Food for Thought

The Art of Presentation

Words and Photos by RoseMary Diaz

“Keep it simple yet expressive,” advise the authors of “The Plating Manifesto.” Pictured here: dinner setting with lamb chops with red chile raspberry glaze, green and white salad (arugula, brussels sprouts, celery, green apple, pear, fresh dill), and bread. 

Extravagant food presentations have been part of the culinary arts story for centuries. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome, affluent nobles staged elaborate feasts that indulged the exotic and seemingly boundless tastes of courtly society. Offering splendid arrays of virtually every gourmet possibility of the time to the well heeled and powerful, these over-the-top displays, replete with crystal, silver, gold, and ivory service, showcased the wealth and status of the host. Excess was the name of the game.

Medieval banquets were no less impressive, awing guests with vast assortments of delectables, including sculpted foods, molded jellies colored with spices and vegetable-based distillations, and baked creations from which live birds were expelled when cut open.   

In the early nineteenth century, French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, known professionally as Antonin Carême and considered by some to be the world’s first celebrity chef, introduced the art of plating to the privileged milieu of Napoleon Bonaparte. The display of food, perhaps most notably pastries, quickly became the focal point of the formal dining experience among the elite of his era. Carême elevated the culinary experience to near performance art and his ideas would eventually become templates for presentation in modern haute cuisine. His penchant for decadent presentation was reflected in his fanciful techniques, where placement and color were of utmost importance, and his commanding pièces montées, table decorations sculpted in sugar, were often part of the culinary scape and splendor.    

The twentieth century brought even greater emphasis to plating, which began to move away from the long-employed method of piling various foods onto a single dish. More thoughtful arrangements were now en vogue, with color and geometry lending balance and order to the plate and, by extension, to the general atmosphere of the table. In the latter half of the century, nouvelle cuisine, influenced in part by the more minimalist approaches found in the time-honored Japanese traditions of bento box and kaiseki design, ushered in an era of simpler, yet exacting, styles of plating and presentation. 

Today, fine dining is a fusion of this culinary backstory, with Carême’s elaborate plating and the spare style of nouvelle cuisine and kaiseki both influencing the innovations and aesthetic preferences of contemporary chefs and food connoisseurs.   

In their article “The Plating Manifesto: From Decoration to Creation,” Ophelia Deroy and coauthors assert an approach to plating that diverges from the “more functional and decorative purposes of plate ware, and puts experiments in visual presentation at the heart of modernist culinary expression.”  

The manifesto also notes that the best food presentations are likely to bear on all three key components of pleasure: expectation, experience, and memory. That is, a successful presentation is informed by the expectations of the diner upon their initial beholding of the culinary offerings, the experience of indulging in them should engage a sensorial response, and the setting should either evoke a memory already in place or create or inform a new one.     

As the culinary arts become more individually expressive, so too has presentation. Efficiency of form and function are no longer the only considerations when it comes to entertaining with food—creativity and a touch of personal flair have also become hallmarks of haute cuisine. Many top chefs are drawing inspiration for their food presentations from their layered culinary and cultural heritage. Vietnamese American chef Jack Lee created a gourmet version of the humble egg roll, which he tops with sevruga caviar and gold leaf and pairs with a fresh raspberry and sauvignon blanc dipping sauce. Santa Fe chef, author, food historian, and James Beard Foundation Award winner Lois Ellen Frank serves many of her traditionally inspired Native American recipes in handwoven baskets set upon handloomed Navajo textiles. 

Using long-loved or newly acquired treasures can make for memorable settings. Left: Birthday table with Sleeping Beauty cake, dill-garlic popcorn, and sweet rides. Right: Martini service.

Here are a few things to consider when setting a memorable table or buffet: 

• Highlight the main ingredient to create a notable first impression.
• Plate clockwise and serve an odd number of food categories. 
• Balance color, variety, portion size, and nutritional value. 
• Focus on color arrangement, balance of textures, contrasting tastes, and ease of eating. 
• Match garnishes and decorations to the table’s theme. 
• Keep it simple yet expressive. 

And keep in mind that plating should not be seen merely as decoration but as an integral part of the multisensory eating experience.    

The arrangement of place settings is also an opportunity to indulge one’s unique sense of style. Though there are rules of service placement to be observed when setting a table, especially for formal occasions, the possibilities are virtually endless when it comes to dinnerware, glassware, serving utensils, centerpieces, and the like. Fruit and dessert service need not be confined to conventional forms of presentation, but instead might be offered in fun and unexpected ways that enhance both the table and the conversation.  

As with any artistic endeavor, finding one’s own voice when it comes to culinary entertaining may take some time and a bit of practice. But for the novice and the professional chef alike, the table can serve as a canvas of sorts, upon which to create a tasteful and tasty masterpiece in full, living color.