Restaurant owner creates bespoke ceramics to match chefs’ creativity

BEK Lah believes great food deserves more than mass-produced plates, so she has spent hundreds of hours handcrafting serving ware for her Geelong restaurant.

The El Santo de los Tacos co-owner has made more than 70 plates, bowls and platters from her home studio, with the goal of eventually replacing every piece of serving ware in the restaurant.

Calling on the old adage "you eat with your eyes first", Lah said she wanted the presentation to reflect the same creativity found in the kitchen.

"Most of our team are from Mexico and authenticity has always been central to what we do," she said.

"We've got these amazing creative people working in the restaurant and they bring their own creativity into everything they do.

"If they're bringing that much creativity into the food and drink offerings and then we're putting it on mass-produced platters and plates, it felt wrong.

"The food tells a story, and we wanted the plates to become part of that story too."

Each piece takes several days to shape, glaze and fire, while years of trial and error have helped Lah develop her own style.

Now she finds the process of making the serving ware meditative and a welcomed creative escape.

Lah said every piece has its own personality.

"They're all in the same family but they've all got their own unique quirks," she said. "They're definitely one of a kind."

Balancing multiple businesses and being a parent does not leave much time to work in her studio. The process of making the wares has become one of love and patience.

"We've got a lot of balls in the air," Lah said.

"I was getting frustrated because it was taking a long time to make them all but good things take time.

"Our chefs cook these amazing meals and have all these different flavours in their recipes, and it takes time, and so does this.

"Anything that's worthwhile is going to take time and patience."