For the visually inclined, a meal can be as exciting to look at as it is to eat. Plating–the process of designing the presentation of a dish–may be inexplicable to the uninitiated, but there’s actually a strong functional element to it, since the design of a plate will dictate the sequence of tastes and textures a diner will experience. A new series on Gilt Taste called The Art of Plating asks great chefs to explain their plating process–or, ”why they put this sauce here, for example, or why they placed the herbs just so.”

Revered pastry chef Michael Laiskonis is first up in the series, which will include Wylie Dufresne, Alex Stupak, and Anita Lo later this summer. The long-time pastry chef at La Le Bernardin, who recently moved on to become Creative Director of the Culinary Institute, walks us through four desserts, including his signature dish “the Egg.” By way of introduction, Laiskonis quotes his idol, Parisian pastry chef Phillipe Conticini: “flavors are like neighbors in a small community. They bump into one another, they interact and they are concentrated.”

Check out all the videos at the Gilt Taste Vimeo account