Plating takes quirky twist in restaurants

Eating out has long stopped being just about the food; dining has become an experience, and a ‘fine’ one at that. Restaurants try to awaken all five senses of diners from the moment they walk in, be it the smell of great food cooking, the crackling sounds of some dishes and most importantly the visual experience. Plating or presentation plays an important role in a restaurant, say experts, because most people tend to eat with their eyes first and then taste it.

Chennai eateries have diversified greatly in experimenting with plating and that’s why you can get to eat appetisers out of a dhobi’s iron box or pour sauce over your steak from choppu jaman (miniature kitchen play set for kids). Executive Chef Balaji Natarajan at Park Hyatt couldn’t agree more. “A person dresses well for an interview because the first impression is created when the interviewers look at him/her. Similarly, a dish’s presentation is very vital because it creates an impression on the diner and this can either make or break the appetite,” he explains.

Vinayak S, a data analyst based in the city, says he’s more than thrilled about this. “Taking pictures of my food has become a lot more fun and my social media accounts have a lot more of pop and colour than before,” says the 26-year-old, who is planning to curate a food photography blog with the pictures he’s taken. “I remember drinking a cocktail called Darth Rum out of a camera lens-shaped mug at a resto-bar — I thought it was really cool. Attention to small details like this is what will potentially keep people coming back to restaurants I suppose,” he adds.

While dining at Spice Klub, one can notice that the restaurant actually encourages you to ‘play’ with your food. “We want our clients to have fun while eating so we decided to experiment with the format in which we serve commonly known dishes such as vada pav and pani puri,” says the outlet’s manager Darshan Nichani. True to their word, diners can have a whale of time using the Dexter’s Lab-like equipment to eat something as mundane as chaat — the spicy water comes in test tubes that need to be emptied into the puri shells, followed by a squeeze of tamarind-jaggery chutney with the help of a giant syringe!

We’re told by her friends that home chef Sheela Thomsan’s Christmas lunch and dinner spreads are to “die for” because of the presentation and taste of course. So, she reveals the magic behind making food look good:

Unusual cutlery: Look beyond stainless steel or ceramic plates/bowls to serve the food in. “If you’re putting together a cheese platter for an evening of wine, serve in on a clean wooden chopping board. Buy some woven or plastic morams (kitchenware used for sifting) to serve rotis,” suggests Sheela.

Keep it simple: If your serving container has prints or any textures then keep the plating simple. A clutter of too many elements or splashes of sauces will be an overkill. She says, “Stack your elements neatly — I find that lesser and odd numbers of elements like three slices of meat or one swatch of sauce works best.”

Layer the food for depth: Often, the presentation tends to fall flat if all the elements appear two-dimensional. Stacking them neatly on different planes to create some height makes the dish appear to have depth. Chef Balaji shares, “Even when we judge culinary competitions, presentation is one of the most important factors we evaluate. So, make sure you wipe any spills or splashes once you’re done arranging before you present.”

Use your creativity: There is no limit to experimenting with colours, elements, textures, flavours, cutlery, angles, garnishing, and so on. “Be as creative as possible and this could go a long way,” concludes Sheela.