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At Avery, an elegant and semi-hidden Asian-inspired restaurant in San Francisco, the dining experience is plenty elevated as is, but things are about to get a little more lavish. During a collaborative dinner with The Caviar Co., a local purveyor of high-end caviar, the server places a black ceramic vessel on the table, then removes the top part to showcase a two-piece set - a shallower plate with a curled, glaze-dipped edge, on which caviar-topped oysters are arranged, and a rounded bowl of medium depth, containing raw fish, and caviar some more. This is the art-meets-utility caviar server made especially for the occasion by the Oakland-based ceramicist Erin Hupp.
Attend a fine-dining experience in the Bay Area these days, and chances are you’ll interact with Hupp’s thoughtful, unique pieces; in just four years, the ceramicists has become the go-to for chefs who seek creative presentation solutions for their intricate dishes. Her work is instantly recognisable, and, though it seems impossible, makes Michelin-star food taste even better.
Erin Hupp, photo by Adahlia Cole
Hupp, who has come to her craft from an unexpected background in land law and child welfare, started her ceramics career in “morning rituals,” in her own words, focusing primarily on attractive mugs and cups. Her journey to conquer the culinary world started in 2018, when, after participating at a private event at the now-defunct Onsen restaurant and bathhouse in San Francisco, the owner commissioned Hupp to create dishes for the dining room. It was a pivotal moment - “I realised how inspiring it was to make people’s dinners lovely,” she says. Hupp decided, soon after, to cold-pitch Val Cantu, the chef and owner of Californios, the two Michelin-star San Francisco restaurant, which was at the time, and still is, one of her favourite fine-dining destinations.
Hupp's collaboration with Onsen, photo by Raquel Venancio.
The connection between the artist and Cantu’s groundbreaking, edgy Mexican fine-dining project was instant - the collaboration is still ongoing, ranging from dimpled palate cleanser cups, and monolithic bases for Cantu’s high-end, tiny tacos, to a sauce pourer, with negative space that reveals the concoction as it comes onto the plate, “so the liquid pours out more dramatically,” Hupp says. Recently, for a special event, Hupp threw pottery in the middle of the restaurant’s back patio, as bewildered diners tucked into Cantu’s imaginative ceviches and tostadas, served on Hupp’s very own designs.
Hupp's collaboration with Californios, photo by Adahlia Cole.
For Nightbird, whose chef and owner Kim Alter loves to support female ceramicists, Hupp had created a series of slick, jewel box-like, two-part domes that serve a duo of bites at once - a savoury bonbon nestled on the top, and a delicate caviar tart hiding inside, awaiting a big reveal by the diner. There are also dramatic serving plates with rounded edges hovering above the table, since Alter told her servers have a hard time lifting some flatter plates gracefully. “One of the fun parts of being hyper-made-to-order and collaborating with chefs is being able to get that special feedback,” Hupp says. “It’s about - how can I Macgyver something to the specifications of the chef? For them, dining is an artform, and every element matters.” One of Hupp’s signature touches, however, a bubbly, textured glaze, is all about breaking the boundary between the art and its consumers. “I use textured glaze because I want you to touch my pottery, I want you to interact with it.” Hupp says.
Plate with caviar tart at Nightbird, photo by Adahlia Cole
While true to her signature style, Hupp’s creations change and morph with every new collaboration. At Hilda & Jesse, a colourful brunch and lunch spot in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, she allowed herself touches of maroon and blue when creating an array of plates and bowls. For a recent project with the tranquil Stanly Ranch resort in Napa, Hupp went rounder, softer, brighter. Her dialogue with chefs is so mutually inspired, that recently her long-time collaborator, Nate Tauer from the L.A institution Pasta Bar, decided to recreate a pattern on a plate Hupp had created with a pasta dish, mimicking Hupp’s clay with two colourful sauces. “I’ve never had my process flipped around like that, which is pretty cool,” Hupp says.
Hupp's collaboration with Pasta Bar, photos by Adahlia Cole.
Back to the caviar server - at her studio, Hupp lovingly lays out the chic black caviar servers. She was craving something celebratory, a special item - and caviar came to mind. Following her path of creative team work, Hupp started talking to Petra Bergstein Higby, the co-founder The Caviar Co. “There was nothing like that on the market,” she says. “Nothing that art-forward.” The server is available to purchase at the brand’s tasting room, but at the end of dinner at Avery, I overheard a bashful couple calling over a staff member with a request; “We heard you can purchase this right here, right? Is that a thing?” It was - as was the case with some of Hupp’s special events with other restaurants she works with. When a dish and its vessel come together in such a memorable way, it’s only natural to want to keep the non-perishable part forever.
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