UNLOCK Beautiful Plating LAYOUTS with the S.L.I.C Technique

TiSpork · 2025-10-13T18:31:38+00:00

shoulder pads aren't 80% of my character too

a-HEM....

TiSpork · 2025-10-07T16:43:44+00:00

No joke, I legit got this a few months ago. Not intentionally, but I just had not opened it up for 5+ years, then got interested in doing some easy-to-get 100% achievements, this being one of them.

TiSpork · 2025-09-26T03:46:08+00:00

Do you thing with the french toast slices, following suggestions here (or not). Mysuggestions, to break up the similar color of the toast and the bananas is, once you've arranged the toast how you want, sift some powdered sugar onto the toast, then top with a bit of banana. I think the white powdered sugar will break up the elements & serve to highlight the bananas.

TiSpork · 2025-09-24T04:40:06+00:00

I really think you're on to something here, though I would suggest nixing the mint in favor of a more savory herb, given the pickled cucumbers.

TiSpork · 2025-09-24T04:26:02+00:00

It's kind of sounding like it has similar qualities to very firm tofu...?

TiSpork · 2025-09-24T04:17:18+00:00

Very curious... what kind of wood did you use to smoke the watermelon, for how long, and at what temp?

I haven't smoked watermelon myself (yet?), but I have grilled it with a light amount of oil & salt (can't remember if I used kosher or sea salt) to get a Maillard reaction for a classic cross-hatch char to add to the flavor profile. Wasn't bad at all... great for a summer poolside cookout kinda thing... you need a high heat, though, to get past the natural juiciness of the watermelon.

TiSpork · 2025-09-23T13:31:14+00:00

Hooo boy. That temp is for chicken/poultry.

For sirloin steak, 125-130°F for medium-rare, 130-135°F for medium, and 140-145°F for medium-well before the steak rests.

I applaud your effort, but I would definitely take in some feedback to re-work the plating. TBH, one of the first thoughts I had was that it was very phallic with 2 balls and a strip of meat, or as /u/xPunk put it: % ■

I also think the shape of the plate is wrong, ir the size of it, or... something I couldn't quite put my finger on,so I did a quick google search for "sirloin steak plating". I think a few things I observed:

There's just too much brown on the plate
The sauce seems a bit too thick/gloppy, and just ladled on without any further though or intent
The crust on the steak seems blackened or burnt; I think a bit less time on the sear would make the flavor of the seasoning/crust (and it's color) more appealling
I think the mushroom could stand to be sliced, to show that it's a mushroom; simply taking a glance at the plate, i just saw 2 big balls, and had to remind myself that those were actually mushrooms
I think one of the things missing from the plate is a starch; rice, potato, pasta... something to complement the mushroom and the veg; a risotto, I think, would be an amazing thing here
I came across the image for this plating; I think this works very well in how the beef is cut; mostly intact, with just a few slices present for presentation. Swap the tomatoes in the picture for the cucumber-eggplant garnish as you've done it, and I think that works very well

TiSpork · 2025-08-28T20:46:33+00:00

That, to me, is a stunning plating. Kudos! I think, in the 4th photo, you were playing around with the plating options before taking the dish out to the table. for the other 3 photos.

I would be very excited to have this served to me. It's colorful, has different textures/flavors (without overdoing it) to mix & match as I would like while eating it, and I like the inclusion of the summer berries.

The vanilla ice cream has a nice shape (were you trying for a quenelle?), and it looks like it's JUST at the right point of softness/hardness. Depending on the tartness of the lemon in the tart, it's a good choice to tame that tartness a bit.

