Recipe writer and food stylist Katrina Meynink has mastered the art of transforming everyday meals into visual masterpieces. Her approach to food styling is both approachable and effective, offering simple yet impactful tips that can elevate any dish from mundane to magnificent. As Meynink shares her insights, she emphasizes the importance of visual appeal in enhancing the dining experience.
November 6, 2025
In a world where we increasingly eat with our eyes first, Meynink’s advice resonates with home cooks and food enthusiasts alike. “We eat with our eyes first,” she explains. “When food looks good, it just tastes better. It’s science, it’s psychology, it’s the way your brain lights up before your fork even hits the plate.” Her philosophy revolves around creating anticipation through visual cues like a gloss of oil, a scatter of herbs, or the warm gleam of something just-charred.
Embracing Imperfection in Food Styling
Meynink’s first rule of food styling is to embrace imperfection. “Perfection is awful,” she asserts. “It’s sterile, restrictive, and stressful.” Instead of striving for flawlessness, she advocates for a style she describes as “controlled chaos.” This involves adding herbs with a casual scatter and drizzling condiments with carefree abandon. The goal is to create a sense of intentional mess that feels natural and inviting.
Her approach challenges the traditional notion of food styling, which often involves meticulous attention to detail. Instead, Meynink encourages home cooks to let go of rigid rules and embrace a more relaxed attitude. “Every time I add herbs to a plate, I don’t think; I just let them fall,” she says. “This casual scatter will look better every time than contrived, finely chopped greenery.”
The Role of Color and Texture
Color and texture play pivotal roles in Meynink’s food styling repertoire. “Nature is a show-off, and produce is her medium,” she notes. By contrasting colors, such as purples against greens or burnt oranges with creamy whites, she creates dishes that are visually striking and full of depth. “Layering color brings dimension,” she advises, recommending the use of the color wheel to find complementary hues that add interest to any plate.
Texture, too, is a crucial element in her styling philosophy. “Great styling isn’t just about how things look. It’s about how they feel,” Meynink explains. She emphasizes the importance of contrasting textures, such as pairing a soft pillow of whipped feta with crisp-edged roast vegetables or silky pasta with a crumble of toasted breadcrumbs. “Texture is the punctuation of your dish — the full stop, the comma, an exclamation.”
The Power of Presentation
According to Meynink, the choice of plate can significantly impact the presentation of a dish. “You can cook the most delicious stew, but serve it on your old chipped plates and it loses some of its magic,” she warns. She suggests selecting plates that complement the food, such as using darker plates for lighter foods like fish or salads, and white or cream bases for heartier, darker dishes. “The plate is always part of the storytelling,” she adds.
Composition is another key aspect of Meynink’s styling technique. She encourages home cooks to play with height and negative space, stacking and layering foods to give them a lift. “Flat food is sad food,” she quips, advising cooks to pile salads up rather than spreading them out. The rule of odds is also important, as foods in odd numbers tend to look more appealing.
Tools and Tips for Real-World Plating
For those looking to enhance their food styling skills, Meynink recommends a few essential tools. A good spoon for swooshing and dolloping, a Microplane for adding lemon zest, and a little bowl of flaky salt can all make a significant difference. Additionally, she advises using a decent flat plate or bowl, ideally without chips, and maintaining a sense of humor throughout the process.
As Meynink concludes, “Now go forth and scatter sesame seeds with flair. Your dinner deserves it.” Her approachable and insightful tips offer a fresh perspective on food styling, encouraging home cooks to experiment and have fun in the kitchen.
Katrina Meynink is a cookbook author and Good Food recipe columnist. Connect with her via Twitter.
