A practical guide to adding that professional flourish to any dish.

Create food that's dressed to impress with this collection of great food styling ideas. A practical guide to presenting all kinds of dishes makes it easy to add a professional finish to your cuisine.

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"In Culinary Artistry...Dornenburg and Page provide food and flavor pairings as a kind of steppingstone for the recipe-dependent cook...Their hope is that once you know the scales, you will be able to compose a symphony." --Molly O'Neil in The New York Times Magazine. For anyone who believes in the potential for artistry in the realm of food, Culinary Artistry is a must-read. This is the first book to examine the creative process of culinary composition as it explores the intersection of food, imagination, and taste. Through interviews with more than 30 of America's leading chefsa including Rick Bayless, Daniel Boulud, Gray Kunz, Jean-Louis Palladin, Jeremiah Tower, and Alice Watersa the authors reveal what defines "culinary artists," how and where they find their inspiration, and how they translate that vision to the plate. Through recipes and reminiscences, chefs discuss how they select and pair ingredients, and how flavors are combined into dishes, dishes into menus, and menus into bodies of work that eventually comprise their cuisines.

An inspiring book for professionals andsophisticated home cooks who wantto take their skills to the next level,Working the Plate goes beyond adding adrizzle of something here or a sprig ofsomething there to explore both the principlesand the art of food presentation. Christopher Styler shares the secrets of seven contemporaryplating styles: The Minimalist, The Architect, The Artist, Contemporary European Style, Asian Influences, The Naturalist, and DramaticFlair. He also reveals the thoughts of ten leading chefs on the art of plating, from Terrance Brennan and Emily Luchetti to Suzanne Goin and Marcus Samuelsson. Working the Plate includes several examples of each plating style. Stunning color photographs show both finished plates and the steps involved to duplicate the techniques behind such dishes as Roasted Quail with Chard and Potatoes, Parmesan Crusted Lamb Chops with Swirled Root Puree and Pea Sauce, Skate and Angel Hair Pasta with Caper Butter, Soba-Tofu Salad in a Nori Cone, and Bird's Nest Brunch. Plating provides the all important first impression and sets the stage for the sensoryexperience of enjoying a great meal. With this overview of popular plating styles, you'll see how you can vary approaches and add adistinctive dash of élan and panache to the dishes you serve. Discover the plating philosophies of these renowned chefs: Wayne Harley Brachman, Porter House, New York, NY Terrance Brennan, Artisanal, Picholine, New York, NY Andrew Carmellini, A Voce, New York, NY Suzanne Goin, Lucques, AOC, Los Angeles, CA Sharon Hage, York Street, Dallas, TX James Laird, Restaurant Serenade, Chatham, NJ Emily Luchetti, Farallon Restaurant, San Francisco, CA Tadashi Ono, Matsuri, New York, NY Kent Rathbun, Abacus, Jasper's, Dallas, Texas Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit, Riingo, New York, NY

Acclaimed food stylist Denise Vivaldo shares the tips and secrets of the trade with cooks who want to become master stylists. It takes a steady hand to arrange the chocolate curls and drizzle the caramel sauce in elaborate designs on top of that sumptuous tiered cake. Whether for food blogs, television, books, magazines, movies, menus, or advertising, food stylists and photographers learn to slice, plate, tweak, and arrange so the dish becomes less a bit a food and more the work of an artisan. Learn how to create ice cream that doesn't melt under the hot camera lights, build stacks of lighter-than-air pancakes, grill a thick steak to perfection with a charcoal starter and more.