amaï saigon is a Vietnamese brand offering a full ceramic collection, created using local ingredients and slip casting techniques to achieve its signature shape.

Brand Snapshot

Classic economic theorists may disagree, but there are two ways to create value - intrinsically and perceptually. This interplay is especially true when it comes to dining - because you can improve the perceived, rather than actual quality, of the food simply by changing the context in which it is served - the environment, the music, the plating, and in this case, the crockery. That means what you choose to have in your cupboard is more than just a cursory decision.

This brings us to Vietnam’s amaï ceramics. Whilst the country may be less known for its artisan craft than its manufacturing might, this brand has always stood out as an exception to that rule. Combining North Vietnamese craftsmanship with local kaolin clay and raw unglazed exteriors, their designs are an unapologetic acknowledgement of imperfection that wouldn’t be out of place in the wabi-sabi school of thought.

There’s no clear positioning to the brand (beyond the hard-to-decipher ‘for you who seize the dots’), but by embracing marginal differences every design, any one amaï plate, bowl or cup could be seen to recognise a more fundamental truth about eating.

It says: “we might be experiencing this food together, but we won’t experience it the same way.” That’s because whilst dining is at its best a communal act (especially in Vietnam), our cultures, upbringings, genetics, and age amongst other factors mean we might share the same moment, but never share the same taste.

amaï’s designs reflect this imperfect communion. By designing around a culinary truism rather than a cultural specificity, this Vietnamese brand has truly universal appeal - and so would look just as delicious serving up anything from a Beef Wellington to a Green Curry or Empanada.