food presentation

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The Art of Food Presentation

Why is food presentation important? Here’s how plating techniques can create a multi-sensory experience for diners.

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You’re sitting down at that new restaurant everyone’s been raving about. The server at last brings out the plate… and you finally get it.

A savory spinach-and-feta crêpe that makes your mouth water just looking at it. A steaming bowl of butternut squash soup with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle of chives. Sparkling crimson raspberries floating in a fizzy flute of champagne.

Food is not just sustenance, but a rich experience . While taste is important, food that is plated and presented well is more attractive to customers and can set the tone for the entire restaurant.

Presentation and plating can draw attention to the specific ingredients in a dish, whether for aesthetic or practical reasons. For anyone considering a career as a chef , a strong grasp of plating and presentation techniques is vital for continued professional development. These skills help culinary professionals stand out as they train, stage, and begin to work in a variety of environments.

Why Is Food Presentation Important?

Think about a perfectly plated meal you’ve enjoyed that engaged all five of your senses. Maybe it was an expertly crafted uramaki roll with razor thin avocado slices, a dusting of panko, a drizzle of unagi eel sauce, and a ginger-wasabi rose embellishing the plate’s rim. Between the greens and oranges, the spicy and salty, the shapes and textures of the garnishes… you may have decided to make the restaurant your go-to sushi joint.

An experience like that sticks with a customer for much longer than a meal that involves mediocre presentation, and creating that kind of memory is exactly what chefs are looking for. Well-executed food presentation can create a sense of professionalism in the mind of eaters and offers an exciting element of a meal that many can’t recreate with the same skill in their own cooking efforts.

In the digital age, strong presentation can also make dishes more apt to be photographed and shared via social media . While there are definitely pros and cons around the prevalence of pre-meal photos shared on sites like Instagram, it can be an effective way to generate attention and sales for many restaurants.

Food Plating Techniques

Important considerations to make regarding the element of appearance include the color, size, and pattern or texture of the plate.

It may be especially helpful to look at the plating and presentation process as generally following a series of steps. This starts with choosing a plate, then deciding how the main dish and core sides are arranged or layered. From there, it’s common to move onto sauces to create visual contrast and shapes that aren’t easily rendered with more solid food. Finally, the garnish provides a finishing touch.

Bright colors work well against a dark background, while more neutral or subdued colors can use a white background to create some visual excitement. Besides the colors of the foods, different techniques for adding color might include the use of sauces, spices, and garnishes like fruits or flowers.

Thinking about the ratio of food to plate is another technique that involves some artistry. Serving a smaller portion of food on a large plate for more white space, or serving dishes in miniature receptacles can be interesting ways to present food masterfully.

Of course, you have to balance practical and artistic considerations – food should never be difficult to eat nor excessively messy because of the vessel it’s served on or in.

Beyond plates and bowls, the arrangement of foods is key. There should be a star item, one that takes top billing and is also likely the largest portion on the plate. This approach avoids visual competition and instead allows the sides to support the main dish.

It’s also important to think in three dimensions, as the height of food on a plate can also entice diners. Stacking items for a layered look can be visually appealing and make the meal appear more substantial than it would scattered across the plate.

Skills Involved in the Plating Process

How can you make sure you plate effectively and provide the best possible presentation to customers? There are many different considerations, from how to incorporate sauces and garnishes to the knife skills needed for flourishes like a vegetable rosette, and the plate you use is undeniably foundational.

Many people get their start in culinary school .  Earning a culinary arts degree or diploma from Escoffier can help students explore techniques and hone skills in plating.  Talk to an Admissions Representative to explore your options.

Here are some other articles you might like:

• How Restaurants Get Michelin Stars: A Brief History of the Michelin Guide
• Gen-Z Food Habits & Influences
• The Latest in Food Tech

This article was originally published on February 20, 2019, and has since been updated.

*Information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors, such as geographical region or previous experience.

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The Art Of Food Presentation — Plating Like A Pro

• Shannon The Helpful Chef
• November 9, 2023

I’ve learned that food presentation is just as important as taste. When it comes to creating memorable dishes that wow customers. While taste is paramount, how the food looks on the plate is almost equally as important.

The visual presentation delights customers’ eyes before they even take their first bite. An artful presentation demonstrates care, creativity, and skill. It can turn an enjoyable meal into an unforgettable dining experience.

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In this blog post, I’ll share my tips and tricks for plating and presenting dishes. I’ve been a chef for 20-plus years and have learned a thing or two about plating food. Master these techniques to wow patrons and create Instagram-worthy culinary artwork with every meal.

Food Presentation Plating Like A Pro

Throughout my career as a chef, I’ve come to view each plate as a blank canvas. Waiting to be turned into an edible work of art. While the flavors and textures of a dish are crucial, elegant, and enticing.

The presentation takes the meal to the next level, delighting customers and showing them you’ve put care into every component. As any successful chef knows, food presentation and plating skills are well worth developing .

Start With Quality Ingredients

Truly, exceptional ingredients make the job easier. The freshest, properly butchered proteins and peak seasonal produce. They showcase their natural beauty with minimal preparation required. While technique is important, sourcing the best seasonal ingredients gives you an advantage.

Focus on Color And Contrast

One of the keys to eye-catching presentations is playing with vibrant colors and bold contrasts. I like to feature ingredients with bright natural hues like:

• Deep Greens — Spinach, arugula, fresh herbs, lettuce leaves, zucchini, fresh peas, and green beans.
• Rich Reds — Fresh tomatoes, red bell peppers, English radishes, red beets, radicchio, red leaf lettuce, and sliced red meats cooked med-rare.
• Sunny Yellows — Squash, yellow zucchini, golden beets, corn, and yellow beans.
• Earthy Browns — Mushrooms, jacket potatoes, taro, Jerusalem artichokes, and seared or slow-cooked meats.

Contrasting colors help each component stand out. For example, I’ll place a seared med rare red meat like beef rump next to arugula or roasted potatoes to make both stand out. Varying colors excite the eyes and spark joy on the plate.

Chefs Pro Tip — Use colorful ingredients to your advantage. Don’t complicate the process, when preparing each ingredient keep it fresh and simple. You will be amazed at what plating designs you can create.

Find Inspiration In Nature

I find endless inspiration for plating designs by observing the visual beauty inherent in nature. Notice compositions like seashell spirals, patterns in flower petals, or leaves fanned on a platter. Mimicking nature’s artistry through food is a constant source of ideas.

Allow Simplicity To Shine

Sometimes simple is best if I don’t overcomplicate a presentation . When the star ingredients speak for themselves. A pristinely seared fillet of salmon needs little more than an herb oil drizzle and chive garnish to impress. Allow quality ingredients and elegant simplicity to shine when appropriate.

Draw Plating Inspiration From Anywhere

I find plating inspiration almost everywhere. Nature, artwork, and even well-designed retail displays. Study what paints a pleasing visual picture and think about how to replicate it on the plate. Inspiration is endless for those with observant, creative eyes.

Pay Attention To Shapes And Height

When conceptualizing a dish, I always consider the natural shapes and heights of each element I’m including. Mixing and balancing the shapes and vertical dimensions makes the presentation more dynamic.

For instance, balls of zucchini are cut using a melon baller. Potatoes are cut into rectangular shapes. Spears of grilled asparagus can provide vertical lines next to rounded potato rosti. Or combine the height of a vegetable salad with the low profile of a sliced seared beef. Defining individual shapes gives a satisfying composition.

Food Presentation Go Vertical

Height adds drama and excitement to plated dishes. I build upwards with stacked ingredients like potato gratin, blanched broccolini, and a confit duck leg placed on top. Salads become more dynamic when ingredients are arranged vertically rather than tossed haphazardly across the plate. Reaching upwards with towers and heights naturally draws the diner’s eye in.

Incorporate Odd Numbers

When garnishing and portioning ingredients. Odd numbers do wonders when it comes to food presentation. Artful plating incorporates variety. Odd numbers of components like three ravioli or five haricots verts are more interesting than even pairs. The unevenness creates movement and delights the eye as it flows across the plate.

Play With Proportions

I carefully consider proportion when food presentation is the focus. The star of the dish is featured prominently with supporting sides artfully framed around. For example, an ample tenderloin takes center stage while the potatoes and vegetables are thoughtfully portioned as accents. Getting the proportions just right ensures an ideal bite each time.

Leave Negative Space

Don’t overcrowd or clutter the plate. I remind myself to leave ample negative space between the ingredients and leading up to the edges of plates and dishes. Negative space focuses the diner’s attention exactly where you want it. It also allows you to thoughtfully frame each component within the surrounding clean plate.

Consider Texture Contrasts

Beyond colors and shapes, textures add tactile variety and entice the appetite. I purposely pair contrasting textures like the juiciness of fresh tomato against the creaminess of mashed potatoes. A crispy crystalized chicken skin is another favorite. Varying textures excite both the palate and presentation.

Drizzle With Intent

One of my favorite plating techniques is taking advantage of the beautiful trail left when sauces and vinaigrettes are artfully drizzled onto the plate. I get creative with smears, straight lines, dots, and other patterns to adorn proteins or seasonal vegetables. Drizzling brings elegance through both taste and presentation.

Garnish With A Purpose

No plated dish is complete without a perfect garnish. Sprigs of fresh herbs, edible flowers, chopped nuts, and microgreens. These are my go-to garnishes to provide the final touch. I carefully select and position garnishes to complement other components. This is like a frame that completes a painting. This thoughtful detail finishes the food presentation.

Use Plating To Tell A Story

In my view, the best plating tells a thoughtful story. The ingredients, flavors, and preparation involved in crafting the meal are conveyed through a harmonious arrangement. Seasonality and passion come across in the details. This storytelling instills pride and attention to detail in my cooking.

Experiment With Plate Styles

An often overlooked plating tip is choosing plates, boards, and surfaces that complement the food. Patterns on plates can frame simply presented dishes. Wooden boards offer rustic charm while sleek slate can modernize a presentation. I get creative with my “canvas” to enhance the overall dining experience.

Develop Your Own Style

Just like with cooking techniques, plating has recognizable styles. Find what you love by looking at inspirational photos and experimenting. Over time, my personal plating preferences emerged into my signature style. Then I refined and perfected it. Maybe you prefer minimalist plates or architectural presentations. Your unique style is part of the art.

Practice Plating At Home

Even during home-cooked family meals, I practice plating in ways that feel fun and creative. The more you deliberately compose dishes with care, the more second nature beautiful presentation becomes. Use low-stakes at-home meals to hone your skills.

