Thank you for the compliments! I think my plating is getting better because I try to take as much thinking out of my daily cooking as I can, which leaves me with time to visualize dishes when it comes time to actually cook them.
I set my menu for the work week on the weekend so I already have a rough outline of the dish components, then gather all of the fresh produce and meat I need so I’m not playing iron chef every meal. I don’t deviate too far from the cooking techniques I know or try out more than one new thing at a time to ensure I stay in a semi-comfortable zone and can complete whatever I’m making. And since I didn’t have to think about what to make or how to prepare it, I can dedicate more time to visualizing the end product.
I also have a ton of inspiration from people like Jules Cooking and Chef Majk from YouTube that guide me towards more modern plating techniques.
I really feel like you’ve focused on your plating for the last few weeks and it really shows. You’re really good at this! Plating, as a discipline, can seem a little pretentious to some people, but it’s really the difference between good good and great cuisine. It contextualizes a dish. It’s like the punctuation marks of food. A well-placed comma and exclamation mark matters.
