Choosing your tableware

Everyone needs tableware to present those delicious meals, but how do you go about deciding which plates or cutlery you should buy? There is such a wide range available, particularly from Foodbomb supplier - Nisbets, so how do you narrow things down?

Before you start your search, here are some important things to consider:

Are you trying to achieve a specific theme or vibe?
What is your budget?
What sort of drinks or dishes will you be serving?
What is the portion sizing of your menu?

Crockery

You can tell a lot about a venue based on their crockery, so here are a couple of key tips from our friends at Nisbets:

Have a clear budget
Think about the practicality of storing your selected crockery
How many of each item will you need? This will seriously impact your budget!
What colour are you searching for? Will this fit in with your theme?
What type of crockery are you after? Dainty bone China or chip-resistant stoneware?

Read Nisbet's buying guide to choosing crockery and the right size plates.

Cutlery

Your cutlery really needs to fit in with all the other items on your table, so its worth revisiting this decision once you've selected all your other tableware items! Apart from design, weight and shape, the key thing to consider when selecting your cutlery is it's grade and the type of stainless steel you go with.

To turn steel into stainless steel, nickel and chromium are added. The grades for each type of cutlery relate to the percentages of chromium and nickel present in the cutlery. Different grades, have different combinations and therefore different benefits.

As an example, 18/10 is made up of 18% chromium, 10% nickel, and 72% steel. The nickel helps to protect the cutlery from rust and is less likely to rust than 18/0 or 13/0.

For more information on cutlery, grades visit Nisbet's Cutlery Buying Guide.

Table linen

First thing's first - do you even need tablecloths? A lot of cafes and restaurants avoid tablecloths due to the cost of washing and ironing them regularly. However, on the flip side, other venues live by table linen to protect their furniture. When buying table linen consider:

The material of the table linen - do you want hard-wearing, crease-resistant polyester or elegant and sleep stain band to fit in with your luxurious theme?
Sizing - Make sure you consider different table sizing and also ensure you have enough overhang!
Quantity - if you have different table sizes and multiple covers, then you'll need to make sure you have enough clean table linen to cater for your cover projections as well enough to rotate through whilst waiting for a set to be cleaned.