Invest In Quality Tools

Having quality tools at your fingertips facilitates plating success. I recommend investing in small spoons, tweezers, squeeze bottles, a melon baller, and other specialty items. The right kitchen tools allow you to intricately stack, drizzle, and embellish with ease. They’re essential for every aspiring platter.

Helpful Resources

• Chef’s Non-Negotiables That Separate the Amateurs from the Pros
• A Beginner’s Guide To Kitchen Slang Culinary Lingo All Aspiring Chefs And Cooks Should Know
• A Day In The Life Of A Chef Knives Fire And Passion
• Sourcing Seasonal Ingredients To Inspire Your Home Cooking

What Are Some Basic Plating Tips For Beginners To Improve Presentation?

Some basic plating tips are to start with evenly portioning ingredients. Use odd numbers for garnish. Use height to add dimension, and incorporate contrasting colors and textures. Leave negative space around components, and pay attention to the plate style. Even simple improvements can make a difference.

What Are Common Plating Mistakes To Avoid?

Here are some of the common plating mistakes to avoid. Crowding the plate, not leaving negative space. Lack of color contrast, sloppy or uneven drizzles. Overcomplicating the presentation, and poor proportions that don’t highlight the star ingredient.

A common mistake I see when cooks are plating food is the lack of height. They place everything on the plate which makes the dish look one-dimensional and boring. Another common mistake I see is minimal to no garnishes.

How Do I Come Up With Unique Plating Ideas?

Ways of coming up with unique plating ideas are drawing inspiration from nature, artwork, and other chef’s plating ideas. Also, telling a story about the dish’s flavor profiles can guide the presentation.

Final Thoughts

Perfectly executed taste with artful presentation creates a sensational dining experience. Mastering plating techniques demonstrates a passion for food and visual aesthetics that diners notice and appreciate.

I encourage all cooks and chefs to view every plate as a new opportunity to create food into an artistic showpiece. With practice, you can learn to plate dishes as skillfully as you craft the flavors. Turn every meal into a visually stunning culinary delight for patrons.

Skillful food presentation makes for an exciting dining experience. It touches all your senses and demonstrates the care and creativity the chef has put into the food. Food presentation it’s easier than you think.

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How to Beautifully Plate and Present Food

Last Updated: July 5, 2024 Approved

Starting With Beautiful Food

• Plating a Meal

Presenting Tricky Dishes

Expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by JoAnna Minneci . JoAnna Minneci is a retired Professional Chef based in the Nashville, Tennessee area. With 18 years of experience, Chef JoAnna specialized in teaching others how to cook through private cooking lessons, team-building events, and wellness and nutrition classes. She also appeared in numerous television shows on networks such as Bravo and Food Network. Chef JoAnna received Culinary Arts training from the Art Institute of California at Los Angeles. She is also certified in sanitation, nutrition, kitchen management, and cost control. There are 18 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, several readers have written to tell us that this article was helpful to them, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 616,321 times.

Things You Should Know

• Cook meals with a variety of colors and complementary textures to give your meal some visual appeal even before plating.
• Default to white plates, leave 1/3 of the plate empty, and add different foods in odd numbers to achieve a balanced look.
• Layer proteins or main courses on top of filler foods like rice or noodles, and use herb or sauce garnishes to add finishing touches.

• When you're planning meals, think ahead about the colors you want to feature on the plate. You might not be able to represent all the colors of the rainbow at every meal, but challenge yourself to have as much color as possible.
• If you realize you're about to serve several like-colored foods, like grilled chicken and mashed potatoes, adding a serving or two of fruits and vegetables is a fantastic and easy way to add pops of color. The richest greens, oranges, reds, purples, blues, pinks, and yellows on your plate probably take the form of fruits and vegetables.
• If you're not sure how to add color, utilize garnishes. [3] X Research source Nearly any savory dish is well-served by a sprinkling of fresh chives, parsley, dill, or mint. Lemon and lime wedges are welcome alongside poultry and seafood dishes.

• Lightly steam them instead of boiling them. [4] X Research source Steaming vegetables makes them look appetizing and flavorful, while boiling creates the opposite effect. [5] X Research source Take broccoli, for instance: steaming broccoli turns it a fresh, bright green, and each floret retains its shape and texture. Boiling broccoli results in a mushy texture and a paler color, which isn't as pretty on the plate. The same holds true for asparagus, carrots, green beans, and many other vegetables.
• Roast or sauté them with a little oil or butter. Roasted or sauteed vegetables look quite appetizing when they're allowed to caramelize a little in oil or butter. The bright orange or green of the vegetable is offset by brown, crispy spots. It's a delicious way to cook vegetables.

• There are exceptions to the rule of searing your meat. For example, if you're serving braised beef , you'll have to think of creative ways to make the meat look appetizing even though it doesn't have a crispy crust. Serving it with a sauce is a good way to add visual interest.

• Fried foods often continue browning a bit after they've been removed from the hot oil. Carefully monitor foods as you're frying them to make sure they don't get too dark.
• Take pains to handle the fried foods gently so they look appetizing when you're ready to plate them. For example, if you need to check whether a piece of fried chicken has reached the correct internal temperature, stick the meat thermometer in a place where the resulting hole won't be visible. [8] X Research source

• The way you handle the food just after it has been cooked, and before it is plated, can really affect the texture. Pasta, for example, should be kept in water or tossed in a bit of oil just after cooking so that it doesn't start to clump. [9] X Research source Fried foods should not be covered with airtight lids because the heat from the food will end up steaming the breading and causing the food to get soggy.
• Once the food is on the plate, a spritz of oil or water can improve its visual appeal if it looks too dry.

Plating it With Care

• That said, there are exceptions. If you have a set of special plates with a pattern or a certain color scheme, it's fine to use them. Just make sure they complement the food you're serving instead of vying for attention.
• Don't forget to take the rest of the table into consideration, too. Cutlery, glasses, and linens will enhance the overall appearance of the dish upon the table.
• When looking for interesting tableware, try going to Asian grocery stores, craft or flea markets, and antique stores. You can find some very interesting tableware from all of these sources.

• As a general rule, half of the food on the plate should be comprised of vegetables, one fourth should be comprised of meat or another protein, and one fourth should be comprised of a starch.
• Start plating food in the center of the dish and work outward from there so that the food is centered in the middle of the plate.

• To quickly add some crunch to a dish, try topping it with some crushed, roasted walnuts, almonds or pepitas.
• A dollop of crème fraiche or some pieces of goat cheese can add a soft, creamy texture to savory dishes. Whipped cream or pastry cream is a good way to add a soft element to sweet dishes.

• An easy way to start layering food is to serve the protein on a bed of starch. For example, serve a kabob on a heaping of rice, or serve grilled swordfish on a pile of mashed potatoes.
• You can use sauces to layer as well. Ladle a pool of au jus, marinara, or whatever sauce you're using into the center of the dish, and arrange the other elements of the dish on top.
• Aim to make foods look bigger, not smaller. Fluff up your salads, for example, instead of smoothing them down. Create a little cross-hatched stack of cooked asparagus instead of presenting it in one flat layer. [17] X Research source

Adding Appetizing Touches

• If you serve a dish with lemon or lime wedges, consider creating slender, pretty twists instead of slicing them into thick wedges. This might entice the diner to actually use the garnish instead of scooting it to the side of his or her plate!
• Think outside the box and use garnishes you might not normally consider. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon over a chicken dish, or a handful of pomegranate seeds over an otherwise ordinary salad. Choose garnishes that add a burst of both flavor and color.
• In many cuisines, flowers are an acceptable garnish or a large inedible leaf sitting underneath the food. In broader Western culture, it's recommended that nothing inedible be served on the plate. As well, since certain garnishes can affect the flavor, choose carefully.

• Rather than just pouring a sauce over your food, consider putting it in a squeeze bottle so you can create a pretty swirl or pattern. [19] X Research source If you don't have a squeeze bottle, put the sauce in a plastic food storage bag, cut a small piece off one of the corners, and squeeze the sauce through the bag.
• Don't overdo it. The key is to add a touch of color, flavor, and texture without overpowering the main part of the dish.

• If you're serving the pasta with a protein, arrange it attractively on the heap of pasta. For example, if the dish includes shrimp, place the shrimp on top instead of burying the pieces inside the pasta heap.
• Just before serving, you can mist the pasta with a bit of olive oil to make it glisten attractively.

• Soups and stews tend to splash and run, so it's also important to make sure that the sides of the bowl or plate you're serving them in are wiped clean before serving.
• Casseroles might also come out on the brown side. Serving them alongside a bunch of fresh salad greens is a good way to offset the neutral-looking main dish.

• Use a cookie cutter to create a neat shape. A star or leaf-shaped brownie will look more interesting than your basic square.
• Serve it with mint. Adding a few fresh sprigs is a great way to enhance many desserts, especially fruity ones.
• Sprinkle cocoa, cinnamon or powdered sugar on top. Choose the powder that contrasts in color to the dessert you made.
• Sprinkle crushed peppermints on top. It'll look like you topped your dish with pink glitter.
• Speaking of glitter, add edible glitter to the dish to take it over the top.
• When all else fails, plate it with a swirl of whipped cream. [23] X Research source You can pipe it through an icing bag fixed with a star-shaped tip to create a visually pleasing shape.

• Try keeping all presentation of the food relevant and simple. A nice formal dish is great for a celebration, but even simple meals can be improved with the addition of some herbs. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Read current cooking books and magazines for ideas. Your local library is a wonderful resource and many culinary magazines are now available for download, allowing you to read the recipes in the cooking area straight off your iPad, eReader, or other device. This also enables you to decorate a table with the electronic device as a reference! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• There are now plates that keep food hot (patented). An excellent final touch for certain delicious hot recipes (Especially if they are expensive and time-consuming to prepare). Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Things You'll Need

• Food magazines and cookbooks
• Ideal dinnerware and tableware
• Inspiration from recipes and restaurants/cafes that you like

You Might Also Like

• ↑ JoAnna Minneci. Professional Chef. Expert Interview. 23 November 2021.
• ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/13/plating-food_n_1763865.html
• ↑ https://www.webstaurantstore.com/article/200/basic-guide-to-food-presentation.html
• ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-steam-vegetables-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-108512
• ↑ https://www.professorshouse.com/steaming-versus-boiling-vegetables/
• ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-sear-meat-47333
• ↑ https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/learning-to-fry
• ↑ https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-use-a-meat-thermometer-article
• ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texture-of-food-cheap-spaghetti_n_5b60c302e4b0b15aba9d7d4e
• ↑ https://www.today.com/food/how-plate-your-food-pro-celebrity-chefs-reveal-their-secrets-2D80186757
• ↑ https://blog.kitchenaid.ca/10-tips-plating-food-like-a-pro/
• ↑ https://www.tablespoon.com/posts/how-to-plate-like-a-chef
• ↑ https://startcooking.com/seven-ways-to-present-food-like-a-chef
• ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/food/food-reviews/Plate-your-food-like-a-pro/articleshow/32962204.cms
• ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/tip-for-plating-pasta-perfectly-264049
• ↑ https://www.mirlandraskitchen.com/how-to-decorate-with-whipped-cream/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihxsCYijU20

About This Article

When you’re plating food, try to visualize what the finished product will look like. Only fill the plate about two-thirds of the way, since the negative space will accentuate the appearance of your food. As you add elements, remember that odd numbers look more appealing than even numbers, and try to group foods with different textures near each other. Stacking and layering foods is a good way to play with height, which can create even more visual interest on the plate. For tips on choosing garnishes to finish your dish, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Food Presentation 101: The Art of Plating and Garnishing by a Personal Chef

• October 20, 2023

The visual appeal of a dish is just as important as its taste. Presentation plays a significant role in how we perceive and enjoy food. Personal chefs are masters in the art of plating and garnishing, using creative techniques to transform a meal into a visually stunning masterpiece. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of food presentation and explore how a personal chef’s expertise can elevate your dining experience.

