These items all have a beautiful color palette….eggplants, deep plums, black olives, red wine and garlic with a bit of purple striations. Using food as your centerpiece is always pretty and very easy to pick up at the grocery store while you are selecting your food for your menu. By putting these items in black bowls and grounding them with black linens, dishes and glasses, it makes a sophisticated, yet approachable table setting. Black linens and plates might seem a bit dark to some people, but coming from my stylist point of view- it makes food look fantastic! Black dishes are a gorgeous backdrop for food- especially anything grilled, white or with bright color- like corn, tomatoes or green vegetables. I use the black clay pottery (which you can purchase on my online store) a lot and certainly for every Thanksgiving dinner. I specifically use the black clay pottery deep dishes for the holiday, because they have a deep lip to hold all the food on the plate from the buffet.