5 Boardwalk Secrets to Stunning Catering Displays: Elevate Your Event with Beautiful Food Presentations in 2024!

How you plate and serve your food has a significant impact on your guests’ dining experience. Let’s face it, we love food presentations. More precisely, we love beautiful food presentations when considering hiring Sydney catering services. After all, we eat with our senses: what we see, smell, and feel. In a world where social media is a +1, food plating and presentation in 2024 are more important than ever.

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Got 5 minutes to know more before you make the call? Keep reading.

Professor Charles Spence, an Oxford psychologist, conducted a study in which he gave 60 people 3 salads and asked them to rate the salads before and after consumption.

The salads had the same ingredients, same everything – except the way they were presented. One salad was put together carelessly with no regard to food presentation norms, one salad was neatly arranged, and the third plate was plated in such a way that resembled one of Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings.

Guess which salad the diners liked best. That’s right, the one that reminded them of the painting.

Conclusion: Beautiful food presentations can actually improve the taste of a dish.

Here are 5 Boardwalk Catering secrets to elevate your event with Instagram-worthy, beautiful food presentations in 2024.

#1 Plate right with proportioning

Boardwalk is famous for its spectacular Sydney catering services because we’ve mastered the art of food proportioning. Guests are happy, and event organisers are even happier. The right proportioning of a dish is vital not only for its visual appeal but also for cost management.

Each ingredient’s portion should be predetermined and maintained while plating.

That’s why, at Boardwalk Catering, we’re mindful of beautiful food presentations, and it starts with the plate sizes we choose. The plate or bowl size should correspond to the amount of food to serve. If the dish is too small for the portion of food offered, it looks unprofessional. It displays a look of clutter and congestion. Small portions on big platters, on the flip side, don’t look sufficient enough.

#2 Styling for premium Sydney catering services in 2024

The second food presentation strategy pertains to the way the Boardwalk styling team styles the meals. The secret to our beautiful food presentations is balance. The balance between contrast and variety. It’s all about finding that sweet spot because decorating the dish more than is necessary, for example, may end up spoiling it or making it look unsightly.

So, our creative chefs always position the main ingredient as the centre of attention and let the other ingredients complement it rather than steal its thunder. To add to the contrast, we also pay special attention to colours and flavours. We leave it to the herbs and vegetables to take on that role. We further accentuate that contrast by adding different sauces. Based on what we’ve noticed and what customer psychology affirms, serving odd quantities of food items such as shrimp and mushrooms further enhances the entire plate’s visual appeal. All in all, simplicity rules all. 

#3 Choosing the right tableware

A bigger plate will allow for more room for experimentation and creative plating. That said, we’re always mindful of not overfilling the plates to the point where there is no room left.

If that mouth-watering goodness is served on an unattractive plate, it’s going to be a total buzzkill. Boardwalk is famous for its premium Sydney catering services because we know that for delicious food to be eaten, choosing the right tableware is a given. We choose our plates wisely to match the special event and make sure they look good. This is the one time you simply cannot do with any cracked or broken crockery. Nobody wants to see that – let alone share it on their social media.

After more than a decade of experience in the Sydney catering scene, we’re able to experiment with different plate shapes, sizes, and colours to provide exceptional Sydney catering services for clients. In order to elevate our beautiful food presentation techniques and captivate the hearts and palates of our guests, we’re always on the hunt for different plating styles, including to modern-style plating with its contemporary flair, the landscape technique with its linear food arrangement, and super bowl technique used for smaller dishes (e.g., starter or entremets) – just to name a few.

#4 Timing

As far as beautiful food presentations in 2024 have it, timing reigns supreme, and a delicate dance of precision awaits those who are after premium caterers that provide the best Sydney catering services. At Boardwalk, we’re not just about styling, plating, and obviously serving amazing food; we’re also about timing. No plate should suffer the unfortunate fate of being adorned with meticulous care only to be left tepid or frigid. Here’s our secret: We factor in the plating time when we’re preparing the dish. That way, we’re sure it’s going to be served just the way it should be. One thing that many catering services in Sydney and beyond tend to forget is communication. Our staff always communicates the estimated serving time. It’s always good to keep our guests in the loop.

Sometimes when they find themselves in a bind, some Sydney catering services resort to the traditional clock pattern plating technique. Imagine dividing the plate into zones like the face of a clock from the perspective of the guest. Here’s how it goes: 

  1. Placing the starch, like rice or potatoes, between 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock
  2. Arranging the veggies from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock
  3. Positioning the protein (like chicken or fish) between 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock

#5 Garnishing

Garnishing enhances the texture and flavour of a dish. Although it may seem simple, this 2024 beautiful food presentation secret requires care and precision. The taste and feel of the garnish will contribute immensely to the texture of the dish. That’s why, when providing Sydney catering services, we choose our garnish wisely.

Combinations of various fruits, sauces, and seeds can enhance the dish’s flavour, acidity, and texture, but even something as basic as a colourful ingredient can make all the difference. Now, when it comes to garnishes, premium Sydney catering services, like Boardwalk, try to keep things simple and natural. They opt for easily recognisable organic elements that give personality to the dishes without causing any inconvenience.

Squeeze bottles, shavers, platings and precision tongs, moulds and rings, spoons, plating wedges, and garnishing kits are all indispensable for creating beautiful food presentations in 2024 — ones that Sydney catering services can’t do without.

Hiring Boardwalk Catering for Beautiful Food Presentations (2024)

  • Gold Licence status: Recognised by the Restaurant and Catering Association for our exceptional services.
  • Fresh, seasonal produce: We prioritise using the finest ingredients that are in season to ensure the highest quality for your event.
  • Rich menus: From canapes to buffets, plated meals to food stations, we offer a diverse range of menu options tailored to your preferences.
  • Quality catering with a difference: Boardwalk Catering goes above and beyond to deliver a Sydney catering experience that exceeds expectations.
  • Over a decade of experience: With more than ten years in the hospitality and event industry, we have the expertise to make your event truly special.
  • Wedding, corporate, and private catering: We specialise in these areas, providing bespoke Sydney catering services that cater to your specific needs.
  • Values that set us apart: Our commitment to honesty, customer focus, adaptiveness, common sense, and attention to detail ensures that your event is handled with the utmost care and professionalism.

Final Thoughts on Beautiful Food Presentations for Your Sydney Catering Experience (2024)

When it comes to elevating your event through beautiful food presentations in 2024, Boardwalk Catering Services in Sydney stands out as a premier choice. With our mastery of food proportioning, styling expertise, attention to tableware selection, impeccable timing, and skillful garnishing techniques, we create Instagram-worthy culinary experiences that delight the senses. Our Gold License status, focus on fresh seasonal produce, rich menus, and over a decade of industry experience are testaments to our commitment to excellence.

For weddings, corporate gatherings, private parties, or any special occasion, choosing Boardwalk Catering guarantees an unforgettable dining experience that will leave a lasting impression on your guests. We pride ourselves on our core values of honesty, customer focus, adaptiveness, common sense, and attention to detail, ensuring that your event is flawlessly executed.

Let Boardwalk Catering bring our passion for exceptional cuisine and unparalleled service to your next memorable occasion. Call 0434 917 069 or email [email protected] to discuss your Sydney catering needs, and let us turn your vision into a reality.