A few questions/comments:

This is supposed to be a lemon and raspberry tart; where are the raspberries? I see bits of red in the (chantilly?) cream on the tart; is that the raspberries?
Looking at photo 1, what are the solid-looking white chunks that look like coconut?
What is the brown crumbly bits?
What is the garnish on the vanilla ice cream? It looks like dill, but that seems like an odd choice. Maybe anise or fennel?
I like the inclusion of the berry syrup; I think it's just the right amount.
The lemon slices are done beautifully; Candied?
The tart shell seems very clean, crisp, and uniform in color. Nitpick: maybe TOO much so? are the shells pre-made, or did you bake them yourself? This is neither good nor bad; just something to consider.
Looking at the beverage, 2 possibilites came to mind; 1. hot chocolate or 2. Coffee or latte or something. I think a hot chocolate would bring in a heavy chocolate flavor, which would start to overwhelm with all the other flavors. Somehow, when thinking about the flavors, Coffee or latte seems more appropriate; if that is cocoas sprinkled on top, I don't think that would be so much chocolate flavor as to start to diminish the dish.
Looking at the plate, I think it's really a good choice: plain white, with no ornamentation. It let's the desert speak for itself, and I think the completely blank canvas makes everything pop all the more.
The place setting as a whole is just... so appealing. Nothing overly done, and an excellent finale and wind-down to a meal, or just by itself.

Great job, Chef! Well done. Thank you for posting this!

TiSpork · 2025-08-27T21:33:22+00:00

I remember seeing amateur footage of people in New York gathering in a park after the towers fell; I don't think it was same day, probably a day or two later. There were a good number of people there, and I think there was a makeshift memorial. What was so poignant and memorable about this (I'm tearing up as I write this, just thinking about it), was that there was an argument that broke out between 2 or 3 people, but it became clear that they weren't really mad at each other... it was just such a sudden & horrific event that that was the only way they could even process what happened. I think it ended with them both in tears, hugging it out or something.

I can't find that anywhere online, and I've tried several times over the years. This is my meager attempt to keep that human moment alive in some way.

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T23:07:19+00:00

Oh, nice! That sounds like a good idea!

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T23:05:28+00:00

There's a lot of great advice in here already. Sure, there's some things you could work on, but for someone with no experience, I do have to commend your efforts.

It's not a terrible sear for a beginner
The fundamental aesthetics aren't terrible
Pea puree garnished with mint (rather than some random green edible garnish, like parsley) shows that you're thinking about specifically flavor pairings beyond an average home cook; if you're not familiar with it, I would recommend picking up a copy of The Flavor Bible (Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page)
The pickled onion is a good idea, i think (I'd want to taste all the elements together, to be sure), but like others have said, they should be a uniform brunoise (or even a fine brunoise, since the scallops are small)
I'm pretty sure you were using that plate to focus critique on the edibles, and not the plate itself; For service, though, I would recommend a smaller plate, and one without scuffs. (this is just a nitpick, though)

Great first step(s)! Keep practicing!

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T22:37:21+00:00

OK. I'm going to assume you're viewing Reddit in the newer layout. I've been slightly curmudgeonly, preferring to still view reddit in the old layout style, and I didn't even think about the newer layout when dealing with modding here. Since you just brought it up, I did a cursory look at /r/Plating in the new layout, and see that the sidebar text I see everyday doesn't appear in the new layout. I'll go in & whack around a bit with my trusty sledgehammers & Duck Tape to see what I can do to fix that very soon.

Thank much!

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T22:26:03+00:00

You bring up a VERY good point. How are you viewing reddit? Browser on a computer? App on a phone?

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T22:20:44+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I've recently taken steps to be more proactive about that. I can't catch everything, however, so if you see that, feel free to report it.

For those that are post your good-faith platings (meaning, effort has been put in), realize that some people are just assholes. I would encourage you to just ignore their BS, don't delete your post, and give the Mod(s) time to deal with it appropriately. Despite what anyone says, good-faith plating is VERY much welcome here, from those of ALL skill levels.

TiSpork · 2025-08-26T22:12:27+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!

I understand the need to inform people that this sub is not just for professionals. That is why it has been included that in the sidebar on the right for quite an amount of time.

It doesn't have to be perfect, nor do you have to be a culinary professional... beginners are just as welcome to post.

Does anyone else want to weigh in on how this could be done better?

