A Food Stylist and A Chef

Food Stylist Secrets:  

Why Should You Hire a Food Stylist Instead of Using Your Chef

I am often asked by restaurant owners why they should hire a food stylist when they already have a chef. While we both care about how food looks, a food stylist is an expert at making the food look amazing for a photograph rather than for someone to sit down and eat.

We translate your chef's vision and flavors into a photograph... making your potential customers ready to take a bite. As humans we see three dimensionally and can take clues of the atmosphere around us to create a mood. It's important to remember that a photo is one dimensional and loses all the extra context clues that make food look delicious. A great food stylist will still capture that essence and translate it to a photograph.

Here's a basic rundown on the difference between a food stylist and a chef.

Food Stylist

Chef

Prepares food for people to eat with their eyes, feeds the imagination The food can be cold, but still look hot Orders and shops for food that will photograph best in the quantity needed to achieve the desired results. Reads and prepares a recipes for how it will best appear visually Skilled in organization, timing and problem solving Aware of culinary trends Knowledgeable of how to handle food and the chemistry of it Use substitutes to achieve a look rather than focus on how it tastes

Prepares food for people to eat, may know how to present food visually but the food must be hot and delicious. Orders product for the establishment Runs the kitchen and staff associated with it Skilled in culinary vision and execution of meals for service Aware of culinary trends and complementing flavors Skilled in menu planning and development Cares about flavor

 
As you can see, food stylists and chefs are both very talented, but they bring two different skill sets to the table. To bring the best of your food to a photograph, you need a food stylist to get your customers to eat with their eyes.

If you are looking for a food stylist or have questions about hiring one, please contact Impressions Food Styling at (612) 234-5404 or visit http://impressionsfoodstyling.com. 

 

Grand Food In the Minneapple

Number 1

Minneapolis, Minnesota: La Belle Vie

Last but not least I do have to highlight my hometown of Minneapolis, La Belle Vie; I believe will always be on the top of my list for fine dining experiences.  This restaurant’s chef, Tim McKee won the James Beard Award for “Best Chef Midwest.”  The food is inventive, flavorful, and artfully presented.  The décor of the restaurant is clean and sophisticated without being stuffy, and the lounge is filled with a classic elegance.  This restaurant has everything going for it, and the service matches the quality perfectly.  From the moment you open the door, or should I say the door is opened for you, to the time you walk out, the experience is flawless.  This restaurant may feel a bit snooty or pretentious for some but if you want to feel like a King or Queen at dinner, this is the place I would recommend.  Some may say that the attention to the most miniscule details are not needed, these are the details that make the experience truly unique and memorable.  The timing, food, and the service are all part of the attentive “extras” that make this place shine and truly special.

These four experiences are all distinctly different in food and atmosphere but what they all how in common is attentive caring service. What sets them apart from the rest is not just the quality of food but the way each of them made their guests feel special, comfortable and welcome. They assisted in allowing a meal not just to be consumed but to be lived and shared.

I am planning a trip to Chicago soon in search of new favorites to add to the list of best dining experiences. Stay in touch to see what else is new. Share your thoughts on the best dining experience you have ever had.

Food and Wine, it just Makes Sense

Number 2 of 4

Sonoma Valley, California: Ledson Winery

You may have heard of it if you are familiar with Sonoma Valley, but if not, seek it out if you are going for a visit. You can’t miss this winery, as it is a beautiful castle-like estate.  They offer fine wine and a great café for picnic lunches.  I don’t really know how my brother did it, but somehow he had arranged for us to have a private lunch there.  This was all a surprise to me as I thought we were going for wine and a picnic, but instead we were led up the grand staircase to a quaint table outside on the small veranda overlooking the vineyard. The wine was poured, and an 8-course lunch began.  To this day I don’t know what my brother had told them, but the chef personally delivered each dish with pride an explanation and perfect paring of wine. It was one of the longest and most delicious, fun, and beautiful meals I have ever experienced.

Share your favorite food and wine paring? I love red wine, friends and good brie with apples.

Fine Dinner at a Casino

Number 3 of 4

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Dream Dance in the Potawatomi Bingo Casino

I know what you thinking, really, a casino, and in Wisconsin?  That makes your top four? Yes it does, and let me tell you why.  At the time I went to the restaurant, it was still within the casino, so the experience was very odd to walk through a smoky casino to get to a “high-end” restaurant.  Currently, the restaurant has it’s own entranceway.  However, that small environmental design flaw could even then, be over looked by the quality of food, service, ambiance and little extras.  I have eaten at Dream Dance several times, as I worked with them in the past. Their menu items were delicious and presented well with the help of high quality servers that understood the meals that they served.  However, the reason it makes my cut is because it is unique.  The meal always started with a visit from the Champagne Cart. The Champagne Cart was a lovely rolling cart of a variety of tastes of Champagne.  It was attended by a very kind, knowledgeable and approachable sommelier.  If you wanted to try something new, celebrate the evening, or just have a small taste of Champagne, to have it offered in that manner was well appreciated.  Out of all the items I have tasted from their menu, I have not come across anything that was sub-par my standards.  My favorite dish, the Pumpkin Soup, served tableside as they poured it over a stunning presentation of duck confit.  Shortly after the deserts, a visit from yet another rolling cart, the same wonderful sommelier, but this time it was the Port Cart.  The Port Cart was to finish your meal with a little something sweet and rich.  I appreciate this very much because I feel that both Champagne and Port are two drinks that are not commonly consumed, here they made them approachable, taking the time and consideration to find a taste that everyone enjoys.

