Food Stylist Secrets:
Why Should You Hire a Food Stylist Instead of Using Your Chef
When getting ready for a food photo shoot. 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 imaginationThe food can be cold, but still look hotOrders 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 visuallySkilled 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 establishmentRuns the kitchen and staff associated with itSkilled in culinary vision and execution of meals for serviceAware 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.
