Marcela Valladolid Quotes

The visual aspect of a dish is so important; the shapes and colors and overall design have to strike the right mood and convey the right idea.

I learned that things taste better on pretty plates.

I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting.

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate - you know someone's fingers have been all over it.

I'm a visual artist myself and always have been so it's very natural for me to be very concerned with presentation, whether it's artwork or onstage.

I like to aestheticize every possible thing that can be aestheticized.

I can cook, but I also want everything to look beautiful on the plate - then I get upset when people eat it. Everyone just tears through it, and that makes me sad. It's not a rewarding experience for me to cook.

Food to me, in one word, is 'creativity' or 'expression.' It's simply, 'This is who I am at this point in time, and this is what I want to cook for you.'

The main thing I look for in a recipe is taste, which is different from caterers and restaurants, who first ask 'How does it look?'

Know how to garnish food so that it is more appealing to the eye and even more flavorful than before.

Finishing food is about the tiny touches. In the last seconds you can change everything.

With food, you're the artist; you put the colour in it, you present it to the table and it has the ability to knock out the senses. It can look fabulous, be beautifully presented and smell great and taste good as well.

It may be an instinct, it is with me anyway, when you're presenting something to the world, to make it as beautiful as you can.

What I want to do is produce really delicious food. I want it to look nice, because when you see food you should want to eat it. You shouldn't be saying, 'Oh my goodness, isn't the chef clever, he can weave the Eiffel Tower out of carrot sticks.'

As chefs, especially pastry chefs, your creativity plays such an important part in your daily work. We truly do have a blank canvas to work with every time we create a new dish.

What good is a wall without framed art? It is like the equivalent of the accessories that you choose to wear to decorate a black dress - precisely the stuff that makes the wall/dress you.

When the woman is attractive, is it an interesting picture, or is it the woman? I had a lot of headaches with that, which was why it was interesting. I don't think I always got it straight.

When a customer receives a dish, they get food and design at the same time.

I just love food and the art of it. There's such an art to being a good chef and the way you present food and the different ingredients you use. It's like music - you get inspiration from different genres. It's the same with art, too.

Beauty really has such a wide field of interpretation. I guess that's why it's forever fascinating.

Style is objective, akin to art, so it varies.

It is entertainment; we mustn't forget that. Dance is entertainment. You can have the best technicians in the world, but they'll be boring to watch. It has to be about entertainment as well, but it's quality, grace.

I love a bit of garnish.

I'm really into color. I love polka dots, rainbows, any pattern.

What frustrates me is florists who put everything at the same size on the table. I like it when there's mountains and valleys.