adapt for any situation/gathering.

  As they said in" Hello Dolly",   "Let the food smile".

  The ambiance doesn't make the food taste any better.  But,  sometimes it helps set the mood...casual, whimsical, formal, elegant.  It also depends on  the people.

But, I opt not to. As my mom would say about handwashing, "It won't hurt you".

 So,  yes, mini meets usually are everyday dishware.  I entertained large groups of teachers, fellow dancers, musicians, etc.

  They love to sit a a nicely set table.  One retired dancer said, "I love coming here.  The food is great, and, it's nice

  to be waited on,  buy a man."  For those who would never appreciate it,  why would I bother?

 I remember Bill Wood's 1st time here.  I cooked on the grill, including bacon.  It was all summer-casual. He loved it. I even made malts in old-fashioned malt shop glasses..... right into the Kitchenaid afterwards.

It took a long time to acquire these things.  I enjoy using them. And, my guests enjoy them, too.

 Critics will never be here, so, it really doesn't matter.

  The point of entertaining friends and family is to make everyone feel good, share a nice meal, etc.

Right?

I like Fiesta, a lot. It's fun, micro and dishwasher safe.  Some of the really old stuff is valuable.  Yrs ago, they broke/destroyed a lot of the red items. fearing they were radioactive.

would get lost on some people. They wouldn't know what it was, etc.

  Plus, one must think of the crowd and entertain accordingly.

Noritake, for instance,  might be 'thicker', less opaque. You can hold Lenox up to the light and see your hand, etc.  It also depends on the design on the dishware.   It's just like the'ping' test on crystal.

ignore adversity.