#trending Food Plating Techniques And Ideas For A Visual Feast

Making a great first impression with your dishes is crucial for not only wowing diners but also making sure that they return to dine again. That’s why food plating is important and something we believe every chef should invest time into mastering.

If you’re looking to up your food plating game, stay ahead of the curve by incorporating and building on these food plating and presentation techniques.

What are the best food plating ideas and trends?

Like any art form, food plating trends come in and out of style, but there are a few classics that are timeless for any kitchen. Give each of these a try and see what your favourite for your kitchen is!

1.    Vertical forms

This trend is one of the most popular ways to upscale a dish and focuses on height. It can include sculptures or food the is built up in layers. Dishes can have the elements stacked or leaning over each other at harsh angles – altogether this trend creates a very striking dish and is a way of plating food for photography. This technique is especially great for food plating a steak.

2.    Landscaping

If Vertical Form isn’t for you and your kitchen, you might want to try the opposite trend – Landscaping. Like a landscape garden, this trend presents dishes in a low and long format and relies on long, flat, narrow serving ware.

3.    Clock face

Based on the familiar shape of a clock, this trend is known as classical plating and is an easier winner for food plating for beginners. Chefs began using this plating technique in the 1960s and it's stood the test of time. Picturing your plate as a clock face, your protein would sit between three and nine o’clock, your starch from nine to twelve and your remaining dish elements from twelve to three. This technique is especially great for food plating for hearty dinners or comfort food.

4.    Scaling

This technique is great to bring an element of whimsy to your plate. Scaling involves arranging food into a pattern similar to the scales of a fish. This technique works particularly well with potatoes, fruit, flower petals or even thinly sliced fish.

5.    Hide and seek

Another more playful technique, this trend involves concealing elements of the dish by layering all the element on top of each other. This is a great way to surprise diners and release elements of the dish at controlled moments.

6.    Nordic

Nordic is another one of the timeless techniques which has a Scandinavian influenced, minimal style. This technique is especially great for food plating for fresh, natural produce and typically works best when ingredients are left in their purest forms. For any chefs working with fresh, local produce we highly recommend the Nordic trend.

7.    Angles

Playing with angles and using other elements of your dish to emphasise the angle of your hero element is an extremely impactful trend. Studies show that people prefer items to be plated at zero degrees (or twelve o’clock). Therefore, plating your hero element in the centre of your plate facing upwards and then emphasizing this with the other elements of your dish arranged diagonally can look great.

8.    Free Form

The trend is the ultimate abstract food plating and garnishing technique – and arguably the most fun. Like a painting, free form may appear thoughtless but each swirl of sauce and food placement has been creatively chosen to have the appearance of random but intriguing pattern. Free form has pretty much no rules and is great for food plating for sauces.  

9.    Bathing

Bathing is a pretty self-explanatory trend – it involves having your core dish sit in a pool of sauce or jus. This trend works best when your sauce is bright or eye-catching and requires dish elements that are perfect for soaking up flavour.

What is the best food presentation trend?

Now that you’ve mastered food plating trends it’s time to think what you’ll be serving them on. Your plates and crockery matter a lot when it comes to finishing the impression you want your food to create.

·      Triangle plates

This uncommonly shaped plate is perfect for dishes which have a naturally smaller end and a naturally larger end. Dishes with which have a strong main element really stand out on triangular plates. Consider them for your statement desserts.

·      Square plates

Square plates have been particularly popular over the last few years, especially for Asian cuisine. Their straight clean lines can add an angular element to your dish and are perfect for arranging your dish in the rule of thirds.

·      Round plates

Round plates are the most popular and universal shape to grace tables. They’re timeless and a classic way to naturally frame food. Although one thing to note with round plates is that you should avoid placing items in the centre of the plate so as to keep your plating visually intriguing.  

·      Rectangular plates

Rectangular plates look great but only work with some foods. They require dishes where the food is naturally long and narrow and are often used as sharing plates as they stretch across place settings. Using garnishes to help the eye travel down the length of the plate can also look great.