Alum redifines dinnerware artistry: Fusion of ceramic craft, collaboration with chefs and entrepreneurial spirit
For Jono Pandolfi ’99, dishware can serve as a pivotal showcase for any meal — whether it’s an elegant white-glazed dinnerplate that illuminates a simple filet mignon or a cheery pink cookie plate that makes a specialty sweet treat all the more fun to eat.
(Photo by Liz Clayman)
Pandolfi owns Jono Pandolfi Designs, which produces hand-crafted ceramic dinnerware used in high-end restaurants around the world. The company serves more than 500 hospitality clients, offering 50 ceramic shapes, from plates and bowls to mugs and bud vases. Pandolfi also collaborates with chefs and restaurant owners on custom designs. Last year, his work was featured on CBS Saturday, and his dinnerware was featured in an episode of “The Bear,” a comedy-drama television series about a restaurant owner and his staff.
Pandolfi was 16 at a boarding school in Millbrook, New York, when a teacher first introduced him to ceramics. “We visited a local potter’s studio that changed my life,” he says. “I had never seen or imagined a life completely dedicated to creating functional objects out of clay.”
At Skidmore College, the art major initially pursued engineering but soon found himself drawn to the campus art culture. “The entire vibe of the art building and the experience of working collaboratively with other artists informed my whole approach to running my business now and my core values,” Pandolfi says.
After graduation, he worked as a ceramics teacher at the same boarding school where he got his start, before opening a ceramics and metals studio in Queens.
His first big break in the hospitality industry came when he collaborated with friend and well-regarded restaurateur Will Guidara to produce tableware at NoMad Hotel and then at the acclaimed Eleven Madison Park restaurant. After that, Pandolfi became the go-to choice for restaurants.
His company’s 22,000-square-foot studio in Union City, New Jersey, houses 10 pottery wheels and 12 kilns that a team of about 30 staff use to produce 1,200 pieces of stoneware daily.
“I started small, with one wheel and one kiln, collaborating with chefs, taking risks, and learning from my mistakes,” says Pandolfi, whose company has defined his career as a fusion of art, functionality, and entrepreneurship. “I still do what I love,” he adds, but now on a much larger scale.
