I just received my copy of Working the Plate: The Art of Food Presentation, by Christopher Styler and I have to say definitively that this is a book that can help anyone who’s just starting to really think about plating as what it is, an art form.

This book won’t be of much help to the serious food stylist, as it specifically covers the art of plating from a chef’s perspective and not a photographer’s perspective (I’ll be getting a few of those soon), but if you’ve ever wanted to get a good feel for the plating style of a fine restaurant this is a great place to start.

The author covers 8 istinct plating styles in the book, each of which comes with a recipe for the dish so that you can practice the plating if you’d like.  The photography is excellent and I found that the step-by-step plating instructions were concise enough for me to follow. In fact, if you notice a difference in the photos in this site over the next few weeks, it will be due in large part to this book.

It’s not often that I go out of my way to recommed a product here at CBSOP, but i think that this is one of tose that you really need to see for yourself.  It has inspired me to be better at what I do in the kitchen and to make my presentation reflect the care and passion that I put into the food itself. Do yourself a favor and go get a copy of Working the Plate: The Art of Food Presentation for yourself or the cook in your life. you’ll be glad you did.

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