There was a time when jam jars were kept to put old nails or spare paint in.
Now, they are something really really cool people drink from at really, really cool eating establshments.
Those same really cool people at the same really cool establishment are also eating tiny bite sized burgers or small cubes of meat with some fancy shaved something on top, served on bread boards.
And those jam jars and bread boards sit atop rustic table tops sometimes on tressle tables, but always without table coverings.
Which brings me to my question. Whatever happened to plates and crystal glasses?
These are obviously passe in the really cool dining world and I am clearly not a really cool diner, if I am writing about such things.
I watched the launch of the jam jars and bread boards with a mixture of amusement and delight. I don’t mind a change of pace. But I never really expected it to catch on. I never expected that long after the first burger and chips were served on a chunk of wood, that chunk of wood would still be in circulation in its various incarnations.
I do wonder a little that in this time of health and hygene, just how many extra germs lurk in the wood grain that might otherwise be washed away in the rinse cycle of the fine china. And I don’t like the fact that things fall off the board more easily than a plate with an inside indentation.
But it does look kind of funky. I get that. And funky food belongs on a funky bread board and a funky drink should be sipped out of a funky jar.
But I still think that if I was supposed to drink from a jar, my lips would be serrated. If I was supposed to eat off chopping boards, my lips would be coated against potential splinters.
Call me old fashioned. It may not look funky, but give me a glass that sings to me when I rotate my finger on its rim and a plate with a stamp underneath, even if it is just from Ikea. I am pretty sure I can eat a bit of fancy food quite well on a clean white plate served on any old table covered in a clean white cloth, with a linen napkin to use on lips without splinters.
