Small plates

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 (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 (小菜, which literally translates to "small dish") in Chinese cuisine