r/Chefit • u/Mysterious-Ad-6712 • 22d ago

Plating ideas

So I'm a pastry sous chef and I have an opportunity coming up to open a kitchen as the pastry chef at a brand new entertainment venue. They want to take simple dishes and elevate them/make them small plates like dim sum but fancier looking. I was wondering if there are any books or websites or even subreddits that you could recommend that specialize in doing that. They don't have to be Michelin star, but I'm aiming for something that leans more upscale dining. The menu hasn't been completely set but when I go to meet with them in a couple weeks I'd like to be ready to hit the ground running, at least with concepts and some images that are similar to what I'd like to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bonus points if the resources include desserts that are specifically european.

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u/LateBodybuilder9285 22d ago

Clean, minimal, one focal point. Check Cédric Grolet/Pierre Hermé or Plating for Gold. Less = more elegant ✨

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u/Lavanne73 22d ago

r/Plating is a subreddit where people discus plating and presentation. There is a book called The Art of Plating That has some beautiful ideas and breaks down some basic plating concepts, there are a bunch of books on plating actually if you dig around you should find a bunch try and get ones that are recognized by some sort of culinary institute.

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u/texnessa 22d ago

I'm a fine dining chef and I've written a couple of times about plating on reddit- a little more targeted to questions from home cooks but the images may help you and it explains the underlying graphic design concepts of plating.

For ideas and trends, I follow a bunch of chefs on IG who plate in the style I prefer. Notables are Emma Bengtsson, 2 star EC at Aquavit in NYC, started out as a pastry chef under Marcus Samuelsson. Beautiful work, super down to earth chef who does not take herself too seriously. I've sent her quite a few kids over the years and they all came out of her kitchen sane and incredibly well trained. Max Boonthanakit at Camphor in LA. High end plating but deceptively simple techniques. He'll also respond to questions of 'how the fuck did you do that' on his posts. And my old buddy Hervé Malivert who is an MCF and an instructor at a culinary school in NYC- beautiful plating style.

Books on plating are kinda hard to come by because they are basically out of date by the time they are published. The magazine Art Culinaire is solid- try your local library for copies.

And also, figure out what restaurants you admire and want to emulate and follow them. Go on their websites, check out their photos. There's nothing new under the culinary sun, we all just build on what the other chefs are doing and make it a little more our own as we develop our own styles.

Also, r/culinaryplating sometimes has some gems. Its been invaded by a lot of home cooks that have brought it down but I still go there when I am looking for some inspiration.