The Art of Plating

You pull out your phone to capture the plate in front of you, its colours perfectly balanced and its components arranged dramatically against the hand-crafted ceramics. “The camera eats first,” diners insist today.

So how do chefs create these “wow” plates? How important is appearance for the region’s top chefs, compared with the tastes, textures and other components of their menus? And can you craft these striking plates in your own kitchen?

Farmers and flavours first
 

For Jesse McCleery, chef/owner of Pilgrimme on Galiano Island, flavour is number one. When he creates a new dish, “it has to taste good”—which may seem obvious, but McCleery notes that social media can create anxiety, especially for up-and-coming cooks. “They feel like they need to create these visually stunning dishes,” even at the expense of flavour. “I imagine half the food on Instagram doesn't taste very good, because a lot of it is plated just for Instagram.”

At Pilgrimme, he says, “we start with what's available from the farms,” building multi-course tasting menus around the produce that they source locally. “We preserve quite a few things—dried fruits, fermented vegetables. We have a lot of flavour building blocks in the works, like pumpkin or barley misos, and we do shoyus with different grains. Canada produces so much great grain.” Once he’s settled on a dish’s ingredients and flavours, McCleery says, “We'll play with different ways of changing the textures—compressing it or marinating it or grilling it or charring it.” Only then does the chef focus on appearance.

Pilgrimme works with several ceramicists from around the region who’ve crafted tableware for the restaurant. Visually, McCleery says, “the biggest thing that we think about is which ceramic to use.” If a dish is predominantly white with a bit of red, for example, McCleery might consider if the food would present better on black or gray ceramics or if it should be kept monochromatic. “Because it's a tasting menu, we try not to put too many ingredients on each plate. We keep each dish to maybe three components tops, because you're eating 11-plus courses,” he explains.

Creating balance
 

At Pluvio Restaurant & Rooms in Ucluelet, chef/owner Warren Barr has a similar philosophy, starting with top-quality ingredients and building the flavours he wants before considering what the plate should look like.

Plating is about “the feeling of the dish you’re trying to capture,” he says. “I like the idea of very clean plates but with one tight cluster of busyness—like when you see a rock on the Wild Pacific Trail. It's this one little rock, but it has bits of moss and ferns and all these things growing out of [it].” Barr might leave the rest of the plate empty to show off that single grouping of ingredients, and explains that you can use negative space to craft an intriguing visual image. He might plate a piece of beef and something to accompany it, arranging the two components with three roughly equal spaces between them. “You only have two things on the plate, but you’re still getting ‘three’,” creating a feeling of balance.

Like McCleery, Barr emphasizes the importance of attractive, well-made dishware, and Pluvio sources its ceramics from artists around the region. “In winter, plating tends to be more raw, more rugged, less finicky. In summer, when you have these more delicate things you’re working with, I’ll try to do things a bit more delicate, a bit more pretty.” Because of social media, “people are more concerned with how things look. Hopefully, the pendulum comes back the other way,” Barr suggests. “Let’s pay more attention to the ingredients and highlight where they’re coming from.”

Eating with your eyes
 

Gerald Tan thinks beyond flavour, texture and appearance. As the executive pastry chef at the Fairmont Empress Hotel, where he oversees the pastry program for all the Victoria hotel’s outlets, Tan says he wants the desserts that he creates to capture the classic feel of the iconic property.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Tan came to North America at age 20, working first in the United States and then across Canada, assuming his position at the Fairmont Empress in 2023. His responsibilities range from plated desserts in Q Restaurant, sweets ordered through room service, desserts for banquets and other events and pastries served during the hotel’s ever-popular afternoon tea.

On the seasonally changing tea menu, Tan is featuring ingredients that reflect the hotel’s image. In the winter, he created a bergamot rosewater tart to highlight the hotel’s Rose Garden and its signature rose bath amenities. During the warmer months, he uses seasonal fruits like B.C. peaches or cherries, and includes lavender in more pastries, again showcasing what grows on the property.

As he builds the afternoon tea menu, the chef explains, “I always think of how the desserts would look on the stand. When you first get the stand, you eat with your eyes first, so it has to look good. I like different shapes. There’s always something round,” perhaps a tart or mousse, a layer cake or other rectangular treat and a macaron, though its colour and flavour vary. “A cookie is always nice,” Tan adds.

Try it at home
 

For home cooks who want to craft more artful dishes, McCleery suggests that a sharp knife is your most important tool. You’ll be able to cut more cleanly, which will make your ingredients look better.

Barr advises shopping for ceramics or other dishware that fit your style. “Our plates are very much the expression of our restaurant, because they were designed for us.” As you arrange your ingredients on those dishes, “don’t make your plate too busy.”

“I always do trials,” Tan adds. If the plate initially doesn’t look the way you want, “keep trying.”

But most importantly, McCleery advises letting the ingredients speak for themselves. “There's something quite stunning about a potato, glistening with butter with some chives on it, on a really nice plate. That, to me, is beautiful.”