Explore · Dining & Culture
Dining & Culture
We eat with our eyes, hands and expectations as well as our mouths. A young science is measuring how the plate changes the meal.
Start with the science of the senses, then the studies, then the business of hospitality.
Go deeper, one step at a time
Each article starts simply. Technical detail is kept in “Look closer” panels, and every page links onward.
- IntroductionWe taste with more than the tongueAn introduction to multisensory dining and gastrophysics, Charles Spence’s Oxford research and Jozef Youssef’s Kitchen Theory.
- DeeperPlate design and perceptionPublished studies on plate colour, plate shape, bowl and cutlery weight, colour contrast and food arrangement — with their limits.
- ReferenceTableware and perceived value: the Ambiente studiesKitchen Theory’s 2020 HoReCa Academy study on designer crockery and perceived price, and its 2024 study on coloured tableware.
- DeeperBone china in hospitalityWhy hotels, restaurants and airlines use bone china, how hospitality ranges differ from retail, and what buyers should specify.