So what is the recipe for success? Well when it comes down to food, I would say it is a combination of flavors, textures and presentation. Too much of one thing throws the whole finished dish off balance! Taking it back to basics is very important! Flavor is king when food is concerned. You can have the most beautiful food that taste like nothing. Then all you effort has been wasted. I would come across this a lot as a Pastry Chef. I would try some of my contemporary’s food and it would at times be more technical or even plated in a more sophisticated way, but what always keep me with a job is the understanding of flavor and balance. I will give you this example, take a chocolate mousse, it can be spooned in a martini glass and topped with whipped cream to look like a cappuccino or put in some really fancy pyramid mold and glazed with chocolate and finished with real gold leaf! That being said if your mousse taste mediocre then it does not matter what you do to it.