PIC HEAVY: Photos from my Web Site shoot today at a local Italian restaurant

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Veggie Pizza:



Pepperoni Pizza:



Desserts:



Shrimp Salad:



Chicken Bernardo:



Antipasto Salad:



Caprese:



Green Salad:



Meatball Sandwich with Fries:



Veggie Calzone:



Fried Calamari:



Salmon Dore:



Half Spaghetti / Half Ravioli



Combo Pizza:



Chicken Fettucine Alfredo:



Veal Parmagiana:



Pear Salad:



Spaghetti & Meatballs:

[SeattleGirl]

1. I'd like the spaghetti and meatballs, and some dessert, please!

:9

[rrneck]

2. Stop it, you're killing me. nt

[SeattleGirl]

6. I'll share!

Unless you don't want any at all. I'm sure I could consume both dishes myself. :)

[rrneck]

11. Heh. I thought I was replying to the OP. But now that you mention it,

I'll be there wearing a bib and eye protection. I can make sparks fly off Italian food. :D

[sasquatch]

3. Jesus that all looks delicious

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. I wish you could have heard

the sounds I made as I viewed your art.

That antipasto, the green salad, the veal parmiagano, THE PEAR SALAD!!!!!!!!!

They're all terrific, all of them!!!

Take a bow, paisan.................

[hibbing]

5. Did you eat there?

Hi,
Nice pictures, some things looked better than others to me of course (foodwise, not picture wise). Antipasto and Green Salad, yum. Thanks for posting these, I have enjoyed your other posts like this in the past.

Peace

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. Yes, I had the Chicken Bernardo, pictured above

It's chicken breast, tomatoes, broccoli and penne pasta with a chicken broth reduction sauce. It was one of those perfect "light meal, but very filling" dishes.

There is a steady stream of traffic all through the lunch and dinner hours for take-out pizza as well. A lot of people phone in their orders ahead. This place has been a very popular and highly regarded neighborhood restaurant for over 40 years.

Thanks for the kinds words!

:-)

[Ikonoklast]

8. Do they deliver?

Sonofabitch I should know better than to click on a thread like this when I'm hungry.

Every one of those dishes look awesome.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. They're going to have to consider it when the Web Site goes up...

...this is one of those "neighborhood restaurants" that everybody in the neighborhood knew about for decades, and their business is what's kept the place going. I'm in the process of making big noise outside of the neighborhood. They're gonna need a bigger boat...or a delivery driver at minimum.

:toast:

[Zavulon]

9. Thanks a lot. Now I'm starving.

;)

[AwakeAtLast]

10. Me, too!

:9

[cwydro]

12. OK, now

I'm hungry.

[Mugu]

14. Very nicely done.

If you wouldn't mind, how about a description of your lighting setup?

[nuxvomica]

15. I want the caprese right now!

These are great pictures but the chicken fettucine alfredo doesn't look very saucy.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. You're right on the C.F...that was my initial reaction.

These restaurant photo shoots are absolute "guerilla photography," because the waitresses bring me the food straight from the kitchen and I have about 30 seconds to frame the plate and take my shots ("waitress bringing cold food to customer = no tip").

One other dish didn't make the final cut of photos because the waitress literally came back 15 seconds after setting the plate down and said "Not done yet? Gotta take this," and it was GONE.

:rofl:

So on the chicken fettucine, my immediate reaction was identical to yours, but from what I did see from some of the other dishes, there could be sauce you are not seeing under the fettuccine.

As I mentioned in another reply above, I had the Chicken Bernardo, which in the photo looks more like a dry pasta salad dish. There is actually a chicken broth reduction sauce at the bottom of that (nice consistency, not thin or too watery) that you don't see until you stir the contents.

And the caprese? I've done a number of shoots like this and can tell you that it was the most impressive and appetizing caprese I have seen in any restaurant. The flavors and textures...that golden brown toast with the fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil...this is one dish they do to perfection.

I appreciate all of the comments I get when I post these threads, because I do share them with the restaurant owners, and I incorporate them into future updates of the site. So thank you very much, and the same to everyone else who took the time to comment.

:toast:

[Bennyboy]

16. Great stuff...great looking food except for

the obvious frozen french fries with the maeatball san. really, I hate that that and it is an automatic downgrade for me. it is easy to make your own fries.

Some of that food (including the meatballs san) looks scrumptious.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. I hear you...it is an obvious "quality mis-match"

I'm NEVER happy when I see that a sandwich comes with a side of those. I had an appointment in Santa Clara a couple of weeks ago and had to kill a half hour because of the "I'll be back at 1:30" sign on my client's door. Went to the Hungry Hound, within walking distance, which is STRAIGHT OUT OF the old SNL "Cheezborger Cheezborger Cheezborger No Cheeps PEPSI" mold. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu...a grilled cheese sandwich...thinking "why the HELL is this so expensive?"

When I was handed the white styrofoam box with my sandwich, their it was...big mound 'o' frozen fries.

In all fairness, this "policy" plays to the tastes of Silicon Valley. A lot of restaurants seem to do it, even though I wish they'd offer a more appetizing option (small green salad or a scoop of macaroni or pasta salad, etc).

:toast:

[Bennyboy]

20. Yeah the way i see it is...

If In and Out can make fresh fries, everyone else can too.

We got a place here i Sac, Weiner Works,a nd they have freshmade, huge piles of french fries. Love the dogs, but they are the only place in town with those fries so I never go to anywhere else that has good dogs cuz their fries suck.

Everywhere you go these frozen things are on every menu. mostly it is becasue they think it doesn't matter. BUT IT DOES. Good fries are the thing that makes you better than everyone else.

[MilesColtrane]

19. These were done without a food stylist?

Almost all of them came out great.

I was under the impression that most commercial shots involving food had to be "fixed" by a stylist in order to make them not look nasty.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

24. I did them myself...no stylist...

...and the reason a few of them have technical flaws and such is that the waitresses take the food away from you as quickly as they bring it. I'm not happy about some of the shots being less than 100% symmetrical, with the plate in dead-center, but...

As I mentioned above, this isn't "prop" food...it's actual lunches and dinners that people are gonna eat...and if it arrives at the table cold, the waitress either gets a ration of crap, no tip, or both.

So I get 30 to 45 seconds, MAX, to frame and shoot from the time they set down the plate. That wouldn't be an issue of every plate / entree weren't a different size. Also, on some dishes (like the pear salad) you want to emphasize height as well as ingredients. Others, you can take a straight shot from above.

So my 30 to 45 seconds includes not knowing what they are going to bring me next, sizing it up when they do, framing it, shooting it, and sending it on its merry way.

I'm my own food stylist.

:toast:

[Moondog]

21. Nice shots. That type of photography is tougher to pull off than most people think.

[Kali]

22. wow - those were on-the-fly plates on their way to diners?

VERY impressive!

and I'll have the caprese and calamari, please

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. The aroma coming off of the calamari was heart-stopping.

The caprese, for my money, was the best looking dish. I looked at it and said "WOW, that is BEAUTIFUL," and the chef who brought it to me got an ear-to-ear grin.

The best smelling dishes were the meat combo pizza and the calamari.

:toast:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. Why, oh why did I click on this thread?

Now I'm hungry. Damn you.