Plate Presentation

[owcm]

Hi there. I was wondering if anyone out there can help me. I work at a steak and seafood restaurant and my owners have been all over me lately to come up with new plate presentations and I have to admit that is one of my weaknesses, anyway my question I guess is is there a good site to go to that has alot of plate presentations that I could look at to give me ideas or any good books to look at. Any help would be appreciated. talk to you all later

[nowIamone]

Add height. It builds curiosity as it travels through the dining room, so it helps sell also.

We have a standard special that adds shrimp to the steak. Three prawns brushed with a seasoned oil, put of a skewer and grilled. They are "speared" into the steak and sent to the table standing in the air. (Soak the skewers in water; shrimp should stay at the bottom of the skewer, within only a 3/4 of inch or so, keeps the center of gravity and the weight of the shrimp at the bottom so they balance well. If the steak has a bone, stick it in right at the bone, but always place the shrimp well in to the plate so if they fall over they stay on the plate. Keep a used beer bottle at dishwash station to place the used skewers in, loose in the garbage they play havoc with the garbage bags.) Once one of these makes their way to the dining room, they sell & sell.

We market our steamed king crab legs in a wide, heavy based water glass, stand them upside down, scoop ice around the base, for weight. We add some kale for greens at the top and a lemon slice speared on a cocktail fork. They are set on a plate, with the tools, napkins and a ramekin of butter. Once again easily seen, by other tables.

[AprilB]

Look at caterer sites, restaurant sites...Look at the food styles of tv or magazine advertisements. (geared towards making you really really hungry...)

What caliber of steakhouse are we talking about?

April

[robertlorimer]

I agree that height attracts attention, it gets the diners talking about the food and they get really involved!
I use spaghetti crisps on two of my dishes to attract attention, it also gives a different texture to the dish.
whatever you do for the presentation, keep it simple and dont overstretch the kitchen, it will come back and bite you during service.

[owcm]

thanks for the tips everyone. keep them coming.

[Donkey_Farmer]

Keep the #'s odd 3,5,7. Try the 3 point or even 5 point ( these are consistanly effective round plate presentions). Over done they become less impressive. I know this sounds a little sickening, buuut make the components snuggle on the plate. try pulling them all to the center. And also, white space sells.

Peace,
DF

oh yes the height/footprint ratio is also important............................