Back in February, we caught sight of an interesting experiment Google was undertaking with the help of trusted local guides. The experiment was an app called Tablescape - a "community to make, share, and discover amazing foodographs." With a little digging, we found that the content shown in the screenshots (originally posted by El Androide Libre) lined up with a community called The Plate, which was likely serving as a Google+-based content funnel for the app.

After that initial glimpse though, we didn't see or hear anything official about the service.

Today we've heard something more, but it may not be what we had hoped - it looks like Google is officially closing down the Tablescape experiment before it had a chance to see the light of day. In an email to testers today, Google shared the following:

Dear Tablescape Testers, Thanks for helping us test the Tablescape app. We received a lot of helpful feedback but decided to invest our resources into other projects. This doesn't mean we're giving up on food photography, you may see the influence of Tablescape in future apps. As we begin to wind down the app, here are a few things to be aware of: Anything you posted using the app is a standard post to The Plate. Visit Google+ to access, edit and delete your posts.

Photos associated with a restaurant location and posted to this community may still be published to Google Maps. Learn how to manage your photos. Remember, you are still under a confidentiality agreement for Tablescape. We trust you to continue respecting this. Thank you to all who used the app and gave us invaluable feedback! We appreciate your support. XXXXXXXXX YYYYYYYYYY Product Manager, Google

So, while Tablescape is riding into the sunset, it sounds like Google might not totally give up on the idea of giving food-focused photos a spotlight in one way or another. We just won't get a dedicated app called Tablescape.