The Eye Pleasing Plate
Author: Natalie DeNicholas
January 2006
Food + Beverage
Apply these simple tips on food
presentation to elevate your event from mundane to memorable.
Presentation is everything when it comes to food. Top restaurants know this better than anyone. A menu can proclaim that the restaurant offers the best produce, the finest meats flavored with the most exquisite spices, but if the end result looks like it’s been doled out with an ice cream scoop onto a cafeteria tray, those highly coveted rave reviews are just a pipe dream.
The presentation techniques developed by fine dining establishments can and should be applied to meals provided at any event, from an intimate client meeting to a buffet style banquet for thousands.
In search of ways to provide both an excellent and memorable meal, we consulted Chef Jorge Lopez of the Westin Casuarina Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Spa. As the property’s executive chef, Lopez draws on a wealth of experience in laying out elaborate food presentations. In his opinion, "First, we eat with our eyes. Taste comes second."
As a starting point, Chef Lopez maintains that providing the best ingredients in a simple and natural manner is a surefire way to impress. "Let the food speak for itself," he advises. This is in line with the recent trend to pursue a simpler way of cooking. Many fine dining restaurants, such as Berkeley’s famed Chez Panisse, are advertising on their menus organic produce “bought in season.” The simple idea behind buying in season, and building the menu around what’s right at its peak locally, is to ensure that the plate will always have the best looking and most flavorful ingredients.
Chef Piet Wigmanas agrees. As executive chef for the Mauna Kea Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii, Chef Wigmanas is often called upon to make poke, that island specialty of fresh ahi tuna, limu (seaweed) and Hawaiian red salt. “You don’t want to serve day-old raw fish,” he laughs.
Beyond freshness, there’s also a graphic dimension to presentation. Food looks best on the plate when there’s a balance of negative space and filled space. Further, the blankness of the plate is a canvas, a white background for highlighting the colors and textures of a meal. The depth of color and flavor in a sauce comes to life on a white plate, but only if diners can compare the sauce with the plate.
“When we use our red Hawaiian salt, it really gives the poke almost a fluorescence, a really nice sheen,” Chef Wigmanas says. “We serve it in a big Hawaiian wooden bowl, surrounded by ti leaves with a kukui-nut lei. Or sometimes we serve it in a lettuce cup, or in a wonton cup that’s green inside. The fish stands out so brightly against the green.”
Oddly enough, odd numbers are appealing. A grouping of three looks more balanced and pleasing than a cluster of four. If you’re skeptical, take a plate and place three lovely pears in the center. Now add one more. Somehow, it no longer conveys the same message. Using this simple tidbit of knowledge can improve any plate almost instantly towards achieving beautiful perfection.
Color is to food as location is to real estate: it’s fundamental. And one needs to mix it up. Imagine a white bone china plate with a swirl of creamy potatoes, five perfect slices of roast chicken and three spears of poached white asparagus, all surrounded by a pale cream sauce. Plain? Dismally so. Now, envision that same plate, replacing the asparagus with green beans and baby carrots and the cream sauce with a rich red wine and onion sauce. Doesn’t it seem tastier?
Pairing contrasts also applies to textures. A meal of the same mushy consistency is boring and dull. At the same time, diners don't want to be chewing so much they feel they ought to be put out to pasture. We all want something to bite into, to crunch. We crave something that resembles velvet on our tongues, or something with a bit of a chew to it. A great meal will provide all these textures at once.
Finally, there is height. A well-planned meal will resemble high-rises and skyscrapers, not urban sprawl. Build high. Add interest. Don't allow the food to spread out and cover the plate. A composition of mashed potatoes next to pork chops with glazed onions on the side is nice but boring. Instead make a bed of mashed potatoes with the chop leaning against it and then pile up some fried shredded onions on top for drama. Height always adds interest and adventure to any presentation.
These are relatively simple ideas on how to make your meal presentation more appealing to the eye. All of these principles apply equally to buffet service meals since a buffet table is simply a larger canvas to be filled with color, texture and height.
Even knowing these techniques, how can you as a planner ensure that the presentation of your meal is perfect? First of all, give the chef as much information as possible, from the size of the group to the gender. The meal planning for a group of fifty from the Ladies Auxiliary Dance Club of River City varies greatly from that for a group of fifty football players from Dallas.
Then specify that the chef use seasonal ingredients. Ideally, these are likely to be indigenous to your gathering’s location so they don’t lose anything in the process of transport and storage.
Ask that the chef introduce new flavors or modernize a favorite recipe native to the region. Additionally, you can even ask to view a sampling of the menu or ask what the chef had in mind for your meal to ensure that your ideas mesh.
However, remember, the more your food looks like food and less like an abstract work of art, the better it will be received. People want to know what they have on their plates. They want the adventure to be in the taste and not in guessing what's for dinner.
As a planner, you are conveying a message to your guests with the food you’re offering them. After all, as Chef Lopez observed, we do eat with our eyes first, so make sure the right message is being read.
