My wife used to chide me about my fixation on plating food for ordinary family meals. “Why bother, just let me get my own food because no one is going to see it and in a few minutes it will be gone!” she would say.

The answer is simple. If everything you prepare reflects a desire to continually improve and achieve your own perfection, why throw it away with the easiest part, serving it? It would be like renovating a room in your house with latest in comfort and convenience and then not bothering to paint it.

The presentation of food satisfies the eyes and prepares the mouth for what you will be soon enjoying. Visual presentation of food does not have to be fancy with sparklers and vestiges of birds fashioned from fruit, but it should be careful and deliberate.

Three simple rules:

1. Layer your main element with food accessories that compliment flavor as well as enhance the visual appeal.
2. Shape and organize the elements to compliment the plate you are using. If you have different styles of plates, select the one that works well with what you are serving from a shape and color perspective.
3. Wipe the rim. Nothing says the chef didn’t really care that much than a sloppy plate.