The lie on the plate

[Anansi]

So food stylists are becoming ever more popular in the culinary industry. I find this problematic in that they create dishes with a level of allure that cannot be matched by actual edible cuisine. The fact of the food looking as such it pulls in customers only to disappoint them with food that neither looks nor tastes like they desired. Its an insult to the consumer and frankly you have ordered it and not knowing till it comes you have made a commitment to your meal. Its quite unfair to the industry as a whole, it creates a standard most chefs not to mention chefs cannot live up to as well as insulting customers with food they feel is subpar due to the high standard they have set.

 

[Misha Hiroki]

Actually, a lot of restaurants I've been to have managed to live up to the delectable looking wax sculptures they put into the menu photographs. I'm not saying that all of them have done this, but most entrees and some desserts managed to look just as exquisite in front of me as it did in the menu. As for those that don't manage to live up to it, perhaps they're too busy to do it perfectly for anyone that night, which while still hurting their credibility, is understandable if you continue to look at the chef from a normal human being's perspective rather than that of an elitist's.

 

[Anansi]

Oh no some do live up to it, but I speak of the ones who use people who use methods with actual food. The steak looks moister and more perfect than you can make a real one thats made to order. The burgers look full, the salad delicious and fresh not slightly wilted by the heat because the patty is ice cold though it looks cooked. I mean most desserts turn out the same way as the pictures but appetizers and entrees fall short. Sometimes things just can't be cooked that way every time. I completely understand it from the che'fs point of view my thing is I want restaurants to do away with pretension and simply place on the plate what they intend to actually serve. Food stylists use glue and wires to make certain items look far more complex and inviting than can be replicated with normal means though some of them do surprise.

 

[Misha Hiroki]

But not doing it is bad for business. For every one person like you who notices that their food doesn't look like what the stylist put on the menu, there are tens of thousands of people who really just don't give a fuck. If they stopped getting stylists to make their food look good on the menu as a first impression, then the regular people would notice that it doesn't look good and they would stop buying the food because of it. Ergo, restaurants lose that much more money.

 

[Anansi]

Then how did restaurants make money before the stylists? Many restaurants had far more power before the stylist and how many of those tens of thousands are repeat customers?

 

[Misha Hiroki]

Because people back then were far less vain than they are now.

 

[Anansi]

Because people back then were far less vain than they are now.

I know..I just wanted to have a topic about food hehehe but seriously my only real problem is with people who don't try. Menu shows something delicious and on the plate it neither looks nor taste anywhere near.

 

[dramamine213]

I'll have to agree with Anasi. I get a little disappointed when the food looks NOTHING like what was on the menu, but I do try to take in where it is I'm eating to set my expectations.

Like IHOP. I seriously don't expect my burger or chicken sandwich or my eggs even to look close to what's on the menu. The main reason for that expectation is I can see who works there. A bunch of people who have the look of desperation and dispair on their face. The waitstaff are obviously fake-happy. Even the managers look down and rarely make eye-contact. I know this is only applicable to my area, but I can see by the overall attitude of this specific location why my food comes the way it does. They don't want to be there and numbers are what's important. They only have so much repeat business because it's one of the only places to eat at 4am.

At some of the finer places to eat, it's a little different. Usually, when my food comes to the table, it looks like some care was put into placing it in it's containers and arranged in a marginally time consuming manner. I appreciate this because this is part of the experience you're paying for when you eat there. So my expectations are a little higher there.

I can say that I have spoken to chefs to let them know that I appreciate their time and attention to detail, or to have him inform his staff of such, and they always seem to look more relaxed and/or excited to actually have someone tell them these things. I'm not sure how often they hear such things, but I do wish more people would tell them. I think, in some places, that if morale was a little better that we might see better looking food coming to our table, but that's just an opinion I hold.

Better tasting food is a whole other story.

 

[BlisteredBlood]

Presentation is also key. How do you think Gordon Ramsey has been getting it through those heads of wanna-be chefs on Hell's Kitchen? All of that swearing up a storm and berating them in a visceral manner wasn't for shock value, ya know. Not only is better looking food a must, but the look and the taste of the food (as dramamine mentioned just now) are key elements in order to bring people to the restaurant, set their asses down in seats, eat whatever it is they brought out to them and ultimately pay for it plus tax plus a tip.

 

[Battleship44]

Whatever happned to the good ol' Penut butter jelly sandwich and a glass of orange juice you used to have every day as a kid and you'd be forever happy..Man, I miss 1988 ><

 

[Tathariel]

Whatever happned to the good ol' Penut butter jelly sandwich and a glass of orange juice you used to have every day as a kid and you'd be forever happy..Man, I miss 1988 ><

Lmao, I still do it.

But I have to say that lots of these resturants do show something that looks amazing but tastes terrible. Its always a turn off, and I usually dont bother going back.
Because of this, I have started cooking in my home more.

 

[Battleship44]

Honestly, Its more satisfying If you ger a recipie, and make your food yourself, and that feeling that your so awesome when It turns out great. Yes, I am a dude and I do cook every now and then, I shall not surrender my soul to mcdonalds!

 

[ArcturusV]

If I'm going out to a restaurant, I always try to pick a place nice enough not to have pictures on the menus. The good establishments I've been at, at any level, from greasy spoon to fine dining, just don't have pictures. Granted, so do the really bad places.