Learning Food Skills from Ankiet : Food Styling and Phone Photography

On a hot April afternoon,food blogger,chef and food stylist Ankiet Gulabani conducted a Food Styling and Phone Photography Workshop at the charming Jamjar Diner at Bandra.The venue was well chosen as the restaurant had a sun roof with the most amazing lighting and the walls too were done up in beautiful soothing colors.When I saw what Ankiet planned to teach,I jumped at the idea! I am not the sorts to carry around a DSLR Camera though there is no doubt that its pictures turn out fabulous.Many of my home chef friends use one but learning a skill for a daily gadget makes it so much simpler!

The cool,calm and collected Ankiet Gulabani is well known for his stunning blog "Belly Over Mind".The workshop was to have limited seats but the place was bursting with hungry minds,each with an unusual Instagram handle.Today's food is as much about presentation as it is about taste

     At first,Ankiet spoke about the principles: how to make food the hero and use minimalism.He brought our attention to the lighting and positioning,complementing colors and use of props.He advised us on what basic props to have and use what's available at home.It's important for food to look fresh and sometimes cooking has to be adjusted to make a good picture.While there are others who focus on using artificial products even for the look,I was happy to see Ankiet prefers to  keep it natural

Then we set off to look at the Jamjar Diner High Tea menu which was pretty in itself and had lots of miniature bites.We were divided into groups and had to design a look for our food.....choosing the right plates,background,napkins,cutlery and of course the food

 Our team decided to go savoury and boy what a temptation it was to gobble it down rather than just leave it on the plate! Fortunately all in our team were like-minded souls so no one disapproved of such cravings .Someone thought of how it would look better to have the food bitten off and they did the needful!!

The workshop was about team effort in creating the end result.Our team had Bombay Canteen and O Pedro staff as well as health professionals,each contributing something unique to the picture.The end result was for  all to see....a gorgeous pallete of colors and contrasts,textures and layering! Summer just got prettier!!