1. The Importance of Food Presentation

Food presentation is the first impression your meal makes on the senses. A beautifully plated dish entices the eyes, creating anticipation and setting the stage for an exceptional dining experience. The way a dish is presented can enhance flavors, highlight key ingredients, and elevate the overall enjoyment of the meal.

2. Balance and Composition

Personal chefs understand the importance of balance and composition when it comes to food presentation. They consider elements such as color, texture, shape, and height to create visually appealing plates. By artfully arranging components, they strike a harmonious balance that not only pleases the eye but also enhances the dining experience.

3. Artistic Plating Techniques

Personal chefs are skilled in a variety of artistic plating techniques that add flair and creativity to their presentations. From delicate drizzles and intricate sauces to geometric arrangements and layered compositions, they use these techniques to transform a simple dish into a work of art. These techniques showcase their attention to detail and their ability to transform ordinary ingredients into extraordinary presentations.

4. Garnishing with Flair

Garnishes are the finishing touches that complete a plate. Personal chefs use garnishes to add pops of color, texture, and flavor to their creations. From vibrant herb sprigs and edible flowers to crispy toppings and intricate vegetable carvings, garnishes provide a visual and gustatory delight that elevates the overall presentation.

5. Presentation for Special Occasions

Personal chefs excel in creating visually stunning presentations for special occasions and celebratory events. They can design elaborate displays, incorporate decorative elements, and use thematic plating techniques to evoke the desired mood and ambiance. Whether it’s a romantic dinner for two or a grand feast for a milestone celebration, a personal chef’s expertise in food presentation ensures that the dining experience is as memorable as the occasion itself.

Food presentation is an art form, and personal chefs are the artists who bring dishes to life on the plate. Through their mastery of balance, composition, artistic plating techniques, and garnishing with flair, they elevate the visual appeal of meals and create memorable dining experiences. So, indulge your senses, appreciate the artistry, and let a personal chef transform your meals into visual masterpieces that are as delightful to look at as they are to savor.

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The Art of Food Presentation: Elevate Your Culinary Creations

Uncover the secrets of Food Presentation and learn how to elevate your culinary creations to a new level. Discover the importance of plating and the techniques used by professionals.

Food presentation is an art that marries culinary skills with aesthetics. It's the secret weapon of chefs and food enthusiasts worldwide, transforming ordinary dishes into extraordinary culinary experiences. The way food is presented on the plate can influence our perception of taste, making it an essential aspect of the dining experience. This article will delve into the world of food presentation, providing insights and tips to help you elevate your culinary creations.

Food presentation goes beyond merely arranging food on a plate; it's about creating a visual feast to complement the flavors of the dish. It involves the careful placement of food, garnishes, and sauces to create a balanced and appealing look. The colors, textures, and shapes all play a crucial role in making the dish visually appetizing.

Rules of Food Presentation

The first rule of food presentation is to keep it simple. Overcrowding the plate can make it look messy and unappetizing. Instead, focus on the quality of the ingredients and let their natural beauty shine. Use a clean, white plate as your canvas and arrange the food in a way that highlights its colors and textures.

Contrast is another important element in food presentation. By contrasting colors, shapes, and textures, you can create a visually appealing plate. For example, a bright, crunchy salad can be paired with a creamy, soft pasta dish. The contrast in colors and textures will make the plate more visually appealing and exciting.

Garnishes are the finishing touches that can elevate a dish from good to great. However, they should not be used merely for decoration; they should enhance the flavor of the dish. Fresh herbs, edible flowers, and citrus zest are some examples of garnishes that can add a pop of color and flavor to your dish.

The arrangement of food on the plate is also crucial. As a general rule, the main ingredient should be placed at the center of the plate, with the side dishes and sauces arranged around it. This not only makes the plate look balanced but also allows each ingredient to shine.

Remember, the goal of food presentation is not to create a work of art, but to enhance the dining experience. By paying attention to the presentation, you can make your dishes more appealing and enjoyable. So, the next time you're preparing a meal, take a moment to consider how you can present it in a way that will delight the senses.

Food Presentation In Different Cultures

Food presentation is not a new concept. In fact, it has been a part of culinary traditions around the world for centuries. In Japan, for example, the art of food presentation, or "kaiseki," is considered an integral part of the dining experience. Similarly, in French cuisine, the presentation of food is given as much importance as the taste.

Here are a few examples of food presentation in different cultures:

Japanese Cuisine : Japanese food presentation focuses on simplicity, balance, and minimalism. Plates are often arranged with precision, showcasing the natural colors and textures of the ingredients. The use of bento boxes and compartmentalized dishes allows for the separation of flavors and prevents mixing of different components.

French Cuisine : French food presentation emphasizes elegance and artistry. Dishes are meticulously plated with attention to detail, creating a visually appealing arrangement. Sauces are often used to create intricate designs, and garnishes such as herbs and edible flowers are used to enhance the overall presentation.

Indian Cuisine : In Indian cuisine, food is often presented on a thali, a large round platter with multiple small bowls. Each bowl contains a different dish, providing a variety of flavors and textures. The arrangement of colors and the use of spices like turmeric and saffron add vibrancy to the presentation.

Chinese Cuisine : Chinese food presentation focuses on the balance of colors, textures, and flavors. The use of a lazy Susan allows for communal dining, with dishes placed in the center for everyone to share. Stir-fried dishes often incorporate a variety of vegetables and meats, creating a visually appealing mix of ingredients.

Middle Eastern Cuisine : Middle Eastern food presentation often includes a variety of mezze or small appetizer dishes. These are arranged on a large platter and served with bread, creating a communal dining experience. Garnishes such as fresh herbs, olives, and yogurt are used to add color and freshness to the presentation.

These are just a few examples, and food presentation practices can vary widely within each culture as well. The presentation of food not only reflects cultural traditions but also influences the dining experience by engaging multiple senses and creating a visually enticing meal.

Food Presentation in the Age of Social Media

In recent years, the importance of food presentation has been amplified by the rise of social media. With platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, food has become a visual medium, and presentation has become more important than ever. Chefs and home cooks alike are using these platforms to showcase their culinary creations, pushing the boundaries of food presentation.

While food presentation can seem daunting, it's something that anyone can master with practice. Start by observing how food is presented in restaurants and cookbooks, and don't be afraid to experiment with different techniques. Remember, the most important thing is to have fun and let your creativity shine.

Mastering Food Presentation: A Guide for Home Cooks

Whether you're a seasoned home cook or just starting your culinary journey, mastering the art of food presentation can take your meals to the next level. A well-presented dish not only pleases the eyes but also enhances the overall dining experience. From visual appeal to showcasing your skills, food presentation plays a crucial role in creating memorable meals. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore various techniques, tips, and tricks to help you become a pro at food presentation. From balancing colors to arranging garnishes and making your dishes look as good as they taste, this guide will equip you with the knowledge and creativity to create stunning plates that will impress your family and friends. Get ready to elevate your cooking to a whole new level and make your meals a feast for all the senses with our ultimate food presentation guide.

Food presentation is more than just a culinary technique; it's a form of expression. It allows chefs and home cooks to showcase their creativity and passion for food. So, whether you're preparing a meal for your family or hosting a dinner party, remember to pay attention to the presentation. After all, we eat with our eyes first.

So, are you ready to take your culinary creations to the next level? Start experimenting with different food presentation techniques and see how it can transform your dishes. Remember, the key to great food presentation is creativity, so don't be afraid to think outside the box. Happy cooking!

The Art of Plating: Techniques and Tips

The art of plating is a culinary skill that involves arranging food on a plate in a visually appealing way. It's a crucial aspect of food presentation that can enhance the dining experience and make a dish more appetizing. Here are some techniques and tips to help you master the art of plating:

Choose the Right Plate: The plate is your canvas, so choose it wisely. A white, round plate is a classic choice as it allows the colors of the food to stand out. However, don't be afraid to experiment with different shapes, sizes, and colors to add a unique touch to your presentation.

Create a Focal Point: Every dish should have a focal point that draws the eye. This could be the main ingredient or a striking garnish. Place this element in the center of the plate or slightly off-center for a more dynamic look.

Use Color and Contrast: Play with different colors and textures to make your dish visually appealing. Contrast bright and dark colors, and mix soft and crunchy textures. For example, a bright green herb can add a pop of color to a dark meat dish, while a crunchy garnish can add texture to a creamy soup.

Arrange Food in Odd Numbers: Odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye, so try to arrange food items in groups of three or five. For example, if you're plating scallops, serve them in a group of three instead of two or four.

Use Sauces Creatively: Instead of pouring sauce over the food, consider using it as a decorative element. You can drizzle it around the edge of the plate, or use a squeeze bottle to create dots or lines. Remember, less is more when it comes to sauce.

Garnish Wisely: Garnishes should enhance the flavor of the dish and complement the presentation. Use fresh herbs, edible flowers, or a sprinkle of spices. Always make sure the garnish is edible and relevant to the dish.

Keep it Clean: Keep the edges of the plate clean for a neat and professional look. You can use a paper towel to wipe off any drips or smudges.

Practice: Like any other skill, plating takes practice. Experiment with different techniques and presentations until you find a style that you like. Remember, the goal is to create a dish that is as pleasing to the eye as it is to the palate.

By mastering these techniques, you can turn your dishes into works of art and elevate your culinary creations. Happy plating!

What Is a Food Presentation Called?

Food presentation is the art of modifying, processing, arranging, or decorating food to enhance its aesthetic appeal. The way the food looks on the plate is what tempts our eyes and makes you want to taste it.

