She served him freshly baked cakes and cookies on a bamboo tray traditionally used for noodles.

There are also original creations by the executive chef Jun Ichikawa, all presented elegantly on various surfaces of zaru (bamboo trays), glass and pottery.

They bring baskets of eggs or big bamboo trays of vegetables for simmering in the steaming pools, as skiers tread through the rising banks of mist on their way to a nearby lift.

There are, for example, salt and pepper shakers made of horn and bamboo, an Italian leopard-skin-patterned water pitcher, bamboo trays and crackle-glazed plates.

Zaru udon: Chilled udon noodles topped with shredded nori and served on a zaru (笊 or ざる), a sieve-like bamboo tray.

In Vietnam and in various parts of Southeast Asia, Vietnamese can be seen hand-making banh trang (rice paper) and placing them on the rectangular bamboo trays around their houses.

"My product is the best," he said, standing before his tidy bamboo tray.

These are the best things in the whole world," I said impulsively as the waiter set a bamboo tray on the table.

Large, sizzling-hot prawn-like shrimp, with a sesame-almond crusting, individually skewered, arrived on a bamboo tray, with a tingly balsamic white miso sauce and a heap of watercress.

The leaves may be lightly bruised on their edges by shaking and tossing in a bamboo tray or tumbling in baskets.