From Van Gogh to Matisse, great painters have always agonised over framing their work, chefs face the same dilemma as works of art created in kitchens around the world need to be presented making an immediate impact with diners.
RAK porcelain 2019The statement we eat with our eyes is best served by delivering food to the table framed to be enjoyed before a morsel is removed.
Van Gogh worried constantly about framing his work and today only one of his paintings, Still Life with Fruit 1887, sits in its original frame. It is a near perfect combination. Van Gogh took a simple wooden border and painted it with two shades of yellow, cross-hatching it to echo yet update the carving of a traditional gilded frame. It is framing art personified, the result delights and forces your attention to the image it encloses.
If you are enjoying reading this, a far more detailed piece on artists and how they framed their work can be read here, Edge Trimming by Phil Daoust in The Guardian. Forgive the plagiarism.
I’ll now focus on chefs who just like artists come in all shapes and sizes and approach their work in an infinite variety of ways. Chefs are different to diners, diners approach dining in very few ways, in indulgence of the senses, sight, smell and taste.
As sight leads the dining experience of the senses, the presentation of any dish is paramount in ensuring the diners experience is precisely what chef means to create.
Why is presentation currently such a focus for us? We are preparing an Open Kitchen Live event at the end of the month where restauranteurs are invited to a day of menu development.
Chefs have been agonising over the menu and we felt we needed to match their commitment to the day through sourcing the best frames. We started by asking one of the chefs on the day for his view, Anwar Miah from the Asian Restaurant Owners Network.
Chef Anwar MiahMiah was succinct: “RAK Porcelain.” When we asked why he expanded by telling us: “I look to create dishes that make diners come back for more. My objective is simple, to create food that stimulates pure pleasure. The presentation is as important as any and all the elements that make up the dining experience, and RAK Porcelain will be what I use at Open Kitchen Live.
“I have 40 restaurateurs coming to taste my food, many are accomplished chefs as well as restaurateurs. I am cooking live, in front of my peers and nothing will be left to chance. I have practiced the dishes and they have all been framed, tested and photographed on RAK Porcelain.
“I am happy with testing so far; it continues and will continue until the day before show day. I have some new menu items, some amazing ingredients and the best catering equipment from Rational. I also have the best food frames from RAK Porcelain.”
We look forward to publishing our review of Open Kitchen Live later this month and will feature chef Miah’s dishes in our photography and in video.
If you are interested in also working with RAK Porcelain contact Nick Green.
Nick Green, UK Sales Manager, RAK Porcelain Europe
T: 07836 718791
E: ngreen@rakporcelaineurope.com
Online Catalogue: http://catalogue.rakporcelain.eu/