What Should Be Included In A Food Presentation?

A food presentation should include a balance of color, texture, and arrangement. The food should be arranged on the plate in a way that it is visually appealing, and the colors and textures should complement each other. The plate itself is also an important part of the presentation.

What Are The Three Aspects of Food Presentation?

The three main aspects of food presentation are arrangement, color, and contrast. Arrangement refers to how the food is placed on the plate; color refers to the visual appeal that the food has, and contrast refers to the different textures and flavors in the dish.

What Are The 5 Importance of Food Presentation?

The five important aspects of food presentation are visual appeal, balance of color, enhancement of the dining experience, showcasing the skill of the chef, and making the food look as good as it tastes. A well-presented dish can enhance the dining experience and make the food more appetizing.

Visual Appeal: Food presentation is crucial for creating an enticing visual experience. The arrangement of ingredients, garnishes, and the overall plating style make the dish visually appealing, stimulating appetite and setting the stage for an enjoyable dining experience.

Balance of Color: A well-presented dish incorporates a thoughtful balance of colors. Vibrant and diverse hues on the plate make the meal visually attractive and enticing. The use of contrasting colors can enhance the overall presentation, creating a visually dynamic and inviting plate.

Enhancement of the Dining Experience: Food presentation enhances the overall dining experience by engaging multiple senses. The visual appeal of a well-presented dish elevates the anticipation and excitement of the meal, setting the stage for a memorable culinary journey.

Showcasing the Skill of the Chef: Food presentation is a way for chefs to demonstrate their culinary skills and artistic flair. Thoughtfully presented dishes reflect the chef's expertise, creativity, and attention to detail. It showcases their ability to transform ingredients into visually stunning and delightful culinary creations.

Making the Food Look as Good as it Tastes: Effective food presentation aims to make the dish as visually appealing as it is delicious. When food is presented in an attractive and enticing manner, it creates a harmonious balance between visual appeal and taste. The careful arrangement of elements on the plate reflects the care and precision put into the culinary process.

In summary, food presentation holds great importance in terms of visual appeal, the balance of color, enhancing the dining experience, showcasing the skill of the chef, and ensuring that the food looks as good as it tastes. It adds an extra layer of enjoyment and satisfaction to the overall dining experience.

Conclusion: The Art of Food Presentation

In conclusion, food presentation is an essential aspect of the culinary arts that can enhance the dining experience. By paying attention to the colors, textures, and arrangement of food onthe plate, you can create a visually appealing dish that delights the senses. Whether you're a professional chef or a home cook, mastering the art of food presentation can elevate your culinary creations and make your meals more enjoyable. So, embrace the art of food presentation and let your dishes tell a story.

Remember, the beauty of food presentation lies in its ability to transform ordinary dishes into extraordinary culinary experiences. It's not just about making food look good, but about enhancing the overall dining experience. So, the next time you're in the kitchen, consider how you can present your dishes in a way that will delight your guests and elevate your culinary creations.

In the world of food, presentation is just as important as taste. It's the first impression that a dish makes, and it can significantly influence our perception of taste. By mastering the art of food presentation, you can create dishes that are not only delicious but also visually stunning. So, embrace the art of food presentation and let your culinary creations shine.

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The Perfect Plate: Principles of Food Presentation

A delicious meal appeals to more of your senses than just smell and taste. It must also appeal to the eye. Imagine sitting down at a restaurant, and in front of you is a beautifully plated dish, thoughtfully laid out and presented.

A perfectly plated dish can upgrade your meal immensely. Through the strategic placing of ingredients, you will automatically view the meal as a high-value. You’re also more likely to enjoy the taste and hold a higher opinion of the meal.

Plating the perfect dish is both an art and a science. Chefs and cooking enthusiasts must explore their creativity and play with color and texture while placing foods to create a visual appeal.

How do you create the perfect plate to present your food? We’re covering the basic principles to get you started.

Start with a Canvas

To begin plating the perfect dish, you must start with a canvas, or in this case, a dish. While you may be tempted to pull any old plate from your cabinet, there is more to it than that.

You’ll want to consider the size, shape, and color of the plate you’ll use. Typically, chefs use white dishes because they contrast nicely with food. However, other colored plates can work very well, depending on the color of the food presented.

Your plate’s size should be large enough so your meal doesn’t crowd the plate, yet small enough to make the portion sizes look fairly filling but not too small. Pick a plate that’s too large, and your meal will seem insufficient. Pick a plate that’s too small, and your meal will seem like too much.

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The Perfect Placement

Now that you have your canvas, it’s time to make some art. The placement of your ingredients is crucial for a perfect plate. This is where scientific facts come in to create aesthetically pleasing dishes.

The Clock Guidelines

Pretend your plate is a clock. Imagine the numbers along the edges to help guide where you should place certain foods. By following these rules, your meal will be evenly plated.

• Between 12 and 3, you should plate your vegetables.
• Between 3 and 9 is where your meat will sit.
• Between 9 and 12, you’ll present any starches included in the meal.

Stay Symmetrical

According to science, people find things that are symmetrical more attractive than asymmetrical. Use this principle to your advantage and make sure that your plate boasts symmetry.

Utilize White Space

Don’t underestimate the power of using white space on your dish. To create the perfect plate, spread out your food and leave parts of the dish empty. This will make your meal look cleaner, more elegant, and overall more professional.

Moist Ingredients First

Creating the perfect plate means paying attention to every detail. This also applies to what foods to present first.

Place moist ingredients, such as mashed potatoes or purees, on the dish before other elements. You can then place the rest of your meal on top of or beside these moist ingredients to keep them from shifting and ruining your perfect plate.

Always Use Odd Numbers

When serving individual foods, always plate them in odd numbers. While we recommended staying symmetrical with the entire presentation, the human brain finds odd numbers more pleasing than even numbers.

For example, if you’re serving ravioli, plate five instead of four or six to achieve the perfect plate.

The Details

To achieve a well-plated dish, you must pay attention to the details. Your guests may not notice these intricate details, but these little considerations make a world of difference if ignored.

It’s time to bring back those memories of elementary school art class and the color wheel. When creating the perfect plate, use complementary colors. A colorful, bright meal will look more attractive and taste better than a dull, colorless dish.

Create a focal point and add a burst of color. You can use herbs, vegetables, or fruit as accent colors if the main dish seems a little bland. Lastly, utilize your white space by adding some color to pull the entire meal together.

A variety of textures on your plate will help present your meal attractively. Accentuate the different textures used through strategic placement.

For example, if serving creamy mashed potatoes, add sprinkled chives to create more depth and add another texture. You can do the same with meat by adding crushed nuts on top.

Create Tasteful Bites

While getting caught up in the perfect plate principles of food presentation, you can’t forget that your meal still has to taste good. Amplify the flavors in your meal with careful arrangements on the plate. You want the ingredients to go well together when someone takes a bite.

This thoughtful placement will give your guests a delightful flavor experience while adding another sense of beauty to your plate.

The Final Touches

You have your ingredients flawlessly placed on your dish to accentuate colors and texture and to amplify the flavors, but you aren’t done just yet! To achieve the perfect plate, you must consider some final touches.

Drizzle Your Sauces

Remember how we mentioned the importance of little details? Now it really shows when you simply drizzle sauce over your plate and pull it all together.

Think of your squeeze bottle as your paintbrush, adding the final touches to your canvas. Add accent dots to the white space, drizzle your sauce across the food, outline a ring on the plate’s outer edges, or create a unique design.

Let your inner artist shine through!

Thoughtful Garnishes

Adding a garnish to your plate can be a complete game-changer. However, you must be careful and strategic when using them. Some cooks tend to overdo it with garnishes.

While it’s a great way to add some more color and texture to the plate, they should be ingredients that will go well with your meal. You’ll want to avoid garnishes with a strong, overpowering smell, so as not to ruin the main dish.

A Quick Touch Up

They say a messy cook is a great cook. Unfortunately, that does not apply to perfect plating.

Before serving your dish, take a napkin to clean up any splotches or smears that may have accidentally shown up. Once you have cleaned up with crisp edges, you will have created the perfect plate using food presentation principles.

More Than Just a Pretty Plate

Cooking a great meal is more than just presenting an entree on a pretty plate. Embrace your enthusiasm for cooking and learn to make home-cooked gourmet meals in our online classes . With 320+ courses, you can learn the trade secrets and get one-on-one help from a professional Escoffier culinary school Chef Instructor.

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This article was originally published on March 06, 2019, and has since been updated.

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Master the Art of Food Presentation: 7 Essential Plating Techniques

Plating techniques elevate the dining experience by creating a visually appealing dish that stimulates hunger and desire, conveys high standards, and showcases the chef's expertise. Like dressing appropriately for a job interview, serving guests a vibrant and exciting plate of food is essential. A beautifully plated meal sparks positive emotions and sets the stage for an enjoyable culinary adventure. Appealing presentation communicates the chef's attention to quality and care, taking the dining experience to new heights. Using their plates as a canvas, restaurants are able to tell stories and evoke memories.

Understanding Plating Techniques

A plating technique involves skillfully arranging dishes on a plate before serving to enhance their visual appeal and presentation. Chefs get creative with various methods, showcasing colors, textures, and ingredients for an appetizing display. Balance, symmetry, and attention to detail are critical in plating techniques. 

In the early stages of developing a solid restaurant concept , a restaurant must establish different techniques for food preparation. Creative plating elevates presentation, while innovative cooking infuses unique flavors, making the restaurant's offerings stand out. A diverse culinary approach creates a memorable dining experience and ensures the kitchen team is prepared to execute each plating technique flawlessly.

Furthermore, food presentation and plating techniques immensely impact a restaurant’s social media presence. According to the Food Report 2023 , the influence of social media is evident as kitchens worldwide blend diverse products and preparation methods vibrantly and colorfully. Scrumptious-looking food creations inspire consumers to try and taste them. Furthermore, food influencers on Instagram and TikTok can quickly popularize “Instagrammable” dishes. Visually appealing and perfectly captured plates have the potential to go viral, reaching a broader audience and generating more interest in the restaurant.

Exploring the Fundamentals of Food Presentation and Plating Techniques

Food presentation is an artistic process where different plate elements create an appetizing visual experience. Achieving an attractive presentation involves three fundamental principles:

Balance and Symmetry

A well-arranged plate ensures equal distribution of components, avoiding overcrowding on one side. Symmetry adds elegance, guiding the diner's gaze in an orderly manner and making the dish more inviting.

Color Coordination

Color coordination is crucial, with vibrant and complementary colors catching the eye of diners and stimulating their appetite. Contrasting colors create visual impact, while monochromatic schemes offer sophistication, conveying freshness and quality.

