I recently shot some new food photos for The Black Forest Cafe in Amherst NH for their spring menu. Our usual routine is to shoot some dishes in the restaurant with natural light, prepared fresh and styled by chef Bruce in the way that they would be served in the restaurant. And then a couple of items (usually some of their amazing desserts that they’re famous for) go home with me so that I can photograph them in my “studio,” which is always fun for me because I can take my time and play around with the styling.
Some of my favorite images of the featured dishes that I photographed were:
Porchetta Sandwich: thick sliced roasted pork loin, hazelnut gremolata, lemon garlic aioli on house made ciabatta bread. Served with roasted yukon gold potatoes.
Stout Marinated Sirloin Flap Steak: grilled to order, with beer molasses barbecue sauce. Served with smashed potatoes and seasonal vegetable.
Chicky Veggie Wrap: chunky chick pea spread, creamy herbed yogurt cheese and toasted cumin carrot salad rolled up in a sun dried tomato wrap. Served with farro and kale salad.
Spicy Vegetable Chili: hearty southwestern style with beans, tomatoes, corn and smoky chipotle peppers.
Korean BBQ Beef Tacos: kim chi slaw, chipotle lime drizzle.
Flatbread with Eggplant and Roasted Red Pepper Coulis: asiago cheese and fresh oregano.
Flatbread with Asparagus and Prosciutto: caramelized onion and Vermont farmhouse goat cheese.
Chocolate Cream Pie and Coconut Cream Pie:
Because I love antiques, this series features my 3 Parker House Hotel spoons (they’re all nearly the same but one of them is marked 1930), and they are beautifully distressed from years of use.
These photos will be used in a variety of ways to promote the new dishes: they’ll be posted to Facebook, updated on the restaurant’s website, emailed out to their newsletter, and more. I think most restaurants could take a cue from the BFC’s amazing marketing plan–they really know how to get the word out to their customers using current professional photos.
