s collection of dinnerware for Serax, a Belgian housewares brand, feels like Ottolenghi’s unique food voice translated perfectly into products. The plates, bowls, and platters are vibrant and lively — just like Ottolenghi’s recipes. Just looking at the photos of these gorgeous dishes makes me want to call up my friends and head to the store to host an impromptu gathering.

Part of the reason the collection feels so authentically Ottolenghi is because the chef brought on his long-time collaborator, Italian artist Ivo Bisignano (who has created all of the Ottolenghi graphics) to design the dishes. In the catalog for the collection, Ottolenghi writes, “[Bisignano’s] art, in whatever medium, is honest, expressive, bold, joyful, and colourful. Attributes we strive to achieve in our food.”

The designs include almost Picasso-like abstract faces, dots, dashes, and abstract “o”s (for Ottolenghi, of course). A detail I particularly love are the vegetable silhouette dishes (shown above). Bisignano apparently drew thousands of vegetables trying to achieve the effect of stamping actual vegetables on a plate! The whole collection is also designed to mix and match and can be ordered à la carte, so your set of dishes could be totally different from a friend’s. 

“There is a lot to love about the Feast Collection,” says Casey Simring, the tableware buyer for Food52, which is the exclusive U.S. retailer for the collection. “As a big-time fan of Ottolenghi recipes, I was particularly drawn to how closely the dinnerware resembled the vibrancy of his food. It’s a joyful collection; it’s hard not to smile when you see the happy palette and playful abstract designs.”

If you’re also a fan of Ottolenghi’s brand of “outrageous casualness” (a phrase I love!), you’re likely to love the collection. It’s earthy yet colorful and playful yet sophisticated, and these dishes promise to turn even humble dishes into something Instagrammable — even if you just buy one set of accent plates or bowls!