Food Styling Workshop 2

I went to LA for a 3-day Food Styling Workshop in October 2007 and it was a lot of fun.  So I went to LA again last weekend for a 2-day Master Food Styling Workshop.  This time the classroom was at Surface, a restaurant supply and gourmet food store with a huge selection of stuff.  They also have a small café on site that provide coffee, drinks, sandwiches, salads, etc.  In the back of the store, they have a big industrial kitchen with commercial appliances with plenty of seating area, which is good for a cooking class.

I drove from San Jose to LA taking highway 5; however, I would not recommend you to do that in January and I would not do that again either.  On Highway 5, the weather between Lebec to Santa Clarita (about 30 miles, which is about one and a half hours outside of LA) is very bad – not only did it have heavy snow on the nearby mountain and ice on the shoulder, but also is lots of fog and rain.  So I drove 101 back home.  Next time, I would fly to Santa Monica, take a taxi to The Culver Hotel, and walk 10 minutes to the classroom. 

We had about 18 students this time (two are male, very rare) and about a hand full of students are from October’s workshop.  It was great to see them again (Bea, we miss you).  Last time we had students from as far away as Asia, this time we had students from Middle East (I don’t remember if from Turkey or Egypt).  This time is all about learning the individual basics for each type of food, but it is also hands-on for everything.  It is not as easy as you think.

We are going to learn about how to make grill marks on a steak, how to make a raw whole chicken look like it is cooked, how to assembling a hamburger and sandwiches, how to plate pasta, how to make fake ice cream and fake beer bubble, how to fix a pie or cake, how to arrange salad, pizza and melting cheese.  Remember, we have only two days and each day is only about five hours of class time.  It may not seem like a lot to take in but I almost collapsed at the end of the class.

Don't get me wrong; it was very educational and fun.  We all learned a lot from Cindie and Denise but it is harder than it looks.  The time goes by so fast that I feel I have a hard time to digest at some point.  The most fun one is the fake ice cream.  It took me about ten tries to get it right.  The secret is that you need to heat the scoop first and then to put the dough in.  The smaller scoop works better than the large one does.

I have learned so much and have a totally different perspective about food stylist.  They need creativity, good communication skills, patience, and a good personality.  I also realized that food styling is not for me because I think I am more talented on home staging and photography.  By knowing how food stylists work, I feel I would work better with them as a photographer when the time comes. (Photo courtesy of Matt Bites)

2/20 Denise and Cindie are going to Singapore for a special one-day master food styling workshop.  If you live in Asia and are interested in food styling, don’t miss this great opportunity.

For more pictures, please click on My Flickr.

Extended reading - Food Photography, Mittbites,