Our first experience of eating as a group from the Slo plates happened at Marian's house during a get-together. We hadn't originally planned to eat but as the sun was going down we realized after all of the chatting and laughing, that we were hungry! Someone mentioned ordering Chinese food and many other concurred.
When the food arrived, everybody's side dish orders came in rectangular boxes that were apparently mean as a single serving, A portion for 2 was shared among 4 and a portion of 1 was shared among too. What was amazing was that we had plenty to spare afterwards.
Whereas we might have otherwise each taken a standard plate and followed its dictation of how much to fill it up with, we luckily had access to our porcelain plates and the act of sharing became more natural and everybody was able to customize their plate to their fancy.
The food which otherwise is just meant to be seen in bulk, developed some personality on our plates and definitely looked more appetizing.
From previous experience, I had purchased a styrofoam box of 10 peanut butter dumplings and because I was alone and wanted to try them (it was my first time) , I was obliged to finish it all. In this situation, Marian and I shared a 1 person serving of peanut butter dumplings and due to their arrangement on my plate, combined with the shared company, these were especially more delicious than the 10 I ate on my own.
The food had a focal presence and the interaction was most definitely not passive.
Personal discretion was allowed and very little could be put on a plate without looking like some were eating more than others.
The food looked tastier.
A small handful of nachos and hummus became a combination by imagining what else could go in the middle as opposed to salsa.
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