I've been a sous chef for 2 years now and I'm finally starting to design menu items. Would love advice on how to do better! Hands, please.

by ArtisrinqQuestion

16 Comments

  1. Looks good, bet it slaps. Would get rid of the rosemary sprig as imo I’m not sure I want stuff on my plate that I can’t eat. If you want the rosemary maybe a gremolata

  2. I’d recommend putting the ricotta into the farce for the ravioli. Nice smooth creamy texture when you cut into it.

    Lose the sprig of rosemary it adds nothing. Maybe incorporate thyme into this dish, but not a useless inedible sprig on the plate.

    Pork belly and onion marmalade seems like sweet on sweet. Is there any vinegar component in the marmalade?

    Otherwise, you’re on the right track with this combinations of flavors and ingredients.

  3. Chato_Malverde on

    The flavors look like they’d work well together.

    1. Choose a circular bowl

    2.shingle your ravis into the center of the plate.

    3. Dot your marmalade around each ravi (I can tell that’s what you were trying to do here, but you should shoot for a more even distribution)

    4. Follow the same pattern with the ricotta, use a little less than what you’ve got already.

    5. Drizzle your brown butter over the top with a large plating spoon.

    6. Garnish with a little bit chopped rosemary. Throw the sprig in the trash. Just enough so that when they’re eating a ravi they get a little hit of rosemary. Don’t overpower it.

    I think after that you should be good.

  4. Is it just me or do those ravi look grossly underfilled? Also non-edible garnish is a no-no.

    Great flavors chef, keep pushing

  5. Unless you milked the cow and made the ricotta yourself, don’t describe the components of your dish as “fresh”. It sounds very amateur. Most components on a dish are already made from fresh ingredients. Also, whipe your plate edges and tuck the food in.

  6. Looks very greasy. And messy. Incorporate the ricotta and onion into a sauce, maybe finish the plate with lemon zest, dont garnish a plate with rosemary. Edit: if you dont want it to be a saucy dish. Do the ravioli how you do but put a nice dollop of a herbed whipped ricotta on the plate

  7. StuartAndersonMT on

    Ahhh the old classic whole rosemary spring that does absolutely nothing. Also wipe your plate before service, and especially before posting it for a bunch of judge mental pricks online to see.

  8. Vast_Replacement_391 on

    Does the acorn squash filling already have ricotta or some cheese in it – (it should)? Ricotta Salata would be a nice garnish on top. The acid you put in the pork belly marmalade works beautifully. Thst will carry the succulence.

    Rather than just get rid of the rosemary on top like everyone else is saying… Get fresh rosemary and frizzle it in butter. Just like you would if you were basting a steak; strip it from the stem first and it is banging as a garnish. That way you’re not doing the “brown butter/sage“ like everyone else. It has to be fresh, young, rosemary that is still tender. Good luck n.

  9. How the hell did you make it to sous? I know we’re supposed to be constructive, but this is so lazily slopped together, dry and dull looking that I thought it was somebody’s plate from a buffet and I was on r/food. Your chef should put you on garde for a month or until you learn some finesse.

    Sorry, but this is really, really ugly.

  10. I had chickens, not even them would eat a branch of rosemary like that, goats maybe ? The rest of the plate looks like perfect.

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