MEET RITA

We are proud to have commissioned the artist, Rita Seiko of Beiko Ceramics in Ithaca, to create our one-of-a-kind dishware.

Since we opened Julia’s Local, we find ourselves chatting with guests about Rita’s designs ~ and the stories behind them ~ as much as we talk about what we’ll be serving.

Rita’s sunflower plates are the first things one sees and touches upon being seated. Whimsical bowls cast from garden cabbages are used for serving soups and salads. Appetizers and entrees are featured on stunning blue, gun-metal black, and creamy ivory dinner plates ~ all cast from everyday disposable ‘Dollar Store’ plastic plates. Trick question: how did she make the playful cups we use for coffee and tea, selected desserts, and side vegetables?

Not only does this pottery make Henning’s food look extra pretty, but its originality has taken on a starring role at our restaurant.

From Rita's bio:

Rita grew up on a farm and early on fell in love with all the natural beauty and resources she encountered. Her happiest moments were spent either outside or at her grandma's Sunday dinners. She always wished she could capture the crispness of fall, the delicacy of spring, and the abundance of summer and take those things with her. Through the process of slip casting, she was able to preserve every little detail of the objects she found most exciting ~ most often temporary objects which would normally be used and discarded, whether from nature or our contemporary consumer {and often plastic} world.