Char and Chartreuse: Summer Grilling on Ume Porcelain

Pale chartreuse does something unexpected on a table: it makes food look more alive. We've been plating on Ume since the glaze launched in mid-May and keep stopping to take photos we didn't plan to take.

The reason, we think, is char. Grilled things, seared things, anything with a crust. The darkness against this pale, vivid surface is deeply satisfying in a way that took us by surprise. It's a combination that looks considered even when it isn't. That's the thing about this glaze: it does a lot of the work for you.

Stone fruit is the move right now. Plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots. Anything with enough sugar to caramelize at the edges and enough color to pop against chartreuse. Grill them cut-side down until the marks set, plate them loose alongside halloumi, add salt and good olive oil, and let the color do its thing. It looks like you planned it for hours.

There's something fitting about the timing. Grilling season, stone fruit season, and Ume are all here at once, and none of them last. Fresh ume from Nicholas Family Farm arrived at the studio a few weeks ago, green and tart, harvested before they fully ripen. You don't eat them raw. You preserve them in salt, in sugar, in soy, and let time do the rest. We made two jars: ume syrup with shiso from the garden for summer cocktails, ume shoyu for cooking when you want a brighter soy, closer to ponzu. Both are still sitting on the studio counter. The same instinct drives any good cook in June: use what's here, use it now, before the moment passes.

We named the glaze Ume for this color, that particular yellow-green of the fruit just before it turns. Seeing them together on the plate, we feel like we got it right.

Ume is available through the end of July. Shop Ume →