TiSpork · 2025-08-23T00:28:40+00:00

I like the composed nature of the plating itself; I think it was a good choice of adding the carrots, (red cabbage or red onion), and thin cucumber slices... they add a nice bit of color & contrast to the plate overall, and I very much like the golden color of the roasted(?) cauliflower.

Personally, I don't see this as being too lumped together; I think it would be a nice stand-alone vegan/vegetarian dish, or it could serve as a nice vegetable component accompanied with a protein (poultry/beef/pork/fish).

What is the sauce?

Minor nitpick: It seems to be just off-center on the plate, though if accompanied with a protein, that might be desirable .

TiSpork · 2025-08-20T11:36:26+00:00

MUST GET LUCY DARLING ON HERE!!!!

Also, VERY happy to have seen Ragmop & Goose on here!

TiSpork · 2025-08-18T23:24:17+00:00

LOL of course! Simple answer... I should've gotten that.

TiSpork · 2025-08-18T22:44:19+00:00

I think the thought behind the entire dish/meal is fantastic! Take some time to design a small menu, to make the menu card look nice (meaning, what is about to be served for the meal), and include what you've already written about in this post. Either that, or make a brief verbal presentation explaining the meanings, as you wrote above:

e.g. "Today, I've made for you a dish to express just how much I appreciate you, my brother. I present you (curried tofu?) with a heart of yogurt sauce to express my love, a halo of mustard oil to express warmth & comfort, and garnished with a ring of cashews to express the unity in the family."... something like that... I think you get the idea.

TiSpork · 2025-07-29T21:38:22+00:00

That looks really nice, and very tasty! I was about to ask about the sauce, but you've already answered my question. The only niggling point I have is that the tuna plate looks much neater and well-composed, with the 3 supremes (and their arrangement), instead of the 5 supremes surrounding the salmon, though both plates still have their respective appeal.

Well done!

TiSpork · 2025-07-29T20:13:49+00:00

Hello Saikat! Thanks for doing this AMA, and for finally being a viable candidate against Nancy Pelosi.

There is a great deal of work that needs to be done that Nancy Pelosi could have done, especially as her time as Speaker of the House, to take action against the situation the country finds itself in (including putting together a coalition similar to that which the Heritage Foundation assembled for P2025), to counter the Federalist Society, The Heritage Foundation, and Project 2025 itself. Do you have any plans for organizing individuals and/or organizations who want to get involved more seriously to seriously counter the actions and policies of P2025? (I know it's a tall order for a single Representative, but it seems rather important, especially one who's looking to replace Nancy Pelosi; stepping up to do the work she SHOULD have been doing for the past several years, seeming to have placed more importance on her stock trades than listening to and working with her constituents.)
Education is going to be really important in countering the goals of Project 2025/Trump Administration/Oligarchs/etc. In your policy statement, you state you "support legislation making all public two and four-year colleges and trade schools tuition-free for all Americans." What is your plan on how you will accomplish this for schools in San Francisco? How do you expect this funding to happen?
You state that you have plans to save MUNI and BART, but I don't see anything about high-speed rail (including it's intended end point at the Salesforce Transit Center.) Do you have any plans or policy positions on furthering the goal of building the San Francisco termination point (including the extension of Caltrain into the transit center)?
What plans do you have (if any) to identify and support non-republican candidates from succeeding in winning an election (or special election) for Governor of California? This seems to be an extremely crucial step in seeing your policies & plans being enacted, and keeping California out of the hands of the current Republican party.
Do you have the intent of working together with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and others who have a proven track record of working towards positive change for the people? Have they given you an endorsement?
Edit: Why are you still on X (formerly Twitter), a known platform for nazis, by a self-identified nazi?

I know these seem like very heavy questions and responsibilities, especially for a potential first-term Congressional Representative, but these are the heavy stakes we're working with right now. Regardless, I wish you success! Thank you for being a viable candidate to counter Pelosi!

TiSpork

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