Texture and Height

Texture and height provide depth and dimension. Mixing crisp, creamy, crunchy, and tender textures brings delightful contrast to every bite. Height adds drama and elegance, emphasizing certain elements.

By grasping these principles, chefs can turn simple dishes into enticing works of art, elevating their restaurants to a fine dining experience.

Mastering the Art of Food Presentation with These 7 Plating Techniques

A thoughtful presentation can enhance even the most basic food or homemade dishes, making them more appetizing and valuable. In the restaurant business, food plating is crucial, especially as guests share their experiences online. Here's a list of the top 7 plating techniques that elevate the guest experience. ‍

1. Incorporate Color and Contrast

Colors play a vital role in food presentation. They stimulate the appetite and influence how we perceive taste and freshness. Pairing contrasting colors, such as combining vibrant reds with lush greens or deep blues with bright oranges, adds dynamic appeal to the plate. The strategic use of color can also draw attention to specific ingredients, guiding the diner's focus. This is particularly helpful if the restaurant is showcasing seasonal produce.

Achieving balance and symmetry is essential to distributing colors thoughtfully. Use colorful ingredients like fruits, vegetables, and herbs to create vibrant plates. The color wheel helps in creating harmonious combinations using complementary or analogous colors. Skillfully blending colors and contrasts entices guests to appreciate the dish’s flavors and delightful aesthetics. ‍

2. Add Garnishes and Edible Decorations

Elevate a dish's visual appeal and flavor with the finishing touches. Garnishes enhance presentation, adding texture, color, and depth. Vibrant herbs like cilantro, chives, parsley, or mint bring freshness and work as great garnishes . Use edible flowers, like lavender and pansies, to infuse their flavors on a dish. Citrus zest adds a zingy burst of flavor. Edible decorations, such as artistic sauce drizzles or sprinkles of cocoa or powdered sugar, create visually stunning plates. These embellishments offer visual interest and complementary taste profiles, elevating the dining experience with delightful touches.

3. Play with Textures

Contrasting elements create an engaging and dynamic plate that captivates diners. Mixing crispy, crunchy, or creamy components adds exciting textural contrast. Crispy elements, like fried onions or potato chip, add a satisfying crunch that contrasts with softer textures. Crunchy components, such as toasted nuts or fresh vegetables, bring vibrancy to the dish. Creamy elements, like sauces or whipped cream, provide a smooth and velvety mouthfeel, balancing the overall texture. These textural variations make the presentation visually appealing and tantalize the taste buds, making every bite more exciting and enjoyable.

‍ 4. Create Height on the Plate

Incorporating techniques like layering or stacking components helps achieve a captivating height effect in food presentation. For example, colorful vegetables or meat slices on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes create an impressive plate. Another way to play with height and layers is to  assemble alternating layers of cake, mousse, and fruit compote in a tall glass for a delightful dessert. Skillfully building vertical structures with precise placements enhances the overall visual impact, making the dish stand out.

5. Select Dinnerware That Enhances Your Brand

To create a cohesive dining experience, the dinnerware should match your restaurant's aesthetic and brand identity. For instance, in a trendy, sustainable restaurant, using eco-friendly plates and glassware with earthy tones and minimall designs reinforces the establishment's values. Whether your theme is sleek and modern or rustic and cozy, your chosen dinnerware should emphasize your restaurant's personality. A consistent design and color palette strengthens your brand message, fostering a deeper connection with diners. Moreover, well-chosen dinnerware enhances dish presentation, elevating the perceived value and quality of your culinary offerings. 

6. Highlight the Key Ingredient

To create a captivating focal point, position the main ingredient at the plate's center or use contrasting colors for emphasis. Frame the key element with complementary components that enhance its flavors and appearance. Adjust portion sizes to underscore its importance, ensuring it remains the dish’s star. For instance, in a seafood risotto, place a succulent seared scallop at the center, encircled by creamy risotto and adorned with a vibrant saffron sauce. This strategic arrangement guides diners' attention to the exquisite scallop, enhancing the dining experience and celebrating the main ingredient.

‍ 7. Select the Right Plate

To select the right plate, analyze the dish's complexity and portion size. Delicate dishes like dainty desserts shine on smaller, intricately designed plates, while heartier meals like steak dishes suit larger, simpler ones. Coordinate the plate's color and shape with the cuisine's theme for a cohesive visual experience.

Final Thoughts on Plating Techniques

Restaurants invest countless hours in crafting delightful dishes for their guests. Plate presentation serves as the final stage to showcase their creations. Often overlooked, plating techniques should highlight the food's quality and preparation while engaging the diner's senses. Achieving an outstanding plate presentation may require imagination, trial and error, and collaborative brainstorming. It starts with mastering culinary basics, using high-quality ingredients, and selecting a plate that suit the dish's style. Then, by incorporating color, texture, garnishes, and height, you can ensure that every dish captures the eye and excites the senses, elevating the overall dining experience. 

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36 Free Food PowerPoint Templates For Delicious Presentations

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By Al Boicheva

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Today is a day for something tasty. Here we have 36 free food PowerPoint templates that cover multiple topics such as restaurants, vineyards, coffee shops, recipes, cooking, diets, nutrition, and everything food-related. We looked everywhere to find and select the best ones and as usual, there is something for everyone and their upcoming projects.

Now let’s gather some delicious ingredients for your upcoming presentation! 🍕🍕🍕

36 Free Food PowerPoint Templates: Overview

• Restaurants and Coffee Shops 
• Food Presentation 
• Cooking Presentation 
• Diet and Nutrition Presentation 
• Food Campaigns

Just as a recipe has no soul and you, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe, even the best presentation templates will fail to capture the audience without your creativity. 🍒

Restaurants and Coffee Shops PowerPoint Templates

We’ll start with 9 free presentations dedicated to restaurant businesses, pizza places, bakery shops, coffee shops, and vineyards. The templates include image placeholders, editable content, infographics, and marketing analysis slides.

1. Food Taste: Rich Free PowerPoint Template Food Service Portfolio

This is a beautiful free presentation of 27 high-quality slides by Indonesian freelancers. It’s a multipurpose presentation, however, it would fit a restaurant portfolio best. Amongst the slides, you will find About Us, Our Service, Our Portfolio, Work Slides, and Mockups. You can download this template from the Behance page that will redirect you to a Google Drive folder containing the PPT files.

2. Mexican Restaurant: Free PPT Template for Company Profile

If you own a Mexican restaurant, this PowerPoint template is perfect to boost your presentation. It has a lovely eye-catching design and 25 different slides that include a table of contents, About Us, History with timeline infographic, company philosophy, location, services, and many more. The slides even include a collection of thematic Mexican icons.

3. Luxurious Vineyard: Free PPT Template for Company Profile

Specially made for vineyards, this free PPT presentation has a very classy thematic design allowing you to share your values, philosophy, the location of your vineyards, and testimonials of loyal clients. The template is rich in infographics and has a very beautiful wine glass stain pattern decorating each slide. It also contains easy-to-edit graphics.

4. Restaurant: Free PowerPoint Template for Restaurant Presentation

This free PPT template for restaurants has 9 brochure design slides with image placeholders. The file doesn’t include the stock images from the preview.

5. Bakery Shop: Free Pitch Deck PPT Template

Bakery Shop is a free template for PowerPoint and Google Slides with a warm-colored design, decorated with soft shapes and flat illustrations. It has a pitch deck structure and humanistic sans serif font.  The presentation includes 30 editable slides and 500+ icons.

• Slides : 30

6. Pizza Restaurant: Full Free Marketing PPT Template

Big and delicious, this free pizza restaurant PowerPoint template includes tasty images, lots of editable thematic infographics, and 48 different slides that cover everything. The template has a color theme and will automatically apply color when copied and pasted. Includes 135 editable icons.

• Slides : 48

7. Brown Stylish: Free Elegant Stylish Food PowerPoint Presentation

Rich and elegant free multipurpose PowerPoint and Google slides template with a calm color palette and delicate typography. It suits presentations about food, cooking, fashion, hotels, travel, cosmetics, and more.

• Slides : 25

8. Coffee Vibes: Free Coffe Shop PPT Template

Beautiful morning vibes that smell like coffee. Here we have a fresh abstract design free PowerPoint template for coffee shops, cafeterias, and breweries. The file includes multiple editable infographics, diagrams, and charts.

• Slides : 31

9. Coffee: Free Barista PowerPoint Presentation

Another rich with infographics and themes free presentation template for coffee businesses and coffee lovers. The design sports a lovely coffee color palette and patterned backgrounds that are also included in the file. Includes image placeholders.

Food PowerPoint Presentation Templates

Proceeding with the next main topic, below are 10 diverse free PowerPoint templates dedicated to food presentations, healthy eating, product presentation, the art of coffee, and thematic cuisine.

10. Modern Food: Free Contemporary Cuisine Presentation

Clean and modern free template for your food presentation in PowerPoint and Google Slides. The modern theme has a dark pink color accent and delicious food and cooking photos. You’ll find 25 editable slides, free infographics, and 80 icons, all customizable

11. Real Food: Free Healthy Food PowerPoint Presentation

Creative free template for multiple purposes like sharing recipes, and talk about healthy eating and nutrition. It has 25 PowerPoint slides with watercolor illustrations of food ingredients, free resources for data visualization, and specific slides for marketing and business plans.

12. Chart Palette: Free Food PowerPoint Presentation Template

This is a free chart template for PowerPoint and Google Slides with a lovely photographic design of vegetables, flowers, plants, and color charts.

13. Barista: Free Coffe Art PowerPoint Template

A sophisticated free PPT template for coffee lovers to author any presentation related to the art of coffee. Including standard and widescreen slide options, the template offers 6 slides with text and image placeholders, backgrounds, and a custom built-in color palette.

14. Fresh Food: Free Minimalistic PPT Template

A more simplistic multipurpose free PowerPoint template for widescreen presentations.

• Slides : 11

15. Special Burger: Free Burger Presentation Presentation

If you’re planning to present a new delicious item in your restaurant’s arsenal, this free presentation template was designed with that exact concept in mind. It includes infographics, such as price tables and mockups. Although the template shows a burger, you can easily replace the images and adapt it to your item of choice.

• Slides : 13

16. Fast Food: Free Multipurpose PowerPoint Template

Modern free PPT template for food presentation where you can add the point branch offices, the steps you use to prepare a plate of food, and info about yourself. The template includes images from Freepik that you can easily replace.

