Got promoted to sous recently (assisted living) & the bar is fucking high & I feel like all my plates look the same. I’ve got some garnish books but they’re old & that’s not what I want, any feedback/criticism is very much appreciated
by Legitimate_Builder17
25 Comments
Come on man
I don’t think they all look the same. And I think they look nice. And congrats on the promotion!
I just want to say that you have a very important job and I wish you the best. What you are serving is pretty damn impressive, and in this environment plating is probably the least important part of meal prep. Having said that, if you have the time and inclination, cutting those carrot lengthwise, or quartering them would be a really simple start.
Maybe look at r/culinaryplating for some inspiration, obviously not all of it would fit with an assisted living menu but it could give you some ideas
I was gonna ask if this was for a nursing home even before I saw your post lol. Everything looks very ‘soft’. That considered, you’re doing an amazing job! I see you’re trying with different garnishes and sides! Those are some lucky old people!
It’s assisted living. They are going to be pissed or have no clue no matter what you do.
Damn all those dishes look pretty good
I wanna start off by saying the food looks good and I’d eat the plates as they are. I might suggest not putting it all on the same plate if you can it just kinda looks cluttered due to the portion size of the sides. They aren’t big per se but they take up plate space which forces you to kind of cram it all together. I get they may want that amount of food so maybe have some side plates or bowls for the sides if you can. Also baby carrots I usually cut julienne style for presentation plus personally I hate having to chomp through the whole carrot. Other than that the food looks good and the garnish is nice. Good work.
Fresh squash garnish is the only thing weird here. I would at the very least cut them thinner or pickle them.
As someone who also works in senior living kitchen I would say these look pretty great. My only critique would be to work with colors when plating. Otherwise great job! And congrats on the promotion!
In a place like this, I’d make it look as homely as possible, op. There’s a good chance the tenants will enjoy it more if they can relate it to when they were younger.
What I need to know is what your food cost is supposed to be. I assume, which I hate doing, is that they are thin.
To which I would say, knife skills will overly proportion what many consider to be “plating” a brunoise carrot will speak volumes over “green”
Use the ingredients in the dish, cut with care and specificity to enhance the experience of your guest.
Simple and elegant is the goal. Have fun with it.
I just want to say thank you for putting in effort for those individuals and for wanting to elevate your craft; keep it up champ.
Maybe different cuts with veggies. It’s all looking good, now I’m hungry.
I’d be happy at a home with food like that.
I think I’d enjoy one of these gigs.
I knew this was assisted living before I read the post. I do assisted living as well. Those baby carrots are a dead giveaway. You’re doing good mate. I find that an herb oil and a paprika oil really help the plates pop. I’m planning out an edible flower garden this year with my activities department. Hopefully that will help my plates grab the eye while also providing some enrichment for our residents.
Tighten up your chiffonade, oblique your carrots
Covering your chrispy things with sauce will make things soggy, put sauce on bottom.
You’re doing great!
That said, here are my notes. But, really, don’t make your job harder than it needs to be. If the residents like it, keep it up, but I do understand wanting to elevate what you do.
1. Don’t feel forced to overlap items on a plate, parsley should be chopped and added sparingly, if using baby carrots slice diagonally.
2. Broccoli looks overcooked, raw spiralized veggie does not make a good garnish, could be a side dish if blanched and tossed in vinaigrette.
3. If the salad bowl must be on the plate move everything else over, too much herb garnish. Does the breast need to be pre-sliced? If so, keep shingles tighter.
4. Spirals look unappetizing. Mix the peas into the meal. If added last minute they will stay bright green.
5. Looks good. Too much chive and the carrots are clunky, cut into triangles.
6. Tighten your protein shingle, resist overlapping your starch to such a degree.
7. Mix herbs into the gravy. If you worked to brown the potatoes didn’t hide them.
8. Not everything needs a garnish. Chicken looks appetizing, too bad I can’t see it under the gravy. Also can’t tell what’s under the chicken.
9. Succotash type dish needs some red bell pepper. Spirals on a sandwich?
10. Looks good besides the clunky basil. Either 1mm chiffonade or just mince it.
11. It looks good, but way too much herb in there, and lose the mint.
12. I feel like the tuna might actually look better as a tight scoop. Match your salad ingredients, big cukes should have big tomatoes.
13. If you can, get some color on those squash pieces, and halve them. Otherwise pretty nice.
This makes sense. At first look all I could see was hospital food
The plate at the end struck me in the face and I liked it; push rice into a wet bowl, turn it onto plate middle. Ladle the stew or cut into right side of plate in a semi circle, arrange veg in a stacked curve around the other side of the rice, sprinkle garnish across middle of plate onto the rice. Ideally you’d be able to slice the zucchini/(i hate summer squash but do what you gotta do) smaller, cook it a bit more, with garlic, onions, Italian herbs, garlic powder and evoo, keeping the liquid as a tasty broth and ladle that on the other side too. I didn’t see anyone actually suggest anything so I wondered what would happen if I did and I couldn’t stop myself. Either way, I’m jealous of your guts to ask this question, keep reaching, you’re clearly determined as hell! 👏 👏 👏
Looks good for what you are working with. That being said, add some color and space stuff out more. Proteins on top of gravy, etc maybe give the dishes a little height. Keep up the good work.
Nice. You know, admitting that you have a problem is the first step…or so I’ve heard? Can’t imagine where I would have heard such a thing…
Anyway, keep your head down and shit, cross your t’s and dot your lower case j’s…and listen to these people, they have tons of great advice. Not me though, I have no advice for you. Well, except for that, I guess. Can’t really help you with the plating…I’m a pizza guy, and the meta for plating that shit had been standardized for a long time. You wouldn’t think so if you’ve ever answered the phone in a pizza shop for any amount of time at all. At least 50% of callers want to know how many slices are in a pizza. It’s 8. Every pizza ever…has 8 goddamn slices. Yes, both the medium and the large, 8 slices. Different sized slices, but 8 of them.
Anyways, glad I could help.
Damn bro I wish the home my mom was at had somebody like you working there
It’s obvious you put effort into making the plates look nice and I bet your residents appreciate it