Bord · Servies · Serviesset · Sep 30, 2023

For the Home Chef: Plating Tips

It's Friday night. After a week of hard work, you have friends coming over for dinner tonight. When you invited them, it seemed like a good idea to burden them with high expectations: Multiple courses on your new tableware and a presentation à la the restaurant. But now, while you're shopping, you still have to think of the dishes that will end up on the plate. We'll help you with the plating of your dishes.

'Plating' is a catering term for arranging your plate. It makes you think about each part of a dish and how you present it as a whole. Here are some techniques for positioning your dish on a plate that will help you as a home chef to make every dish a picture:

(1) Large plate, small dish

A painter uses a canvas to apply colors and shapes, resulting in a beautiful composition. Use the plate to let your dish take center stage - literally - to create the same effect! A plate that cannot be missed in your tableware set.

(2) Small plate, large dish

The other way around is also possible: Use the entire space of a smaller plate of your tableware. This allows you to make a relatively small dish look big.

(3) The line

If you get a fish or meat dish in a restaurant where they pay attention to plating, you will often see the straight line. On a larger dinner plate you use a straight line where you position your dish. This can be exactly in the middle of the plate, or a bit further to the left or right.

(4) The Circle

By placing a circle exactly in the middle, you get a very tight presentation of your dish. Like the tomato tartare in the picture below. Handy tools are round baking tins or round bowls to get the perfect round shape.

(5) The Splash

The Splash is not only beautiful, but also a lot of fun to do! Choose a nicely colored vegetable, cook it, puree it, take a spoon and throw it on the plate from a small distance. We chose a purple carrot, as you can see in the picture below. Tip: Don't make your spoon too full.

Dreamy Ivory dinner plate with a splash of purple carrot

Get started yourself

Try playing with colours, heights, textures and contrasts. A beautiful plate helps your dish to stand out even more. Try our colours Ocean Breeze and Midnight Blue to make your dishes shine.