Small plates

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Small plates is a manner of dining that became popular in US food service after 2000. Small plates may either refer 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 (Japanese: 惣菜), 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 (Chinese: 小菜, which literally translates to "small dish") in Chinese cuisine