Plated

Great tasting food is one thing, but it’s the plating and composition that allows us to truly experience food in its best form.

Plating is a science. It’s the ability to take something and add a new dimension of experience.

Research in the field of gastronomy looks at how all our senses — sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch — are involved in eating, dining and general food appreciation. It also explores the interactions between the senses in relation to our understanding and associations with food. So what is it that makes us appreciate food? Is our enjoyment of food based solely on our sense of smell and taste? We all know that there is a little more to it than that. Plating and visual appeal helps change our perception of food. It takes us to an experiential level of enjoyment — one that can transport us from the dinner table to a high end restaurant, or moment abroad. It allows us to appreciate the smaller, intricate dimensions of flavor and texture that creates the space for a more refined and unique experience.

But how do we achieve this without the complexity shown by most high end chefs?

After doing this for many years, I have come to realize that good food and recipes aren't hard to find. Everywhere you look, every food blogger, magazine, blog, and Instagram post can send you in a new direction. Instead of inundating you with more complex recipes, my forte here is to take what we already know and refine it, tweak it, and repackage it so that it’s not just a recipe anymore, but a newfound beautiful experience, a complex dish that feels unique and refined in an effortless and simple way.

In today's overly consumed world, beauty feels like unattainable perfection. It’s something we continually aspire to but don’t feel we can often achieve, leaving us feeling as though we haven't quite hit the mark. That’s not my intention here, or ever. My curation and perception of beauty will always be a sharing endeavor, one that I hope you can look at and say, “I can do this too!” so Instead of simply offering you a beautifully plated dish and stopping there, I'm going to take something that looks unattainable and break it down, step by step, so you can see just how to achieve it yourself.

Great tasting food is one thing, but it’s the plating and composition that allows us to truly experience food in its best form.

Remember, we eat with our eyes.

Fish

Appetizers should always be served in small portions — remember, there's a full meal still to come and abundance is not always beautiful. Simplicity can be the ultimate sophistication, and dishes usually look more refined when kept minimal and small. When serving fish, whether it is sliced raw, diced tartare, or small piece of cooked salmon, the principles stay the same. Accompanying your fish with some thinly shaved colorful radishes, creams, broths, diced vegetables or herbs (in the form of a salsa or gremolata), and then finishing with Maldon salt and microgreens is what takes it from home dish to chef cuisine. All these components help to add flavor, texture, and most importantly color! Microgreens are now available in most kosher supermarkets, and no longer reserved for high-end chef’s kitchens. Just a few on a plate goes far to add freshness and color in an understated and refined way.

How to — Raw Fish:

Start by placing sliced crudo, seared tuna squares, or diced raw fish onto the plate. Keeping to odd numbers helps visually, so three or five (depending on what you’re serving) is a good number to start with. Don't center the protein — plating off center helps create visual interest and feels less constrained. Place avocado cream slightly over the tuna to the side of each slice, then layer on julienned cucumbers or any other diced fruit or vegetables. You can also place all components down the center if preferred, just make sure you can visually see the fish. Ensuring that all components are visually showing helps create layers of texture and color that all add to a unique visual experience.

Next, drizzle the fish with flavored oil, dressing, herbed salsa, or another dressing that accompanies the dish. Remember, perfection is not key here — a natural drizzle around the food keeps things interesting and organic. Place thinly sliced radishes around, on, or against the fish in an inconsistent random pattern, then finish with Maldon salt, lime zest, and a delicate amount of microgreens.

How to — Cooked Fish:

A cream is a great base for any cooked protein. Start by placing the cream in the center of the bowl. You can also do this with any grain of choice. Place salmon over the cream. If using a broth, pour a small amount of broth slowly around the cream. It should feel like a delicate undertone to the dish, not a soup bowl. Finish with thin slices of radish for more color and interest, some microgreens and Maldon salt. A lemon or lime wedge can be used here too.

How to — Family Style:

The same principles can be applied to plating family style. Lay the fish out on a simple neutral tray over a colorful mash or grain and finish with the components mentioned above. Microgreens, shaved radishes, and different dressings will turn a simple main protein into a composed dish. To fill extra space or turn this into more of a board-style presentation, add large rustic pieces of fresh parsley or cilantro, different types of crackers (alongside raw fish), shaved colorful vegetables, and wedges of limes or lemons.

TIP: You’ll notice that all my plates and serving dishes are very neutral. Choosing the right format of plate helps create visual interest. A minimal aesthetic allows for beautiful colors to stand out and the food to hold its own. Busy or colorful serving trays take away from the fresh visual appeal and interest of the food itself. When shopping, look for large neutral or white dishes that are big enough to hold empty space so the food can have some breathing room — remember, food should not be overcrowded. Overflowing platters are just not as visually appetizing.

Soup

Soups come in all shapes and forms. Creamy, chunky, brothy, standard chicken soups — you know what they are. They're all great and they all have their place, but when entertaining, my go-tos tend to be either creamy or broth-based ones that I can dress up, because it is significantly more pretty when we do?

A broth-based soup can seem simple at first, but a slight change in how you serve it can make it feel sophisticated and unique for entertaining. Any broth-based soup can work here — Thai coconut, miso-based, chicken-based — paired with interesting components and finished with some fresh herbs. Rare sliced beef or slow cooked pulled meat, steamed or charred vegetables, raw vegetables, or even a poached egg are all components you can play around with, depending on the soup you’re making. But here's where you can take it up a notch. Instead of serving it as an already plated and dished up bowl (which of course you can), we serve the bowl first with all the interesting components plated inside and the broth is poured table side. It’s what you might see at a high end restaurant, and it’s fun for the times you're looking to create a more refined and interesting dinner ambiance.

How to — Broth:

Place pulled short ribs in a shallow bowl together with roasted tomatoes and roasted cauliflower, then add a small bunch of microgreens in the center. Serve the bowl to your guests and pour your broth tableside from a small glass jar.

Creamy soups are even easier when it comes to plating. Every creamy soup needs a good topping for crunch and texture and a simple drizzle of savory yogurt (non dairy works too) or drizzle of herbed or spicy oil for color and dimension. Sauteed mushrooms, shaved crispy brussel sprouts, confit tomatoes, shaved asparagus, crispy bacon bites, fresh herb gremolata, chopped nuts, spicy oils - are all the different ways high end chefs take simple creamy soups and add new dimension to create something that feels and looks more composed and interesting.

How to — Creamy:

Pour creamy soup into a shallow bowl. If you have an orange or green creamy soup, add a savory yogurt swirl; for white creamy soups, a herb or spicy oil will work. Remember, we want that contrast and color to pop. To finish, add some sautéed mushrooms, herb oil, finely chopped pistachios, and delicate microgreens.

Meat

Fresh herbs, nuts, and spices, layered with velvety vegetable creams, cooked grains, and simply prepared proteins, is how I take a composed restaurant dish and simplify it for the home cook. I love that this blueprint gives me unlimited variations without feeling complex or difficult to execute. It gives me a composed and beautifully plated dish, without having to cook multiple sides and multiple dishes. What I put on the table feels simple and sophisticated and comes together in a thought out and effortless way.

The proteins here are interchangeable — the good thing about creams and cooked grains is that many and most cuts of meat and chicken would work. Don't have filet mignon? A simple lamb chop would work perfectly too. Prefer slow cooked over medium rare? Try pulled short ribs, lamb, or flanken over the mash. I love a versatile dish, because it’s ever changing. It means that once we've mastered the different components, we’re able to change it up ourselves, and use it over and over again without getting bored.