As we contemplate our upcoming annual trek to Chicago for the gala NRA Show, one company we are looking forward to visiting is Raynaud Porcelain. Last year, this traditional French porcelain company show some very un-traditional shapes and designs from 3-star Michelin chef Anne Sophie Pic. All very impressive as is the Raynaud LOTUS espresso cup and saucer below.

A company that refuses to follow the crowd, Raynaud Porcelain has been a specialist in setting the pace in tabletop design - for both the home and the restaurant. From Thomas Keller to Anne Sophie Pic, Raynaud's hospitality offering is unique and très spéciale.

Chefs and restaurateurs who don't want to follow the crowd....would be wise to follow Raynaud.

I know we will.

Speaking of creative tabletop and culinary entertainment, Raynaud Porcelain and Devine Corp. are introducing LUNES a new tableware range that represents a combination of chef, designer, and porcelain maker. Three star Michelin chef Anne Sophie Pic, along with designers Catherine and Bruno Lefebvre have teamed to bring this new dinnerware collection to appeal to all the gastronomic pleasures.

With a range consisting of approximately 50 items, LUNES is a gentle, feminine shape with curves and hollows to allow for tasting forks and spoons that Chef likes to use in her menus. There are 22 plates sizes, soufflé bowls and teapots that invite guests to help themselves. Cloches, also unique in form, make each dish a visual and aromatic surprise.

Anne-Sophie Pic, a petite, softly spoken and revered chef who has headed the kitchen at La Maison Pic in the south-eastern French town of Valence for more than a decade - is only the fourth woman to win the top award. According to the U.K. newspaper The Guardian, Pic is “a specialist in fish, her signature dishes include sea bass caught in coastal waters and steamed over wakame kelp, served with gillardeau oyster bonbons, cucumber chutney and vodka and lemon butter sauce. But although she came late to haute cuisine, the chef, who prefers to mix textures and flavours rather than radically alter ingredients, comes from a gastronomic dynasty.” Both her grandfather and father were also three star Michelin chefs in their time.

The combination of chef and designer here has produced a shape that only a porcelain producer of Raynaud’s reputation for quality could execute. Taking two years to complete, Raynaud drew upon its legacy since the 19th century as one of the world’s premier producers to achieve the proper balance between art and practicality for LUNES.

You can see LUNES at the Devine Corp. booth # 6351 at next week’s NRA Show in Chicago. You can also go to www.Raynaud.fr or www.devinecorp.net to learn more about LUNES.