I’ve found that cooking for family and friends is most successful when it can impact as many senses as possible. Of course, you want your food to taste amazing; however, if you have the best stew ever made and you serve it on flimsy paper plates, you’ve done a disservice to the work you put into it.

The taste is only one of the important senses to access for a dinner win. Visual presentation matters. Consider the colors of the presentation. Does the food stand out on the plate? Is there a sharp contrast against canvas? Did you just pile the beets on the plate? Why not thinly slice them and let the curly parsley help them pop?

Hosting a party? What’s the theme? What are the colors? How about the lighting in the room? Does the set up all people to enjoy one another and also your art?

One of the best ways to learn how to do a better job of presentation is to pay attention to the best versions you experience when you visit high-end eating establishments. For instance, several years ago we had the opportunity to eat at fantastic restaurant on the edge of the Mediterranean when in Italy. We ordered the salt-encrusted whole fish. It required 30 minutes of cooking and was worth every minute of the wait.

But the magic of that meal wasn’t found in the quality of the fish (which was fantastic). It wasn’t the atmosphere of the establishment (which was warm and inviting). It wasn’t the abundant Italian wine (which was floral and perfectly paired).

What made this seafood dish so delightful was the presentation. When the meal was perfectly prepared and ready, the proprietor pushed a service cart to the side of our table. He off-loaded two plates and a single dish holding a dome of baked salt. He took out a sharp knife and slowly cut into the dome and pulled back chunks of browned salt to reveal the whole fish we’d selected, steam wafting up as he revealed more, from gills to tale.

The chef then flaked off delicate layers of the pescetarian delight and served it to our table. Our mouths watered with anticipation and were not disappointed when we enjoyed our meal – from first bite to the last morsel.

Did you see what happened? The anticipation made the meal even more special. The presentation increased our eagerness to indulge.

Please understand that bad food can’t get better when served on fine China, but a good meal can be even better when all the senses are fully engaged.