Did you ever thought what happens when your presentation promises more than your kitchen can deliver? That’s the question nobody in hospitality wants to answer, also every marketing agency is pushing you to make – but every guest silently asks.
______
Today, guests judge your dish before they ever taste it. Mostly guests don’t complain because the food is bad. They complain because the promise was bigger than the plate.
And the biggest unspoken truth in hospitality today? The experience collapses the second the “real plate” doesn’t match the visual expectation. Not after the first bite. The moment the dish lands.
That’s why the old rule is dead: “Show your best version online.” – No. Wrong. Show your true version – or prepare to disappoint. Because no industry punishes overpromising faster than hospitality.
______
Don’t listen to your Marketing Manager: The rule no one teaches nowadays: Don’t promise what you can’t hold – simple.
We live in a visually overstimulated world. Every café, street food stall, private chef, or fine dining restaurant is fighting the same battle: The guest has already eaten with their eyes before they walk in. One cinematic video can make a simple dish feel luxurious. One photo with perfect lighting can transform a modest plate into a dream.
When your marketing sells a fantasy and your plate delivers reality, the guest feels betrayed – instantly. It doesn’t matter if the food is good. It doesn’t matter if the ingredients are expensive. It doesn’t matter if the execution is flawless.
If the promise and the reality don’t align – you’ve already lost.
Today, disappointment happens long before the fork even lifts off the table.
______
So here’s my advice – simple, brutal, and 100% true:
Never oversell. Never over-stylize. Never market a fantasy you can’t recreate at 19:45 on a busy night.
Show what you can deliver. Deliver even better than what you show. Because exceeding an honest expectation hits 10× harder than meeting an inflated one!
______
Guests are willing to pay for the alignment.
People don’t expect miracles. They expect coherence. If your marketing screams “luxury,” but the experience whispers “average,” the guest feels misled – even if the taste is good.
But if your marketing promises simplicity, honesty, craft… and your dish exceeds that? You win trust. You win loyalty. You win revenue.
The most powerful sentence a guest can say is: “They delivered more than I expected.” – and I truly believe in that.
______
As an example: When I posted this scallop video…
Clients didn’t just say: “Looks delicious.” They said: “We want THIS exact dish. This exact feeling. This exact moment.” Not because it was exaggerated. Not because it was overly polished. But because they want this taste that they might think to taste while watching the video. They think they can imagine how it taste like. The video didn’t promise something I couldn’t recreate. Anytime.
Im in Spain, I blended chorizo and the jamón ibérico to an minimalistic full of umami dish. It reflected my real craft – and elevated it emotionally. That’s why it worked. That’s why people trusted it. And trusted me. That’s why they asked for exactly what they saw.
This is the power of visual storytelling: When you show what you truly deliver, your visuals align with the reality – you don’t just attract attention – your marketing becomes self-fulfilling. You shape desire. Clients want the dish because of the story. Marketing stops being decoration. It becomes a business strategy.
______
5 Lessons every chef, restaurateur & brand should apply today.
1. Presentation is not decoration – it’s expectation management. You influence the flavor before the bite.
2. Every ingredient must support the story. Complement, don’t compete.
3. Minimalism is not doing less – it’s doing what matters. One honest, beautiful moment is more powerful than 30 components fighting.
4. Marketing and cooking are no longer separate worlds. You build your brand plate by plate – and frame by frame.
5. Honest expectations > inflated promises.
Promise realistically. Deliver honestly. Exceed intentionally. – That formula is unbeatable.
______
Final thought.
If one honest video can shape what clients ask for…
what could happen if the entire industry embraced authentic storytelling – not staged perfection?
Because in hospitality today, the journey from film to fork is shorter than ever. And the winners will be those who promise wisely, deliver honestly, and exceed quietly.
______
If this resonated, follow me Norbert Jacniak for more hospitality insights.
#hospitalitymindset #culinarystorytelling #foodcreators #cheflife #gastronomythinking #brandbuilding
