Food52's Editorial Assistant (and college student) Brette Warshaw is curating her very own first kitchen -- and she needs your help. Today: what serving dishes does a First Kitchen need?
Put me in front of a plate of food -- especially a good one -- and it’s clear: I’m an eater.
But as I’ve gotten older, more mature, more self-aware, and more confident -- things that tend to happen when you go away to college -- I’ve found something I love just as much as eating.Â
I found out that I’m a feeder.
I love feeding people. I love piling cookies into jars and distributing them in class. I love stirring giant vats of things that smell good, and then ladling them into bowls. I love walking into a room with a tray and watching faces light up. I love sending sheets of things into the oven, and knowing that when they emerge, my friends will start grabbing at them before they hit the counter. (And when I cook for myself, I cook triple, with hopes that my roommates come home hungry.)
I feed people the way I eat: heartily, generously, happily. With gusto. With a grin.Â
And it’s hard to feed people without serving dishes.Â
Which is why my First Kitchen needs them, lots of them, and ones that fit the food that will be served on them: quirky, mismatched, and functional. The whole plunking-the-cast-iron-pan-on-the-table-and-calling-it-dinner-thing is getting old. I’m growing up, and I need serving dishes to prove it.
My first thought: I need place settings, super-sized. I need a big serving bowl; I need a big serving plate. And since side dishes are usually served in bowls, and so are salads, and so are grains, I’ll probably need three or four. Maybe five. Maybe six.
I’ll also need serving dishes for hors d’oeuvres. I’m a fan of the board method: put a board of something on a table, and watch people gather around it. If the board can also function as a smaller cutting board, even better. This is a First Kitchen, scrappiness is encouraged.
And then there’s desserts. I have a vision of myself in a kitchen with a cake stand devoted to the beautiful-dessert-of-the-week: a layer cake, or a pile of scones, or a nubby, crumby coffee cake. That may stay a dream. Gorgeous cake stands usually don’t live in First Kitchens.
Luckily, I have you: you are seasoned hosts and hostesses. You serve things on platters, not in chipped pans. You are probably hosting a holiday party this season, or you’ve gone to ones that have served as inspiration. What kinds of serving dishes should a First Kitchen have? And what are you serving on them?
Email me at [email protected] with your First Kitchen recommendations -- your favorite tools, your favorite cookware. All wisdom is appreciated.
Written by: Brette Warshaw
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19 Comments
Plea markets and thrift stores are great places to find fun pieces. Ethnic food stores can be a great place to get interesting and inexpensive stuff. We have lovely patterned rice bowls that are excellent for dips and sauces and they come in many sizes and patterns. And Chinese soup spoons make great serving pieces.
Think of re-purposing your cooking dishes as well. I have blue glass Pyrex baking dishes that look great on the table, simple Corningware casseroles and other stuff that works in my kitchen
and at the table.
The fun for me is that my collection of dishes/platters/bowls has grown over time as needed.Nothing is expensive, but it all holds memories.
My best advice is to pick a color scheme (can't go wrong with white), and hunt discount stores and thrift stores for things that catch your eye. No need to spend $75 on a department store platter. Although I still don't have any ceramic serving bowls - I make due with my vintage pyrex mixing bowls and round baking dishes in a variety of colors.
and couldn't live without it. I love mine so much I went off the registry to buy it for my friend's daughter when she got married in August and she tells me how much she uses it every time she sees me.
If you live in NYC I strongly recommend you troll HousingWorks for serving trays and dishes. I have found all kinds of beautiful things: antique British ceramic platters, cake stands, bowls, dishes, tea sets, Spode double handled bouillon cups and saucers, etc. for very little money. You have to keep going back but it's totally worth it.
If you
I also like to buy 2 of some items if I can. One for each end of the dinner table. I like symmetry. Also, it mean I don't have to be wait for the platter to finally get to me (and I might not have to politely remind people to continue passing it 'round when they are deep in discussion).
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