Flair for simple fare

Presentation: Restaurants have it, and home cooks don’t.

Maybe it’s the mood lighting, but asparagus cooked at home never seems to come out in that saturated, robust Jolly Green Giant green way, and attempts to go vertical with steak and potatoes — thank goodness the trend is now passé — always seem to fail.

The eyes eat first, taking in the bright colors and infused oils drizzled in a seemingly haphazard but careful swirl. Excitement rises at the sight of grilled fruit fanned next to roasted chicken.

But presentation is more than what is on the plate; it’s also what is left off the plate. Gone are the days of tomatoes posing as roses, and parsley is no longer a shoe-in. For the home cook, it’s good news.

It used to be that like clockwork, a diner would find the starch at 10 a.m., the veggies at 2 p.m. and the entrée stretching from 4 to 8 p.m., but this wasn’t the first set-up.

A food historian and professor at Marymount College in New York, Francine Segan said that for more than 2,000 years presentation has been important for chefs. “During the Renaissance, they would think about decorating the whole table with all the food, and now we have the one plate in front of the one diner,” Segan said.

Food also used to arrive at the table on opulent silver platters from a waiter. The server wasn’t as interested in the plated presentation but rather the entrance the food made, for example, the “Be Our Guest” scene from “Beauty and the Beast” or any number of scenes in “Gosford Park.” Somewhere along the line, however, chefs began to be a little more artful with presentation.

In the 1970s, on-the-plate presentation started to take on a life of its own.

“A number of French chefs started doing very interesting plate presentation, taking their cues from Japanese cooking,” said Dominick Cerrone, director of culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute in New York City.

Japanese chefs often deal with food meant to be served cold, such as sushi. Without the need to rush hot food out to a patron, more time could be taken for presentation. This extra time spent on the look of a dish served as inspiration for many.

Chefs ran with the idea of aesthetically pleasing plates. Consider Alfred Portale, the jewelry designer-turned-chef who was a pioneer of the vertical dinner, and David Burke, who is known for his experimentation — how about his raspberry and lemon tart baked in the shape of a flatbed truck? Diners didn’t just order a grilled pork chop with a medley of vegetables, a heap of mashed potatoes, a lemon wedge and gulp, a sprig of parsley. Instead, they ordered braised pork medallions with mustard chive sauce sitting atop mysteriously tall roasted-garlic mashed potatoes and Belgian endive.

“Center plated,” as they call it in the industry, haute couture dishes would be drizzled with flavored vinegar and dotted with an oil emulsion. While this flamboyant approach to plating can still be found in restaurants across the country, trends are headed in a different direction.

As society moves toward simplification, the culinary world, too, has moved toward comfort foods and natural presentation. Chefs are moving away from the look that Craig Cyr, owner and chef at Cherry Street Wine Cellar, calls “a little bit gaudy.”

Instead, Cyr and chefs across the country are leaning toward a focus on the fundamentals — the food.

“I try to use natural herbs and sauces that coordinate with the flavors in the dish itself,” Cyr said. When the dish is dressed correctly, the need for added garnish or artistic design is non-existent.

Cerrone is of the same thought.

“In good restaurants, garnishes were never just an afterthought. They’re an integral component of the dish that makes sense,” he said.

Both Cerrone and Cyr say everything on the plate should be edible and complement the meal.

Part of the transformation has come from the ability to gain access to the freshest produce, seafood and meats.

“Those who are really into food and nutrition and into sustainable agriculture believe in being true to the product,” Cerrone said. This respect for everything from the polenta to the ahi ahi has brought plates back to balance. That doesn’t mean artichokes teetering on a filet, but rather colors and flavors melding into something comforting for the eye instead of awe-inspiring.

Cerrone suggests that the focus be placed on the quality of food and the preparation. So, if tonight’s dinner comes out looking a lot like the presentation of a junior high lunch tray, don’t fret. Call it clean and balanced and no one will ever know the difference.