One of the most impactful bits of our time at the Mise Conference went down in our brand “immersion room.” In addition to giving the hotel chefs an up-close look at Aussie sustainability, and a mind-expanding turn at our “red meat flavor wheel,” we had them try their hands at using AI visualization tools for menu innovation.
Imagine coming up with an idea for a new menu item, and being able to show a high-quality image of what it might look like to a colleague, without worrying about having the ingredients on hand or your photography skills! We used craiyon.com as an easy, free, entry-level program, but DALLE-2, MidJourney or DreamStudio are worth exploring, too.
Prompt: "Grilled grassfed beef ribeye entree with fingerling potatoes and garlic butter."
Here are three tips for getting the most out of AI image generators when working with food:
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When using AI for a protein dish, be sure to include a cook method (e.g. braised, grilled, etc.) Otherwise, you'll end up with a lot of raw meat in the images.
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Don't be afraid of adjectives! Descriptive words like "flavorful, delicious, succulent" or adding ingredients from your dish concept like “green beans” or “squash” or “ube” that you'd use to brighten up a menu description also help AI to pull together a better image.
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AI is not a chef! AI-generated plating can range from “pretty good” to downright weird. But it's a tool for inspiration, and sometimes the wild stuff AI comes up with can give you some creative plating ideas!
Prompt: "Slow-cooked goat leg Indian curry with green peppers and basmati rice."
Want to try your hand? Start with our “meat libs” card and plug the results into craiyon or another AI tool. We’d love to see what you get, and what you think!