Plating influences diner perception of culinary creativity

Creativity, defined as the ability to create an object that is both novel and context-appropriate, has received prolific attention in experimental psychology in the fields of the arts, literature, engineering and architecture. Although creativity plays a vital role in haute cuisine, how diners perceive and evaluate culinary creativity in plated dishes remains underexplored. We report a study in which diners were asked to evaluate 16 different platings of the same dish by two chefs in terms of creativity, appropriateness to context, novelty, and overall liking. The dishes were photographed and presented on a computer monitor in a fine-dining restaurant setting. Balance of overall composition on plate, position of main item in composition, and color were systematically manipulated to investigate the effect of these plating-related variables on diners' ratings of culinary creativity. The results show that creativity ratings were influenced primarily by appropriateness ratings and less so by liking and novelty ratings. Regarding the overall composition, diners found colored balanced platings to be more creative than colored unbalanced platings and monochrome platings. Regarding the position of the main item in centrally plated dishes, diners found colored dishes with the main item in the back (12 o′clock) to be the most creative. A content analysis of free-format descriptions provided by the diners revealed that diners also took into consideration culinary skills and techniques as well as esthetic or art-related criteria (e.g., harmony, symmetry) in assessing culinary creativity. At the theoretical level, the results shed light on the respective weight of the novelty and appropriateness criteria in diner perception of culinary creativity. At the practical level, the results can inform chef practices by predicting diner perception and providing new insight in how to develop innovative and creative dishes.