Diners are accustomed to eating food with their hands — but how about eating food off the back of their hands? To kick off the nine-course tasting menu at his new restaurant Brown & Bean in Plymouth, England chef Anton Piotrowski plates each element of an apple and pork dish on the bare skin of his guests. Here’s what that looks like:

The rest of the meal is served on plates, just like at most other fancy restaurants. A dining critic at the Plymouth Herald likes the back-of-the-hand course: “It's a novel idea and tastes sensational — salty meat and sweet-tart smooth apple kick-starts the tastebuds (and it's a conversation starter as I've never come across this before), and of course there are no plates to clear away.”

Piotrowski, who won Masterchef in the UK five years ago, also dabbles with unusual platings throughout the rest of the meal — one dessert is served in a terracotta pot of “chocolate soil” — but the pork and apple back-of-the-hand starter is the item that’s attracting the most attention. One reader of the local paper calls Piotrowski’s unusual plating “pretentious piffle,” while another local diner tells the Sun: “I’ve noticed before there was a lack of proper plates in restaurants. Now I’ve seen it all.”

Before opening the restaurant earlier this month, Piotrowski told the Plymouth Herald: “I'm not following anyone's trends, I'm not copying anyone else's dishes. I am doing my own food."

• Masterchef winner's new restaurant serves food directly onto diners' hands [Evening Standard]

• The new restaurant in Plymouth where you eat off your hand [Plymouth Herald]