Trends

Deck up or stay plain

Good designs and decorations on the tableware are an integral part of sophisticated dining settings. In a way they could be identified as symbols of a restaurant

Exotic dishes are the forte of an excellent chef. Well-designed wares can only add lustre to the presentation of food. The hospitality industry in general acknowledges and accepts the importance of quality tableware with tantalising designs blending with the ambience of the restaurant or the dining room. The decorated ware, table linen, place mat, napkin and the rest of the décor of the restaurant work together to build and sustain the image.

Food presentation is an equally important factor of any hotel or restaurant. Today, guests are conscious of the shapes, sizes, patterns and decoration of the wares, etc. It often becomes a piece of conversation at elite gatherings and social get-togethers. It is said that this heightened interest of the guest influenced one of the leading European tableware manufacturers to issue the 'Turnaround Club' card to a few select customers authorising them to turn the wares to see the stamp or the print at the back of it, in any fine dining restaurant which otherwise would often be considered as bad manners or lack of etiquette in a polite society. Probably this may be dubbed as a sales promotion gimmick employed by the world's leading player in the ceramic industry. Still this evidently reflects the present day involvement and interest of the guests in the wares laid on the tables and the rest of the elements that goes to create a fine atmosphere in hotels and restaurants.

Time has changed. Gone are the days when dining out meant just eating. Today, it's different and tableware, linen, décor and every other element around matters to the guest. This awareness of style in restaurant tableware can be attributed to the wide exposure through travel, the television celebrity chef phenomenon, culinary contest of homemaker programmes, etc. Large variety of exciting shapes, sizes, eye-catching designs and decorations are created to cope with the diversified specialty menu. Shapes and patterns of the wares have undergone dramatic change. Where the conventional shape of round ruled the roost, the geometrical - squares, triangles, hexagonals, and elite octagonals and all elliptical shapes seem to usurp the tableware presentation. It's a fact that many shapes and sizes are born out of the brains of celebrity chefs, as many a manufacturer has a panel of chefs to advice on the development of shapes of the wares.

Designer tableware is a common feature in Europe. More often this becomes a USP of the promotion of the brand of wares. The tableware designs by Versace are said to be one of the costliest in this category and are only found to be in service in a select few Seven Star Hotels of the same brand. But according to a British Press Report the traditional 'round and white' will adore the arena eventually because of its pure simplicity.

And now back to the decoration. Transfers and decoration of wares are barely revealed to the user department and guests. Here is an earnest attempt to reveal the complicated process of transfers and decoration in a simple language for the layman's benefit.

Ceramic decals

A ceramic decal is made from inorganic components which will not burn away in a kiln firing. These components usually consist of powdered ground glass which promotes melting and fusing (also known as a 'flux') and metallic oxide pigments and salts (for colour) mixed with a liquid, oil like, organic or plastic printing media suitable for silk-screen printing. After printing the design, it is covered with a temporary plastic carrier which forms a cover coat. The paper which it is printed on is a porous paper with a water soluble coating on one side. This coating consists usually of dextrin or starch which dissolves when the decal is put in water, releasing the decal from the paper so that it can be mounted. Such decals are called 'water-slide decals'.

During the firing process the cover coat and media burn away while the ground glass melts and encapsulates the oxide, fusing it to the ware that the decal has been applied to. Prior to firing, the colors are dark or dull or even odd, mere approximations of their post-firing brilliance. Firing in a kiln under high temperature (810 to 820 degree Celsius) causes the decals to undergo a dramatic transformation, as the oxides and salts fuse and reveal their rich palette of colours. This brilliant image becomes an integral, permanent part of the ceramic material which will not fade with time or by exposure to bright sunlight and can only be removed by mechanical abrasion or by strong acidic chemicals. The firing temperature is set for 'medium' and the kiln is started. The temperature of the kiln is raised gradually. The lacquer on the decal paper burns into fumes at about 350 degrees Celsius. This will be about two hours into the firing and during the entire time the peep holes are kept open.

At about 790 degrees Celsius the glaze on the body becomes soft and the fusion of the transfer begins. At about 810 degrees Celsius the temperature is cut off, when the temperature drops off to 790 degree Celsius, automatically the temperature is raised back again to 810 degree Celsius, this priceless which is known as 'soaking' is repeated three times. And when it finally cools off, the transfer and the glaze becomes homogenous. This is permanent and resistant to scratches, dishwashing, microware (no metallic colours) and mild detergents. Sometimes the lid is kept closed for the entire time of cooling down. The kiln is allowed to cool down naturally. When the kiln is cooled down to the room temperature the wares are taken out. The approximate firing time is about three hours.

Application: The deal is trimmed around so that no scrapes from other decals remain on the paper. The decal is then submerged in a bowl of warm water. It curls up. The piece to be decorated is dampened slightly with a soft cloth to have a clean surface to decorate.

When the curled up decal begins to relax/un-curl, which usually only takes less than a minute, it is removed from the water. Now the decal will 'slide-off' the paper and it is ready to mount. The decal and paper are put together on the ware to be decorated and the paper is gently slide out from under the decal.

The decal is positioned and squeezed from the centre out, thus removing excess water, bubbles, and wrinkles. This process is repeated several times. It is allowed to dry for 24 hours prior to firing.

Firing or fusing: The ware to be fired is put in the kiln. 'Stilting' is not necessary but generally recommended for large, heavy, or asymmetrical pieces.

Source: Oasis Table Trends