Simple ways to make home food taste like restaurant dishes

Have you ever tried your first bite from a restaurant meal, and wished that you could recreate that experience at home
Creating restaurant-like dishes at home is not as difficult as you may think. There is no need to have professional equipment, long training, or expensive materials. All it takes is to change the way you think, understand several key principles, and apply them consistently to every dish that you make.

Gursheesh Singh Dhupar, Chef de Partie at Per Se, New York shares expert insights.

Choose Good Quality Ingredients — Your flavors’ building blocks
Great cuisine begins even before you start cooking at all – with selecting right ingredients. Fresh and quality ingredients carry flavors which cannot be replicated through any seasoning. While a tomato ripe at the right season will need little preparation before becoming an amazing taste sensation, an off-season store-bought one simply won’t do.
Seasonal Shopping Is One of Your Biggest Wins:
Shopping seasonally is one of the biggest impacts you can make. Not only does seasonal food taste better and provide more nutrition, but it’s often cheaper too. Buying produce that’s in its prime means you’ve got nature doing half the work for you. Hit up farmers’ markets if you can, or just take note of what’s in season at your local grocery store.
Learn How to Master the Skill of Making the Right Substitutions:
The bottom line is that the perfect ingredient isn’t always available, and that’s okay. What sets an excellent cook apart from an unskilled one is his knowledge of how to substitute wisely. Knowing what the purpose of each ingredient in the recipe will allow you to substitute with a similar ingredient. When using herbs, if fresh basil isn’t available, substitute it with less dried basil and a dash of lemon to finish the dish. In the absence of parsley, try substituting it with cilantro in some dishes, or combine green onions with vinegar. In case of acid components, lime can be substituted for lemon, while vinegar diluted in water can be substituted for wine in cooking. To achieve it comes down to recognizing that restaurant-style cooking isn’t about having everything—it’s about knowing the function of every ingredient and finding something that serves the same purpose.

Think of Cooking as an Art Form, Not a Chore:
If cooking feels like just another item on your never-ending to-do list, the result will show it. In a professional kitchen, cooking is viewed as a form of art—a miniature performance in itself. You can do this at home by preparing yourself for success. Start by clearing your work area, turning on some music that makes you happy, and laying out all your main ingredients before you start. All this does is give you a little extra time to pay attention. Focus on the little things: how your garlic smells when it first hits the hot oil, what color the onions are when cooked to perfection, how your sauce evolves as it cooks down. It’s those small differences that elevate a meal from good to amazing.

Cook With Purpose, Not Duty:
There is a huge distinction between the statements, “I have to cook dinner tonight,” and “I want to make something delicious.” Cooking with purpose means staying mindful during the cooking process. First, define what you desire from this particular dish, whether it is comforting and hearty, light and refreshing, or zesty and acidic. Based on your answer, you will know how to tweak your approach: more fat and browning for comfort; more herbs and citrus for freshness; and more acidity and less fat for zesty flavors.
Be Curious, Take Risks, and Experiment:
Good cooking never stays the same. It adapts and thrills, inspiring people to try new things, and allowing them to experiment and learn. Incorporate one new ingredient into an old recipe: use another herb in your favorite pasta dish, add some lime juice to your roasted veggies, or toss in some crunchy nuts into your salad to introduce a contrasting texture. Try mixing flavors from different cultures or spice blends you’ve never tried before. Your experiments may not always be perfect, but that’s the beauty of developing your culinary instinct.
Nourish Your Brain as Well as Your Stomach:
A great restaurant experience nourishes your brain as well as your stomach. This can be accomplished through the use of color and variety. A meal containing something green, some color, protein, and fat will usually provide a better experience. Balance richness with lightness: If the richness is a component of the main dish, try to balance it out with something lighter such as a lemony vegetable side dish.
Understanding the Secret of Restaurants: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat:
This approach may seem complicated, but it is perhaps the most liberating idea in cooking. All delicious dishes are perfectly balanced in terms of these four components. Salt not only adds saltiness but also enhances the taste of all other flavors in the dish. Season with salt while cooking and during serving, and keep tasting to see if the seasoning is right. Fat carries flavor and provides that luscious texture that restaurants create. Acidity is the least used ingredient in any home kitchen. Adding lemon juice or vinegar just before serving adds brightness, balances all the flavors, and reduces the richness of the dish. Heat, when used properly, can bring out flavor from the raw ingredients by caramelizing and creating a Maillard reaction .If you are not satisfied with how your dish tastes, ask yourself whether it is too bland, add salt or acid. If it is too strong, add fat or some sugar. If it is too rich, add some acid or something different .

It doesn’t take much to cook like a chef. Get good ingredients, think, be curious, and pay attention to your salt, fat, acid, and heat levels. You will start making your home food taste like it belongs on a menu, turning each dinner into a special occasion.