[thechat] Presentation of food

Bob Davis bob at bobdavis.org
Thu Jan 30 15:57:01 CST 2003


On Thursday, January 30, 2003, at 12:43  PM, Madhu Menon wrote:

>
> While I'm aware of the importance of presentation in a dish (and
> therefore
> am practising food and veggie carving like a maniac), it bugs me that
> some
> restaurants (mostly abroad thankfully) consider presentation more
> important
> than portions. So you end up with dishes that are bite-sized but
> extremely
> beautiful to behold. I'd prefer a hearty meal, however, and generous
> portions.
>
> For instance, check this out:
> http://www.roysrestaurant.com/menu_entrees.html
>

Very nice.

> Look at those portions. I'd finish that in less than 60 seconds.
> What's the
> point?
>

Maybe you would, if you were very hungry and didn't have any courses
prior to the main dish.

> What are your thoughts?
>

Well, I work in a place with a four star restaurant. The garde manger
guys are awesome - they can carve carrots, radishes, etc. into the most
amazing stuff. They do very beautiful presentations.
The food that comes off the line (see
http://www.lamansion.com/dining/
index.cfm?fuseaction=pro_articleView&artID=134 ) is presented
beautifully as well. The portions  are good = but not huge.
If you order the Chef's Tasting Menu (available here:
http://www.lamansion.com/dining/
index.cfm?fuseaction=pro_articleView&artID=202 ), the portions are much
smaller - but they know you're having 6 courses. Presentation is really
beautiful on the tasting menus. The experience is ramped up.

Does presentation count? Yeah. Can it be the difference between rough
chopped peppers and peppers that are evenly chopped - or even
brunoised? Yes.

Portion size is part of it, but the presentation shows you care.

That's just my take.

bob

(NB - most of the HTML is not mine, and the stupid CMS we have destroys
my encoded entities)





More information about the thechat mailing list