Product Description

Feast your eyes.


Long awaited by professional chefs, this groundbreaking guide to food presentation will also delight and inspire culinary students and sophisticated home cooks. Acclaimed food writer and culinary producer Christopher Styler describes seven distinctive plating styles, from Minimalist to Naturalist to Dramatic, with several striking examples of every genre. Each plating suggestion is accompanied by clear instructions along with color photos of step-by-step techniques and finished plates. Complete with essays on plating from ten leading chefs and recipes for the dishes featured, this book is a work of art in itself--a must for the kitchen shelf.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14415 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Review
"...this is no ordinary cookbook...it is a compilation of ideas" (Library Journal, October 15, 2006) "Professional and home cooks...can take culinary presentation to the next level by learning the secrets of contemporary food styling." (Cakes & Sugarcraft, Autumn 2007) "Professional and home cooks who are passionate about food can take culinary presentation to the next level..." (Inspired by Food, Summer 2008)

In the world of cooking, presentation is every bit as important as flavor. This idea is critical for restaurants, where a dish's appearance could determine the difference between excellent reviews and bankruptcy. Enter Styler's new work, a step-by-step recipe manual for home cooks interested in making their dishes look as good as they taste. This is no ordinary cookbook; think of it as a compilation of ideas. Ten of the nation's top chefs here introduce eight styles of plating. Delineated by chapters focusing on the art and principles of plating, the brief but packed text allows readers to indulge in various styles, including "Minimalist," "Artist," "Architect," "Contemporary European Style," "Asian Influence," and "Desserts: Classic and Contemporary." The book features photographs of chefs preparing dishes and is sparsely designed with an eye to beauty, allowing food design to take center stage. Styler doesn't seek to be an authority on plating but instead hopes that this work will serve as an introduction to the art. Highly recommended for large public libraries.
—Steven G. Fullwood, Schomburg Ctr. Lib., New York (Library Journal, October 15, 2006)

"Professional and home cooks…can take culinary presentation to the next level by learning the secrets of contemporary food styling." (Cakes & Sugarcraft, Autumn 2007)

“Professional and home cooks who are passionate about food can take culinary presentation to the next level…” (Inspired by Food, Summer 2008)

"...take culinary presentation to the next level by learning the secrets of contemporary food styling." (Inspired by Food, Winter 2008)

From the Inside Flap
An inspiring book for professionals andsophisticated home cooks who wantto take their skills to the next level,Working the Plate goes beyond adding adrizzle of something here or a sprig ofsomething there to explore both the principlesand the art of food presentation. Christopher Styler shares the secrets of seven contemporaryplating styles: The Minimalist, The Architect, The Artist, Contemporary European Style, Asian Influences, The Naturalist, and DramaticFlair. He also reveals the thoughts of ten leading chefs on the art of plating, from Terrance Brennan and Emily Luchetti to Suzanne Goin and Marcus Samuelsson.

Working the Plate includes several examples of each plating style. Stunning color photographs show both finished plates and the steps involved to duplicate the techniques behind such dishes as Roasted Quail with Chard and Potatoes, Parmesan Crusted Lamb Chops with Swirled Root Puree and Pea Sauce, Skate and Angel Hair Pasta with Caper Butter, Soba-Tofu Salad in a Nori Cone, and Bird's Nest Brunch.

Plating provides the all important first impression and sets the stage for the sensoryexperience of enjoying a great meal. With this overview of popular plating styles, you'll see how you can vary approaches and add adistinctive dash of élan and panache to the dishes you serve.

Discover the plating philosophies of these renowned chefs:

Wayne Harley Brachman, Porter House, New York, NY

Terrance Brennan, Artisanal, Picholine, New York, NY

Andrew Carmellini, A Voce, New York, NY

Suzanne Goin, Lucques, AOC, Los Angeles, CA

Sharon Hage, York Street, Dallas, TX

James Laird, Restaurant Serenade, Chatham, NJ

Emily Luchetti, Farallon Restaurant, San Francisco, CA

Tadashi Ono, Matsuri, New York, NY

Kent Rathbun, Abacus, Jasper's, Dallas, Texas

Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit, Riingo, New York, NY

From the Back Cover
Feast your eyes.

Long awaited by professional chefs, this groundbreaking guide to food presentation will also delight and inspire culinary students and sophisticated home cooks. Acclaimed food writer and culinary producer Christopher Styler describes seven distinctive plating styles, from Minimalist to Naturalist to Dramatic, with several striking examples of every genre. Each plating suggestion is accompanied by clear instructions along with color photos of step-by-step techniques and finished plates. Complete with essays on plating from ten leading chefs and recipes for the dishes featured, this book is a work of art in itself—a must for the kitchen shelf.

Customer Reviews

Not worth the money
For the cost of this book I would go with anything else. The pictures are of nice quality...but they lack the angle or proper instruction to assemble the same plate.

Just Awful
The photography is horrible and the plating technique are not only dated, but little detail is given to re-creating them. A complete waste of money and time spent trying to glean something useful out of it.

If you are a novice and do not know any better you might pick up something useful, although if you are a professional this book is not worth it.

not inspiring and not informative
Some nice pictures...many cookbooks have better. No discussion on style or technique and certainly no recipes worth buying the book for. Check it out at a bookstore or library before you purchase it...watching a food network show will give you more information on plating than this book will in my opinion. There is also the fact this book is TINY, not worth the money or a second look it is so lacking in information. So disappointing. I was at least expecting pictures of several presentations of different courses even if there was not a lot of explanation, a picture is truly worth a thousand words when developing this skill. Did I mention this book is a big disappointment.