Some plates simply hold a dish. Others become part of its story.
The new plates at La Preséf were born from this very idea: taking the creativity of the kitchen beyond the traditional white boundaries of the plate, searching for shapes, proportions and materials capable of engaging with what the Chefs imagine and create.
Each piece is handcrafted, one by one, by Anna of La Mosca Studio and Ida of Equilibri di Terra, following a request from Executive Chef Gianni Tarabini and Chef Stefano Piazza.
Morterone
The story begins in Morterone, Italy’s least populated municipality, but also the village where Stefano comes from and where Anna’s grandparents have their roots.
Anna and Stefano have known each other since primary school. Their paths later took them in different directions: Anna studied graphic design, worked in Spain and, in the meantime, developed her passion for ceramics and wheel throwing.
When she returned to Italy, she decided to turn what had until then been a hobby into a professional project and opened La Mosca Studio, a small workshop in Abbadia Lariana dedicated to handcrafted production, bespoke pieces, courses and workshops.
Her relationship with Stefano, however, continued over the years. Their meetings in Morterone kept alive a connection that, years later, also became an opportunity to work together.
From the kitchen to clay
As the cuisine of La Preséf evolves, new dishes take shape and with them comes the desire to find serving pieces capable of truly complementing them.
Not simply tableware, but forms conceived together with the cuisine itself.
Stefano called Anna, beginning a process made up of ideas, trials, adjustments and a great deal of patience.
Ida, founder of Equilibri di Terra, also joined the project. She collaborates with Anna and teaches some courses at her studio.
Ideas born in the kitchen gradually began to take physical form.
Stoneware, the wheel, fire and time
For the plates at La Preséf, Anna and Ida work on the wheel with an Italian-made stoneware clay body, subsequently finished with a white ceramic glaze.
Stoneware is a ceramic material that requires firing at high temperatures, generally around 1,200°C. During firing it becomes dense, low in porosity and resistant — qualities that are particularly important for objects intended for everyday use in a restaurant.
The process involves several stages: the clay is shaped on the wheel, left to dry, refined and then fired for the first time. The piece is subsequently glazed and fired again before any final finishing touches are made.
Clay, water, hands, fire and, above all, time.
Every piece is unique
Shape and size may vary slightly from one piece to another. These are not imperfections, but the natural mark of an artisanal process.
This becomes particularly clear when looking at the small lidded cocottes created for La Preséf.
Each cocotte is numbered together with its own lid: the differences are minimal, but only the lid made for that specific piece will fit it perfectly.
A small detail that conveys the value of objects shaped and finished individually by hand.
When the plate becomes part of the cuisine
At La Preséf, research begins with ingredients, the territory and the people.
In this project, it continues all the way to the object on which the food is served.
The ideas of Gianni Tarabini and Stefano Piazza meet the craftsmanship of Anna and Ida. Morterone, Abbadia Lariana and Valtellina are thus connected by a thread made of relationships, materials and craftsmanship.
The plate is no longer simply the boundary within which a dish is composed.
It becomes part of the project, part of the experience and part of the story of La Preséf.
