How do you garnish/zhuzh a buffet? I've been googling..and it looks like Fanny Craddock!

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Lunch party on Sunday with a buffet - salads, breads etc
Want it not to look like I have dumped a whole pile of stuff out on the table = how do I make it look nice?
DON"T have knife skills that mean I can make radish roses!
TIA for any help

Pinterest is your friend.

You want height and variety. So put some platters on top of a box (which can be easily and messily covered by a napkin or table cloth).

Skip the radishes. Instead, put things on top of lettuce or cabbage leaves for interest.

Remember that it will be decimated within 15 mins of being put out.

Just add a bit of colour balance. So, I usually put bunches of grapes or figs on the cheese board, with chutney in small pots. If you are doing cut meats, sprinkles some rocket leaves around the edge of the plate. If you are doing dips, sprinkle some toasted seeds, olive oil etc in the centre of the bowl.

Without going whole Fanny Craddock you can add sliced orange and bay leaves to a baked ham or sliced lemons or limes and cucumber to a side of salmon.

Just give each dish a bit of colour and a focal point. Add some low vases of flowers and candles - citronella to keep off insects if you are eating outside or with windows open.

Bunches of grapes set out between the platters on the table, small pots of condiments with spoons rather than just chucking the mayo or sad cream on the table.

sad cream?
*salad cream

Yes so I already have a cake stand for one platter and am trying to work on height.
And yes - decanted condiments will look nicer too. HAdn't thought of that.
This is helpful
I am still debating if I have time/energy/aptitdue to do a salmon.

I am off to pinterest

I know that this isn’t very popular but I much prefer a buffet table which hasn’t been overdone with loads of bits and pieces in between each plate. That takes it slightly too close to “grazing board” territory which makes me feel slightly ill

a nicely presented spread where the plates are all separate and each one has its own serving spoons so it isn’t all intermingling and there aren’t lots of unwashed hands going in is lovely

All items in pots or plates, no original packaging.
A variety of foods, so that takes care of colour and texture etc.
Decant several things onto one large platter- several cold meats on a platter, rather than several plates each of one meat. Put pickles or a pot of mustard/chutney on the platter too.

Pea shoots look great. Little sprigs of pea shoot scattered around the place doesn't look Fanny Craddock!

Google Skye McAlpine! Her thing is abundance: lots of everything on the table looks great. So big, generous platters of food rather than a “one breadstick per person” approach. Everything in/on lovely crockery. Vary height as pp suggested. You don’t need fiddly radish rose garnishes like a 70s cookbook, you need plenty of everything, nicely heaped, everything in crockery not its supermarket plastic pot, and fill any gaps with a big bowl of lemons/cherries/etc to look good. Bread on a wooden board, butter in a dish. Oh and a big bunch of peonies in a nice jug at the back of the table for further Pinteresty abundance vibes

I was just browsing for ideas but this really did make me laugh! 😁

Small wooden crates work well too, lined with grease proof paper for bread or roasted potatoes.

Ina Garten is also great at presenting food - she uses big white plates, different heights, not too many different things but an abundance of a few things (stops a buffet looking messy after 2 minutes).

Yes I like By Matilda on Instagram too but I need about £50 worth of edible flowers I don't have.
I have nice flowers but off to Google abundance

I was going to say Ina Garten, I like the way she styles her food.

A few jam jars with wildflowers in will look nice.

Buffets can be incredibly beige, I think its important to have lots of colour in there. i also like flamboyantly coloured crockery for interest, green and red or blue and orange with interesting napkins.

Anything beige or brown on a platter garnished with leaves.
Always a plate of crudités for colour.
Any fish dish gets a lemon and or cucumber garnish.
Any salads with fresh herbs, save a little of that herb back to scatter on top last minute.
Cous cous looks better with pomegranate seeds.

We have a sill box of pea shoots especially for platters and salads 👍

I agree - every thing on a plate or serving dish with space between them. Those grazing tables make me feel ill. They are gross. Also, you can see how each individual dish needs to be perked up - what colours or balance of textures.

Thank you all so much.

Serve things in blocks rather than all mixed up. Use every random dish you have. Include some salad/veg for colour.

so I’d do:

• green salad (lettuce/cucumber/scallions)


• dish of crudités (carrots/peppers/tomatoes/radishes/cucumber) all sliced nicely and lined up


• nice crusty bread on a plate


• soft sliced bread also on a plate


• a grain salad of some sort with lots of herbs and small diced veg and eg feta is nice


• a coleslaw of some sort


• then get into your quiche/ sausage rolls/ ham/chicken etc

if you have lots of people then 2-3 smaller dishes of each across the table rather a huge big hulking dish in the middle of the table is better

sheet on the table if you don’t have a table cloth

big bunch of flowers too

There are edible garden flowers - nasturtiums looks great and are edible, so are thyme flowers - I've been putting them in salads recently. And lavender. Roses are too, so you can put any of these on the food safely.