Small plates is a manner of dining that became popular in US food service after 2000. Small plates may refer either to small dishes resembling appetizers which are ordered à la carte and often shared, such as tapas, or to the small courses served as part of a more formal meal.

Types

Some types of small plates which have influenced the modern US concept are:

• Tapas, a wide variety of appetizers in Spanish cuisine

• Mezze, a wide variety of appetizers in Turkish cuisine, and sometimes in Greek cuisine

• Antipasti and cicchetti in Italian cuisine

• Banchan, in Korean cuisine

• Sozai (), the small and usually shared dishes served at an izakaya, a Japanese pub

• The pu pu platter of Hawaiian cuisine

• Zakuski in Russian cuisine

• Side dish () in Chinese cuisine

References

• Delikatessen aus dem Schwabenland