17. Pumpkin Design: Free Simple Multipurpose PowerPoint Slides

Sometimes, less is more. In case you don’t need a big presentation of 20 slides and wish just to list a few things, here’s a simple classic 4-slides pumpkin design template. It’s especially suitable for Pumpkin Day and Thanksgiving.

18. Free Korean Food PowerPoint Presentation

The main concept of this free presentation template is bibimbap, a traditional Korean food. This is good to explain the healthy food culture of Korean food with 48 rich infographic slides with thematic Korean photos and illustrations.

19. Free Local Food PPT Presentation Template

This free template is great for presentations on food, such as fresh organic ingredients and healthy local food. It includes 48 slides with lots of editable charts, diagrams, and tables, and 135 fully customizable icons. Includes image placeholders.

Cooking PowerPoint Templates

Here we have 4 very diverse designs, free presentations for businesses, chefs, recipes, and organic food.

20. Ellen: Free Chef PowerPoint Template

The master chef free template for any restaurant or chef who is looking to highlight their work. It has 25 customizable PowerPoint slides with food cooking graphics throughout the presentation.

21. Cooking: Free Multipurpose Cooking PowerPoint Template

A very simplistic multipurpose free food PPT template that you can use for any design related to cooking, sharing recipes, or business ideas.

22. Granny’s Recipe Book: Free Recipe PPT Template

Nobody cooks better than grandma and you can prove it in a presentation. This vintage vibe, free template offers the hand-drawn elements and recipe scrapbook style you need.

• Slides : 33

23. Free Organic Food Pitch Deck PPT Template

Pitch deck style free template for healthy eating and organic food presentation, with marketing analysis slides. It’s especially suitable for organic food restaurants and companies.

Diet and Nutrition PowerPoint Presentation

7 Free templates for multipurpose nutrition and diet presentations, healthy eating, fitness, and delicious freshly baked bread.

24. Mediterranean Diet: Free Nutrition PowerPoint Presentation

May is International Mediterranean Diet Month which celebrates the cuisine with is a plant-based food plan full of low in cholesterol and saturated fats, and high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids delicious food. In this free PowerPoint template, you will find 12 awesome customizable slides with graphics and mockups.

• Slides : 12

25. Nutrition: Free Healthy Food PPT Presentation

To teach how to have a healthy life through eating fruits, vegetables, and proteins, this free template will do the trick. It has a fresh color scheme and customizable slides that you can adapt to any nutritional or food safety content.

26. Free Diet Plan Nutritionist PowerPoint Template

For dieticians and companies, or educators who wish to present their take on weight loss, detox, and healthy eating, this free template with modern design has 48 slides rich with themes, graphs, charts, and other infographics.

27. Free Freshly Baked Bread PowerPoint Template

If you have a bakery that wants everyone to know about your delicious freshly baked bread and related treats, you have 48 free slides to go wild. It also includes 135 different icons and editable data-driven charts.

28. Venu – Free Nutrition & Health PPT Presentation

By itself, this free PowerPoint template can give you ideas on how to structure your presentation on healthy eating and nutrition. It features infographics, highlighted data, quotes, and other customizable elements. In addition, you will also find awesome flat-style colorful icons of food ingredients.

• Slides : 21

29. Free Organic Food PowerPoint Presentation

A customizable free PPT template with 48 slides for presentations related to healthy food ingredients.

30. Free Fresh Green Broccoli PPT Template

This free powerpoint template is a design of a delicious fresh food concept with various shapes related to food.

• Slides : 60

PowerPoint Templates for Food Campaigns

And last, we gathered 6 free food campaign templates that are ideal for promotion and marketing presentations.

31. Fruits: Free Marketing Campaign PPT Template

Free marketing presentation template with sweet fruity patterns and vector-based illustrations.

32. Food Day Campaign Free PPT Template

Food day campaign free marketing .ppt template with watercolor illustrations and infographics.

• Slides : 27

33. Free World Cocktail Day PPT Presentation

Editable free template with 32 slides and infographics dedicated to the art of cocktail making. It’s designed for PPT and Google Slides.

• Slides : 32

34. Free Festival PowerPoint Presentation

Spargelzeit is a celebration in Germany during spring that honors asparagus and menus are prepared with them as the main ingredient.

35. International Hummus Day Free PPT Template

Hummus-inspired presentation design with photos of hummus dishes and tablecloth background.

• Slides : 34

36. Free Multipurpose Pizza PowerPoint Template

And last, something fun: a free PowerPoint template that teaches fractions with pizza slices.

• Slides : 24

Final Words

Alright, we did it and we feel kinda stuffed with all these delicious free food templates we managed to find. Now you have the ingredients, all it takes is the chef’s kiss of your creativity to deliver an amazing presentation.

In the meantime, if you’re up to some more hunting, why not check other free PowerPoint resources.

• 120+ Free Food Illustrations for Personal and Commercial Garnishing
• 100+ Free Food Vector Graphics and Characters for Tasty Projects
• Modern Restaurant Menu Designs that Boost the Appetite

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Al Boicheva

Al is an illustrator at GraphicMama with out-of-the-box thinking and a passion for anything creative. In her free time, you will see her drooling over tattoo art, Manga, and horror movies.

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15 Traditional Russian Foods You Must Try

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Russia may not be the first to come to mind when you think of a food destination, but the country has plenty of delicious traditional dishes to try. Visitors to Russia are often surprised at the variety and flavors of Russian cuisine, which is influenced by Russia's connection to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The most classic Russian recipes are made of veggies and wheat, such as soups, porridges, and stuffed dough.

Borscht is a beet soup that originated in Ukraine and was quickly adopted as a Russian specialty. Beets may seem like a strange base for soup to many Westerners, but there are plenty of reasons that this hearty soup is one of Russia’s most famous dishes. It is full of meat and sautéed vegetables, including cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes. It can be served hot or cold and is best served with a dollop of fresh sour cream on top.

Shchi is a typical cabbage soup made from either fresh or fermented cabbage. While different recipes call for various ingredients, shchi often contains potatoes, carrots, onions, and possibly some meat such as chicken. The cabbage can also be replaced with sauerkraut, called sour shchi.

Solyanka is a thick soup that is plentiful enough to be a meal in itself. This soup is made with various types of meat, including sausage, bacon, ham, and beef, as well as vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Chopped pickles and the traditional lemon slice garnish play an essential role in giving this recipe its sour flavor. It is often also made with fish and pickled cucumbers.

If you like seafood, try ukha, a fish soup with a clear broth. Many different kinds of fish can be used to make this soup, including bream, wels catfish, northern pike, and ruffe. The remaining ingredients are not unlike what you might find in a traditional chicken soup—think root vegetables, parsley, leeks, and dill.

You may have already heard of pirozhki (also known as piroshki or pyrizhky). These little baked or fried puff pastries are packed with potatoes, meat, cabbage, or cheese. The stuffed pockets are popular all around Russia and Ukraine.

Pelmeni is considered the national dish of Russia. They are pastry dumplings are typically filled with minced meat and wrapped in a thin, pasta-like dough. They can be served alone, slathered in butter and topped with sour cream, or in a soup broth. A favorite in Russia and Eastern Europe!

Blini is a wheat pancake rolled with various fillings: jam, cheese, sour cream, caviar, onions, or even chocolate syrup. It is Russia's equivalent of a crepe. At any restaurant where you aren't sure of any of the other dishes, blini are always a safe bet. Blini are such an important part of Russian cuisine that a festival called Maslenitsa celebrates the beginning of spring with them.

Russian kebabs are called shashlyk or shashlik. Like any kebab, they consist of cubed meat and veggies grilled on skewers. They have roots in the Caucasian Mountains, where 19th-century tribe members would prepare them over an open flame.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef stroganoff consists of sauteed beef strips served in a creamy sauce with mushrooms or tomatoes, often served with rice, noodles, or potatoes. This recipe has a long history, and many variations for its preparation exist, but its roots are in mid-19th-century Russia.

Caviar, or ikra, is really something to get worked up about in Russia. Briny and sharp, it is often served on dark, crusty bread or with blini, which are like pancakes or crepes. Caviar on buttered bread is a popular zakuska.

You can expect to find sour cream or smetana, accompanying almost any Russian traditional food—with crepes, soups, and even sometimes in dessert. This sour cream is fresh and melts into any warm dish, adding to its distinctive flavor. (You will likely often see it in beef stroganoff.)

Russia is well-known for vodka, so you can expect to find many varieties throughout the country, such as Russian Standard Gold, Moskovskaya Osobaya, Kauffman, and Beluga Noble. Russian beverage menus can also include tea, mineral water, beer, and soda.

Kvass is a refreshing fermented beverage with slight carbonation. Although it has a very slight alcohol content, it is not considered an alcoholic beverage. It is made from black or regular rye bread or dough and can be flavored with a variety of different things, ranging from honey to berries to herbs.

Russians love ice cream, called morozhenoe. It is common to find it on many restaurant menus with various toppings​ , like fruit, nuts, or chocolate. Unlike more traditional Western ice cream, morozhenoe is much creamier, thanks to the fresh milk and a higher ice ratio to dairy.

Paskha is a festive dessert that is commonly made around Easter in Eastern Orthodox countries. This sweetened cheesecake dessert is decorated with Christian symbols as a part of the holiday feast.

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The Surprising Story of Moscow’s Food Revolution

Start with a bubbling locavore scene, add a dash of soviet nostalgia, and you’ve got the recipe for a delicious moscow homecoming..

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Photos by João Canziani

“STAND STILL. GLASSES OFF!” barks the blonde at passport control in Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. She fingers my visa, peers at my face, then scowls back at my visa for a long, long minute, clearly relishing my mounting anxiety. “Anything wrong?” I squeak in a small voice, fighting a Soviet instinct to address her as “Comrade.” “Nah,” she finally sneers. “Just wondering why you look even worse in person than you do on your visa.”

I snatch my stamped papers and tramp off toward the airport train past gaggles of guys flogging overpriced taxi rides into Moscow. “Come with me,” one of them tugs at my sleeve. “Why ruin your not-so-young health, lady, with your not-so-beautiful luggage?”

Home. Or, more grandly, Rodina , Russian for homeland. An ideologically loaded and often overbearingly patriotic noun back in the Soviet days. With this Rodina my relationship has been extremely complicated, ever since the rainy day in September of 1974 when my mother and my 10-year-old self stood at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, stateless refugees stripped of our citizenship and the right of return after my mother decided to flee the despotic Soviet regime. We bade our existential farewells to the family we never expected to see again. But in the late ’80s, after Gorbachev opened the border, we did return, a miraculous rising from the dead. I remember our relatives’ tearful eyes as we reentered the same Sheremetyevo Airport; how they kept touching our American coats to assure themselves we weren’t a mirage.

