You run your restaurant kitchen like a well-oiled machine, prioritizing efficiency in every process and expecting your team and tools to follow suit.
But if you’re using substandard dinnerware, you’re giving your racecar-level kitchen a flat tire. Poor-quality dinnerware will always disappoint you, creating frustrating inefficiencies and rack up unnecessary costs.
Using high-quality restaurant dinnerware creates a more efficient kitchen environment for your team and a superior dining experience for your guests. Good dinnerware is worth the investment. In this blog, we’ll explore why.
How your kitchen relies on dinnerware
The role of dinnerware in a restaurant kitchen cannot be overstated. Dinnerware is, quite literally, the foundation on which your meals are laid. If the meals you create are a message from the kitchen to your diners, your dinnerware is the stationery on which it’s written.
Creating and plating exciting dishes
Your dinnerware quality and selection allow you to be playful with the types of dishes you serve and the way you present them.
Having an array of exceptional dinnerware pieces on hand lets you dream bigger as you plan your menu. Stunning restaurant plates in various sizes allow you to control food portions better, and accessories like sauce cups let you add a little spice and color to your food presentation.
Enhancing the diner’s experience
From the moment a diner spies their meal in their server’s hands, the dinnerware makes a lasting impression. The right dinnerware style can set the tone for the entire meal, with sleek, modern designs signifying an avant-garde dining experience and classic designs communicating a traditional one.
The weight and texture of your dinnerware are important for guests, too. Quality porcelain or china dinnerware feels heavier in the hand and more robust on the table. A smooth finish, whether glossy or matte, denotes sophistication. A chunkier, rougher aesthetic can convey rustic charm. Whatever the style, the standard of your dinnerware instantly sets the mood for your diners.
The challenges of unreliable dinnerware
As a restaurant or catering business chef, balancing the costs of purchasing quality kitchen tools can be tricky. But cheap dinnerware never saves your restaurant money in the long run and, in fact, often proves to be more expensive than the porcelain alternative.
Poor-quality restaurant plates break easily
Whether it’s melamine (plastic) dinner plates or a low-quality porcelain or china option, you’ll endure hassle after hassle with your substandard dinnerware.
Cheap porcelain and china are prone to breakage, meaning you’ll spend extra money replacing your dinner plates, sauce cups, and serving pieces. Poor-quality options are also more likely to chip or crack, and even a tiny chip means replacing the entire dinnerware piece. Chips and cracks are places for bacteria to hide, leading to hygiene issues in your kitchen if left unresolved.
Melamine dishes aren’t much better. Their plastic content can’t withstand the long-term effects of commercial dishwashers, heat lamps, and freezers. Melamine dinnerware notoriously warps and cracks over time and you’ll have to replace them far sooner than you would a quality dinnerware piece.
Kitchens are slower
A broken plate slows down your kitchen. Meals that were ready for serving need to be replated, and in the worst case scenario, they’ll need to be entirely recooked.
Your kitchen team doesn’t have time to add ‘be extra careful with dinner plates’ to their already-long to-do list. They need to move quickly and efficiently through the kitchen, and if your dinnerware can’t handle the pace, it’s the wrong choice for your restaurant.
Guests deserve better
Warped, chipped, or discolored dinnerware is simply unacceptable for your guests. And it’s beneath your standards as a chef or restaurant owner. Even the smallest chip makes an adverse impression on your diners.
Crisp, sparkling dinnerware is the standard your guests and your food deserves.
Perks of quality dinnerware
Smart chefs realize that a restaurant’s success can be measured in bowls, dinner plates, trays, and sauce cups. High-quality dinnerware can save your restaurant money, help avoid food waste, and improve the experience of everyone in the establishment, from the kitchen crew to dinner guests.
Streamline food service
Your kitchen crew can work fluidly and without interruption when they work with high-quality dinnerware pieces. They’ll avoid stop-work situations like broken bowls or shattered serving trays that take time to clear away. And they won’t have to replate or recook food that’s been placed on a chipped or cracked dinner plate.
Maintain portion and presentation standards
Uniform dinnerware lets you present your food in uniformly beautiful arrangements. Guests respond well to consistent presentation. If more than one guest at a table orders the same menu item, it looks strange to present that item on different styles of plates. Investing in reliable dinnerware means you keep your food presentation consistent.
And by choosing a dinnerware range that offers an array of different plates and serving trays, you can match the food item to the appropriate dish or bowl. That way, you control the portions you’re serving and avoid the unnecessary costs of filling a plate that’s too big for the food.
Enjoy longer-lasting dinnerware pieces
Excellent porcelain dinnerware will last longer than cheaper alternatives. You’ll save your restaurant money by avoiding frequent dinnerware replacements, and you’ll always have the right pieces on hand when plating.
5 Tips for choosing durable restaurant dinnerware
These 5 tips will help you find the right dinnerware collection for your restaurant:
1. Porcelain trumps china
China is lovely, but if you’re looking for a dinnerware material that’s beautiful, durable, and cost-effective, porcelain is the right choice. Porcelain walks that line between high quality and reliability, making it a popular choice in the kitchen and on the table.
Stoneware is another popular choice, but we recommend stoneware only if your restaurant ambiance is rustic and simple. In a stripped-back, earthy restaurant, stoneware can be a stunning choice.
2. Choose a versatile pattern
Think about the atmosphere you want to create in your dining room, and let your dinnerware pattern reflect that vibe. A versatile pattern will bring the right energy to the table while allowing you to play with subtle variations in presentation.
3. Find a pattern with an array of pieces
As your menu changes and evolves, you’ll want an array of dinnerware pieces to serve on. Choose a pattern with many different pieces to mix and match within the range while maintaining your overall serving aesthetic.
4. Account for temperature shifts
Most dishes should be served warm, and you’ll want to keep them on a warm plate. Likewise, salads and other cold dishes should be chilled. Restaurant plates and other dinnerware accessories should be able to withstand temperature shifts with ease. Melamine dinnerware simply won’t pass this test.
5. Choose a dinnerware brand restaurants trust
Fellow chefs and restaurant owners are a brilliant source of information when you’re looking for a suitable dinnerware collection to add to your establishment.
For over 40 years, restaurants have trusted Corby Hall dinnerware. We’ve become synonymous with beautifully crafted commercial dinnerware pieces that last (and your patrons will love!).
Give Sales Manager Mark Riley a call (973.366.8300) if you’re ready now, or get in touch to tell us more about your restaurant’s dinnerware needs, and let us help you find the perfect collection for you.