Stay tuned the top 2 places are yet to come...

The 4 Most Magical Evenings

A recent dining experience out with my love happened to be the far worst service I have ever experienced in a restaurant.  I dine out quite a bit and have an understanding that not always things go as planned, mistakes are made, and after all, we are all human; but this evening took top prize in poor service. It sadly left us with no other option at the end of our meal, to pull the manager aside to have a kind, but very candid conversation. It concerns me that other people can have similar experiences as the one I had that evening.  Nonetheless, I am reminded of all the good times, and I am grateful for the, oh, so many amazing dining experience I have been blessed with. When I think about the most memorable meals I personally have many, but there are just a few experiences that rank above the rest.  Here are my top 4 most exquisite and best dining experiences.

Number 4

Florence, Italy:

To be honest, I do not remember the name of the restaurant, the street it was on, or the name of our charming waiter, but this will forever be a moment of restaurant joy for me.  I was traveling with a group of students from culinary school.  A few girls and I decided to venture out for late dinner one evening.  It was the very first time I had ever ate real gnocchi; the homemade potato dumplings, not the packaged dense glue balls that we can buy at our grocery store.  It was presented in a simple marinara sauce with fresh basil and Parmesan.  These little heavenly pillows of potato melted away like butter on my tongue.  I reminisce of these pure simple flavors now although it was several years ago.  Not only was the food superb, clean, fresh and simple, it was accompanied by the charm of our, not one, but three handsome dark haired Italian waiters.  As a table of 6 young American girls, we caught their attention.  After dessert, we all left with a stunning red rose, a humble gift from our very attentive servers.

Food For The Day

** Food Stylist Secrets:  How Many Photographs Can You Do in A Day?
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One of the most common questions I get is, "How much can you do in a day?"

On average, most projects achieve 3-5 shots in one day (1 to 2 shots in the morning and 2 to 3 shots in the afternoon). However, how many shots we actually achieve depends on the need of the project and on unexpected variables. Here are some of those factors:

Purpose of the Photos
The most important thing when I start up a new project is to make sure the client has a clear vision about what they want to achieve. Not only do I need to know what "look" they want to go for, but also how they will use the photographs after they are produced. For example, packaging and advertising projects typically take a bit longer to make sure the food represents itself on a variety of mediums. It needs to look like the end product exactly.  Food styling for editorials or recipes on the web can often have a more relaxed, home-cooked less-styled feel to them.

Type of Food
The type of food can be a huge variable when preparing to for a photo shoot. Generally items such as ice cream, pizza, iced beverages and intensive recipes take longer than items such as fried foods, sandwiches and pastas. If there are a lot of components or sides to prepare this can add time. If there is baking involved or roasts that take a while to cook and cool, this needs to be factored in as well. Sometimes the amount of studio time can be shortened by adding an assistant or allowing for prep days in advance, especially if there is a lot of baking to be done.

The Background
Of course, your food has to be photographed against a background. A solid white background will take less time than setting up an entire table scape. A stylist can spend hours just getting the props in the correct space to achieve that perfect look.

Every food stylist will always give you the best of their talents and will aim to prepare  your food for as many picture-perfect photographs in a day as possible. A well-trained food stylist will coordinate with your photographer and walk you through questions like these to achieve the most during your photo shoot.

If you are looking for a food stylist, please contact Impressions Food Styling at (612) 636-1994 or visit http://impressionsfoodstyling.com.

It's Not too Late, Make a Date for Pesto

As the days are drawing shorter it seems as if each waking morning the air is just a bit cooler. I am reminded to take just one more moment to savor the remaining fruits of the summer. 

A dinner just recently hosted by Slow Food Minnesota  at Garden Farme with Bruce Bacon and Chef Erik Sather from Bar La Grassa was the perfect event.

The evening was filled with friendly faces, glorious plants and plenty of delicious organic foods. We learned about basil as Erik put on a pesto making demo. He made pesto not only from basil but Arugula and mint as well. 

Bruce talking about the variety of spicy mustard greens he grows

A row of vibrant lettuces

Bruce led us on a tour through his three beautiful gardens and shared about his unique organic farming methods. It was truly refreshing to see the farm to table concept so close to home to learn about local restaurants that are supporting this trend and why we should all be concerned with farm-to-city issues, knowing where our food is coming from and how it has been handled will continue the healthy of our selves or families and our planet. 

Erik Sather and he freshly made Pesto

My Dinner Plate, So fresh and delicious

We picked up some tasty treats to bring a bit of the farm home with us. A big bunch a basil to make fresh pesto and sorrel to make one of Joey’s favorite Polish soups. I must say it was one of the best batches I have ever made just picturing the farm and Bruce picking it made it that much more special. I encourage you to find out where your produce in really coming from and taste the difference when sampling something that has been grown locally. There is still time for one last batch of homemade pesto enjoy!