Food & Cook Design

Food & Cook Design

Food & Cook Design is the fusion between the art of designing and that of cooking. Food design is the term that encompasses the process of design studies and research leading to the emergence of products related to food. This discipline deals with the design and design of food, parts of complex food products and products related to them in some way.

Food Design meets and mixes various disciplines such as biology, genetics, anthropology, psychoanalysis, food sociology, research on sociability and social mediation, along with the history of kitchen systems and forms of conviviality. .

Food & Cook Design

Works of art to eat, dishes that seem painted, or restaurants that thanks to a careful mix of style and design, can become famous, affirming its own brand and its name that remains imprinted thanks to winning and striking images. The secret is the choice of appropriate food design, which is able to find consistency between the image of the table and that of the dishes that are served.

The food design can help in the study and in the realization of the packages, those that more respect the company philosophy, that better communicate the product and that at the same time show it to the best, enhancing it. On the other hand, as far as the managerial sphere is concerned, it is the one that provides consultancy to catering companies. In the realm of food design and packaging, achieving synergy between aesthetics and functionality is vital. While the focus here is on design and communication, it’s worth considering that businesses dealing with bulk packaging orders can benefit from integrating machinery like https://www.eliter-packaging.com into their processes. ELITER’s equipment can efficiently handle large-scale packaging needs, ensuring that the designed packaging not only looks appealing but also serves its practical purpose effectively. This balance between design and functionality is essential to create packages that not only align with the company’s philosophy but also enhance the product’s presentation and protection.

Food & Cook Design

To understand what a Food & Cook Designer really does, we have interviewed Nicoletta Mearelli, an expert in this field, for you, and we’ll tell you what she told us.


What was your professional training?

After studying cuisine I specialized in Visual Food and plating, deepening a lot through the study of various international cuisines and the relative presentation of the dish. In the culinary field and especially in food design, the humanities have helped me. In literature there are many references to food and it is fundamental to know the history of popular traditions to find ideas for improvement.
I have been a lecturer in Visual Food and serving at the Gambero Rosso in Rome and Naples at a professional and amateur level. Now I deal with teaching, often individual, aimed at professionals and I work with restaurateurs both for what concerns the preparation and the food management.

Food & Cook Design

What does a VisualChef and a Food & Cook Designer do?

I deal mainly with the aesthetics of the dish in its entirety, from a single dish to whole dishes, I work with restaurateurs and catering for the daily service and events, trying to hit through the beautiful and good to eat. As a food and cook designer, I take care of creating and creating dishes or whole themed buffets, respecting the initial idea of ​​the client, the environment and the style of a restaurant.
In parallel, having done management for a long time I also deal with food management consultancy.

Food & Cook Design

The term VisualChef comes from what?

Food & Cook Design

I started studying Visual Food at the Academy of Modena and became a professor myself in several cooking schools. Mainly dealing with plating and food design, in addition to being a cook, I found this term interesting that exactly combines the two aspects.

What is Visual Food?

In very simple terms, a set of specific techniques, from cutting or positioning of foods through which we can represent in a dish everything we want, inspired by nature or a geometric or design object. A multifaceted discipline that allows you to apply creativity and imagination in different contexts of food.

Food & Cook Design

Where does the passion for his craft come from?

Certainly from the passion for aesthetics and good cooked or raw food. From love for tradition and innovation without ever reaching extremism in the presentation of a dish, aimed only at striking with an image. In the kitchen we talk about food and nutrition, and the beauty and creativity should never, in my opinion, prevail over the taste and functionality of the dish itself. Therefore every creation or dish must respect, for example, the service temperature, texture, taste, combining the right balance with the style and tone of the restaurant.


What do you think is important to convey to your students?

The study, the deepening, the imagination and creativity applied to the choice of excellent raw materials of our territory that make our kitchen unique. Another aspect I particularly care about is the study of the techniques used in cooking and cutting. Studying and applying the techniques you can make great presentations enhancing taste and harmony of a dish.

For those who want to learn more about the role of Nicoletta Mearelli and follow her projects, we invite you to visit her website www.cookingart.it. We just have to thank you for this interview and wish you so much luck for your career.

The discovery of a new dish is more precious to mankind than the discovery of a new star.
(Anthelme Brillat-Savarin)

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