Photo by João Canziani

I was in the Soviet Union again on December 26, 1991, when its scarlet empire ceased to exist and the entire nation became effectively sundered from its own “glorious socialist past.” I’ve since returned to Moscow many times—during Yeltsin’s lawless “crapocracy” and then Putin’s kleptocracy—but these homecomings never quite feel normal. I fret over the draconian visa application. I worry about the loss of identity, Moscow’s and mine, as the city changes so dramatically. In 2011 I spent a month in Moscow finishing my memoir, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking . And I got so fed up—with the bling, the inequality, the mistreatment of Central Asian migrants, the $12 espressos, that imperious Moscow Gaze, to say nothing of Putin’s authoritarianism—that I made no further plans to return. Much has transpired in Russia since then, most of it politically awful, from the war with Ukraine to the spectacular collapse of the ruble. Yet along with the usual intimations of doom, I was also hearing positive stories. That Moscow was becoming, at long last, a livable city. Cheaper. Friendlier. Normal! With $5 Uber rides and affordable Airbnbs, bike paths on the streets and Wi-Fi in the metro. Where the oligarchs once guzzled Château Pétrus, woolly hipsters were now apparently lolling over craft beers in the dim glow of Edison bulbs.

Finally, what drew me back were reports of Moscow’s incredible and improbable restaurant renaissance.

Crab, carrots, pike caviar and salted egg yolk, White Rabbit Restaurant, Moscow

I’d always been fascinated with the flamboyance and the sheer theme-parkish strangeness of Moscow’s 21st-century dining scene, but it also seemed bafflingly inauthentic. Sushi had long replaced selyodka (herring) as Russia’s national dish. The onions at supermarkets were Dutch, the tomatoes from Turkey. On previous visits I kept puzzling why here, in one of the world’s richest agricultural countries, more than 40 percent of food was imported. Then in 2014 Putin, in retaliation against Western economic sanctions following the Ukraine-Russia crisis, issued a ban on most foreign foodstuffs. The embargo launched with all the drama of Stalin’s political show trials: truckloads of Polish apples crushed live on TV; wheels of Italian Parmesan tossed into vast public bonfires. Citizens were urged to inform on the comrades who secretly noshed on Camembert and Ibérico ham. And amidst this surreal political carnival, something exciting had happened: 25 years after the collapse of the USSR, Muscovites had finally begun rediscovering Mother Russia’s own cuisine and ingredients. This new food patriotism—stoked by Putin himself—had sparked Moscow’s current restaurant boomlet. And so, hungry for stroganina (Siberian shaved frozen fish), piroghi (Russian savory pies), grass-fed beef from the Volga region, and giant snow crabs from Vladivostok, I bought a ticket for Moscow. A deeper reason? Between meals, I was hoping to squeeze in nostalgic visits to familiar places in the hope of finding resonant fragments of my past and myself—of Home—amidst the espresso bars and locavore hangouts. And so my boyfriend, Barry, and I alight at Domodedovo Airport to that achingly Russian welcome of insults. (Who said Moscow got friendlier?) My 82-year-old mom, a fierce Putin-basher, had already arrived from New York and was staying with relatives.

Something exciting had happened: Muscovites had finally begun rediscovering Mother Russia’s own cuisine and ingredients.

After checking into the Metropol , a fragrantly historic hotel near the Kremlin, I leave Barry to admire its art nouveau murals and stroll over to Bogoyavlensky Lane nearby. On this street I was born in a Brezhnevian communal apartment where 18 families shared one bare-bones kitchen, where alcoholics slumped in the cavernous hallway, and a larcenous little babushka would burgle soup meat from neighbors’ pots. I come to this street not expecting any Proustian savor, though. This corner of Moscow, a few yards from the Kremlin, has become real estate so exclusive my former building now stands half gutted and clumsily padlocked—no more than a forlorn shell of a facade, awaiting its upscaled fate.

“I used to live here,” I confess to a passerby, overcome with sudden emotion.

“ Nobody lived that close to the Kremlin,” she snaps and walks off. I console myself nearby at Alyonka, a new sweets emporium, named for the iconic Soviet brand of chocolate with a mirthful kerchiefed girl on the wrapper. Alyonka sits on handsome Nikolskaya Street, which I barely recognize; it’s been pedestrianized and outfitted with benches and flowerpots as part of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s ambitious Moscow beautification program. Alyonka itself beautifies—and commodifies—our Soviet past with its cheerful bounty of retro confections. Proustian-enough moment achieved: I feel a childish thrill now, sifting through bins of these socialist madeleines in bright wrappers designed by the Red October chocolate factory. Here are Crayfish Tails, caramels that tormented the dental fillings of the proletariat; here are the prestigious Mishka the Clumsy Bear chocolates with brown Mishkas climbing trees on icy-blue wrappers. I load up my shopping cart and stand in a line so long it nearly catapults me back to the USSR. “You gonna eat all that ?” demands a women behind me. “No, they’re presents,” I assure her. “Phew,” she exhales, “ ’cause you sure don’t look like you need any more calories.”

Nobody insults me that evening at Grand Café Dr. Zhivago. This new venture from Moscow’s current restaurant czar, Alexander Rappaport, sits inside the landmark Hotel National across the way from Red Square. As a nine-year-old obsessed with the mythical and unattainable West, I would loiter by the National’s door in the hope that some friendly foreigner might toss me a ballpoint pen or a packet of capitalist chewing gum. Now I feel secret triumph marching past the young maître d’, myself a foreigner. Zhivago is yet another vessel riding the wave of Soviet Nostalgia that keeps washing over Moscow and now, to my utter surprise, seems to be cresting. The striking room is all neoclassical whiteness framing scarlet accents a sexy shade pinker than the orangy red of the USSR. Snow-white statues of Young Pioneers stand impishly blindfolded with crimson kerchiefs—as if they’d lost their path to the Radiant Future and were abducted into a decadently capitalist neo-Soviet pastiche. “Foo , yuk ,” my mother grumbles about the decor. “They are literally whitewashing the Soviet past.” She also foo ’s at the restaurant’s blithe appropriation of the title of the epic dissident 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak. “ Zhivago changed my life,” she declares solemnly. “I read it in manuscript fresh from Pasternak’s typewriter.”

Lepim i Varim, Moscow

Our dining companions are Bo Bech, a Copenhagen celebrity chef who is guest-stinting in Moscow, and Brian McGinn, producer of the Netflix series Chef’s Table , in town filming an episode—all meeting here in Russia by a happy coincidence. They nod politely and slather their blini with caviar. “Russians went from shit to bullshit,” says Bo, agreeing with Mom. Our host, Gennady Jozefavichus, bon vivant, travel writer, and uber-hipster, snaps imperious fingers at waitresses dressed in retro chambermaid outfits. Out come frosty carafes of interesting vodkas, along with the wildest of wild pickled mushrooms and herring more buttery than Japanese toro. Pelmeni , the iconic Siberian dumplings, here sport a filling of Kamchatka crab; the Salat Olivier, a mayonnaise-laden USSR New Year staple, is returned to its original 19th-century version, with crayfish tails. This is food from Soviet communal apartments—glamorized and locavorized with Siberian fish, artisanal lardo, and heirloom millet and buckwheat. “ True Soviet food was never meant to taste this delicious,” my mother protests before surrendering to the inauthentic deliciousness of the solyanka soup loaded with smoked meats and sausages. “The hookers aren’t here tonight,” whispers Gennady. “Aren’t hookers so ’90s?” asks Barry. “Moscow hookers,” declares Gennady philosophically, “are eternal.” The next evening, we’re perched at the dining counter of the WR Lab, a small slate-clad space where 34-year-old wunderkind chef Vladimir Mukhin, the culinary force behind an 18-restaurant empire, previews the tasting menus for his flagship White Rabbit restaurant. An unstoppably creative fifth-generation chef born in a provincial town in the northern Caucasus, Mukhin is applying futuristic techniques to old Russian dishes, decoding food clues from Slavic folk tales, searching in remote villages for forgotten traditions. His latest obsession is Domostroi , a 17th-century bible of Slavic domestic advice and recipes.

Mom, a passionate amateur food historian, bounces up in excitement at the opening dish. Called Scarlet Flower after an old Russian fairy tale, it’s a tart juicy begonia blazing red on a picturesque nest of twigs, its petals filled with May honey fermented inside a hollowed-out radish. Folklore imbued flowers with magic, Mukhin explains, because they could heal: Begonia, it was believed, would treat stuttering and allergies. From here we’re off deeper into archaic Russia, with birch bread made from the tree’s ground inner core. The flavor invokes morning walks in some primordial forest. “Ecologically pure and gluten free,” notes Mukhin, grinning, “this bread is our past and our future.” We also taste ryazhenka (a kind of baked yogurt) concealing a mousse of swan liver (Slavic foie gras of yore); white caviar of an albino sturgeon; and kundyumi , centuries-old dumplings black from the flour of dried bird-cherry buds. Mukhin spins his ingredients into a narrative that in the course of the meal helps explain our cultural DNA. At the end Mom poses for selfies with Mukhin and demands that I post them on Facebook immediately .

Over the next few days my plans for nostalgic strolls down memory lanes along Moscow’s winding streets and flowering boulevards keep crashing against Mayor Sobyanin’s pharaonic $2 billion “My Street” program. Under Sobyanin, each summer the historic center turns into a muddy construction zone as facades are overhauled, sidewalks widened, and streets often pedestrianized. Mom complains that not since the Stalinist ’30s, when vast swaths of the city were bulldozed and churches destroyed, has Moscow seen anything like this. “Frigging pedestrians, they’ll now own the city,” Uber drivers lament, before launching into their usual tirades against America’s hand in everything from common colds to bad weather. Strolling up the wide central avenue of VDNKh, I once again recognize things, yet don’t. Gone are the tacky kebab stalls. The towering 82-foot-tall Worker and Collective Woman statue has been moved to its own chichi museum. The Stalinist Empire-style colonnades of restored pavilions gleam in the June sun under a fresh coat of that New Moscow whiteness. Spruced-up hammers, sickles, stars, and socialist realist murals and statuary, so familiar to me from my childhood, now resemble some gigantic fantastical restaurant decor. The park offers yoga classes, edgy art shows, food trucks, even a farmers’ market. “Hipster Stalinism” is what some commentators call this repurposing of totalitarian public spaces into playgrounds for the iPhone generation.

To escape Sobyanin’s apocalyptic beautification-in-progress, Barry and I take the metro out to VDNKh in northeastern Moscow. Inaugurated in 1939, this 600-acre Stalinist theme park glorified Soviet industry and the agricultural might of the Soviet republics (never mind that by the start of that tragic decade millions of peasants had perished from famine). On my last visit, the park’s propaganda-kitsch sprawl resembled a morose ruin of a fallen civilization. Its decrepit ornate pavilions, which Federico Fellini once called the “hallucination of a drunken pastry chef,” advertised shabby fur coat fairs and cat exhibits. Now, with Putin’s personal blessing, VDNKh is getting a makeover by the same savvy team that turned the derelict Gorky Park, another Stalinist relic, into a multimillion-dollar hipster arcadia featuring the Rem Koolhaas-designed Garage Museum of Contemporary Art.

Armenian man in front of Godunov Restaurant, Moscow

As a Moscow kid I was mesmerized by VDNKh’s “People’s Friendship” fountain: a gilded 1950s extravaganza of 16 monumental maidens in the national garbs of the Soviet republics encircling a vast sheaf of wheat. When I was a girl in Moscow, most republics had representative restaurants in Moscow, the empire’s capital. The oldest and most famous of these was Aragvi, a Georgian landmark on Gorky Street. Opened in 1938, Aragvi offered an oasis of hedonism in that terror-filled era of purges and gulags. Here my father blew an inheritance left by his grandmother (who perished in the gulag) on sizzling lamb riblets and chicken in walnut sauce. Here Lavrenty Beria, Stalin’s bloodstained chief of secret police, had his own dining room, with a small balcony from which he spied on the customers. In Aragvi’s private rooms the lyrics of the Soviet anthem—celebrating “the Unbreakable Union of freeborn Republics”—were penned; airplane designs were sketched; and visiting celebs such as Yves Montand and John Steinbeck smacked their lips over spicy Georgian specialties. Privatized during the Wild East Yeltsin years, Aragvi by the end of the ’90s had become a notorious mafiya hangout, and it was finally shuttered in 2003 after the attempted murder of one of its owners. Now, like many Soviet icons, it has made a kambek (that’s Russian for comeback) after a $20 million makeover. My heart races as Mom, Barry, and I trudge through the puddles (it’s been raining relentlessly) and the construction scaffolding on Tverskaya (formerly Gorky) Street toward Aragvi. The restaurant is Moscow’s history—my own family’s history! Yet another sudden downpour sends us ducking into a huge bookstore. Where I gasp and feel simultaneously proud and utterly mortified to see my Soviet memoir, recently translated into Russian, featured in a cheesy crimson display of USSR-kitsch memorabilia. Once inside Aragvi, we’re offered a tour that includes Beria’s dining room, now all blinding white (that whitewashing again) brightened with murals of happy collective farm workers. For me, the reconstruction lacks coherence, but the Georgian food truly shines, from the cheesy khachapuri pies crowned with a sunny baked egg to the fist-size khinkali (meat dumplings). I understand now why six generation of Muscovites raved about Aragvi’s signature chicken tabaka (crisp-fried under a press) and those succulent lamb riblets. A huge hallway mirror is about the only artifact left from the restaurant’s original decor. “Beria,” my mother whispers, with a shudder. “I swear I can see that monster’s bald head and his pince-nez in this mirror.”

The Kremlin’s recent truce with the Republic of Georgia assured the return of sun-kissed Georgian food imports to Moscow. Ukraine? A different story entirely, given the ongoing krizis . In this heated political context, the extravagant 1950s mosaics at Kievskaya station of the Moscow metro glorifying the indomitable Russo-Ukrainian friendship seem like a particularly cruel political joke. Emerging from the station the next evening, Barry and I pass under the Stalinist hulk of the former Hotel Ukraine—loudly rebranded as Radisson Royal—then parse the ironies over contraband fish smuggled from Ukraine itself at the restaurant Barkas, a new riverside hot spot dedicated to the garlicky Jewish cuisine of Odessa, Ukraine’s buoyant port city. Sharing the ironies—and the potent horseradish vodka—is our New York friend Masha Gessen, who’s in town researching a book on historical memory. Masha, a writer and a courageous critic of Putin, emigrated, as I did, as a kid, then moved back to Moscow in the ’90s, then recently re-emigrated. Mouth full of crisp latke and fluffy chopped herring, I talk about the de-ideologizing and aestheticizing of the Stalinist past at the city’s reclaimed public spaces. “Not just aestheticizing ,” snaps Masha. “They [the Putin regime] are resurrecting it wholesale: restoring the Soviet imperialist values.”

Masha, my mom...I envy their political clarity. Myself, I’m caught in a perpetual moral bind of falling—hard!—for the scarlet “Planet USSR” with its rebranded Soviet theme parks and chocolates, then feeling pangs of guilt for my glee. During my week in Moscow, the Metropol Hotel becomes my refuge from the construction, insistent rains, and conflicting emotions. With its iconic art nouveau look, the Metropol served as a hostel for the new Bolshevik government members after the 1917 Revolution. I love the view of the Bolshoi Theater from our old-fashioned suite, love the harpist tinkling under a stained glass dome in the breakfast hall where Lenin and Trotsky orated and schemed. Love the inspired New Russian cooking—that borscht!—at the Metropol’s Savva restaurant. One day, the hotel’s resident historian gives us a tour of the three-room suite where Nikolai Bukharin, Lenin’s favorite Bolshevik, lived with a menagerie that included an eagle, a bear cub, and a monkey. In 1938 Bukharin was executed after one of Stalin’s notorious show trials.

Alena, Grand Cafe Dr.Zhivago restaurant, Moscow

On our last day in Moscow, Barry and I share enameled metal bowls of pelmeni, Siberian dumplings, around the wooden communal table of a “dumpling boutique” called Lepim i Varim, or “Shape and Boil.” This sweet lokavorosky (locavore) spot run by three young dudes, two of whom are hosts at Moscow’s Comedy Radio, aims to hook Muscovites on Russian fast food. Outside, the peeping Moscow sun glints on the pedestrianized Stoleshnikov Lane (Moscow’s “it” shopping street), where 19th-century facades preen in new coats of buttercream and pistachio. The gazelles strutting out of Chanel and Louis Vuitton stores most likely have no idea that journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a legendary chronicler of Moscow’s late 19th-century restaurant scene, lived on this street. Suddenly I recall the days of Brezhnev-era stagnation when my parents were still together and mom, dad, and I ate frugal borscht and stale sausage while reading Gilyarovsky’s orgiastic descriptions of suckling pigs and tall sturgeon pies at Moscow’s fin de siècle taverns. How preposterous, it dawns on me now, how completely improbable it would have seemed to us then, the idea of me flying in from New York to report on Moscow’s 2016 revolution in dining. I call up my mom to share these thoughts with her. She’s having lunch with her octogenarian school friends.

“ Da, da , isn’t life strange?” she chuckles. And then demands: “Did you post my photos with chef Mukhin on Facebook? How many Likes did it get?”

Moscow Method

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At its core, the MoSCoW method is simply a prioritization framework that can be applied to any kind of situation or project, but it works best when a large number of tasks need to be ruthlessly whittled down into a prioritized and achievable to-do list. The core aim of the process is to classify tasks into four buckets; Must, Should, Could and Won’t. As you can probably fathom, Must is the highest priority bucket, and Won’t is the lowest. You can also presumably now see where the funny capitalization in the term ‘MoSCoW’ derives from. One of the primary benefits of a MoSCoW exercise is that it forces hard decisions to be made regarding which direction a digital product project will take. Indeed, the process is usually the first time a client has been asked to really weigh up which functions are absolutely fundamental to the product (Must), which are merely important (Should) and which are just nice-to-haves (Could). This can make the MoSCoW method challenging, but also incredibly rewarding. It’s not uncommon for there to be hundreds of user stories at this stage of a project, as they cover every aspect of what a user or admin will want to do with the digital product. With so many stories to keep track of it helps to group them into sets. For example, you may want to group all the stories surrounding checkout, or onboarding into one group. When we run a MoSCoW process, we use the following definitions. Must – These stories are vital to the function of the digital product. If any of these stories were removed or not completed, the product would not function. Should – These stories make the product better in important ways, but are not vital to the function of the product. We would like to add these stories to the MVP build, but we’ll only start working on them once all the Must stories are complete. Could – These stories would be nice to have, but do not add lots of extra value for users. These stories are often related to styling or ‘finessing’ a product. Won’t – These stories or functions won’t be considered at this stage as they are either out of scope or do not add value.

The first two slides of the template are similar in design and structure. These slides can be used to provide general information to the team about the client’s needs. The slides will be useful for the product owner, development team, and scrum master. The next slide groups user stories into vertical columns. You can also set a progress status for each user story. The last slide gives you the ability to specify the time spent on each user story. After summing up the time for each group, the team can understand how long it will take them to complete each group. All slides in this template are editable based on your needs. The template will be useful to everyone who uses the Agile method in their work.

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The World Food Forum

The World Food Forum (WFF), launched in 2021 as an independent network of partners hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), serves as the premier global platform to actively shape agrifood systems for a better food future, accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through youth action, science and innovation, and investment, the WFF forges new paths of action and multi-sector partnerships for agrifood impact at the local, regional and global levels to achieve a more sustainable, resilient, inclusive and hunger-free future for all.

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The year-long activities of the WFF culminate in an annual flagship event - a dynamic global platform that transcends boundaries, generations and sectors to transform the future of our agrifood systems. In 2024, the event will be held from 14 to 18 October at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy, and online. It will bring together world experts, impassioned changemakers and visionary leaders of all ages around the theme: “ Good food for all, for today and tomorrow ”.

Organized around three pillars - Global Youth Action , Science and Innovation and Hand-in-Hand Investment - the 2024 flagship event leverages the power of intergenerational collaboration, as well as partnerships and action across policy, science, innovation, education, culture and investment. This year, the event will also host the 2024 edition of the annual World Food Day and the High-Level Rome Water Dialogue on WASAG - The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture , as well as the Global Family Farming Forum , ensuring even more inclusivity, dialogues and solutions for the present and future of our agrifood systems.

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Special sessions of the 2024 world food forum flagship event.

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Poland + 1 more

Poland: Polish Shelter, Housing & Accommodation Sector — Presentation (28th August 2024)

Attachments.

1. Updates (30’)

• Coordination updates, including IOM training offer

• Partners updates – challenges from the field

2. Presentation on best practices, DO’s & DON’T’s in collaboration with beneficiaries, Paulina & Alicja SHAS (30’)

3. Protection Incident Tracking Tool, Marcin Macenowicz, UNHCR

4. Shelter Management WG – organizational discussion: time & frequency of meetings, objectives, ToR etc, Ania Szlendak, IOM (30’)

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Ukraine + 1 more

Sweden increases support for heating and electricity supply in Ukraine by SEK 500 million