Dish story video template

Which photo makes a good dish story

The video moves the camera across your photo, so the photo needs room to move in. Shoot or choose a picture where the dish fills most of the frame and is sharp from edge to edge. An overhead shot of a pizza, a close three-quarter angle on a skillet, or a sub on a clean counter all work. A wide shot of a table with six plates does not: the camera has nothing to settle on.

Natural light near a window beats a flash every time. If the only photo you have is from your delivery app listing, it's usually fine, as long as it isn't cropped so tight that the edges of the dish are cut off.

Write a menu description the video can use

The words on screen come from your menu, so a vague description makes a vague video. "Our famous pizza" gives the template nothing to show. "Fresh mozzarella, basil, San Marzano tomato" gives it three good beats. Before you make the video, read the dish's description and make sure it names real ingredients and how they're cooked.

Keep each phrase short enough to read in a second or two. Two or three words per beat is plenty. Fixing the description once helps everywhere else too, because the same words feed your price cards and specials.

When to post it, and which look to use

• Native for Reels and TikTok, where posts that look like regular phone videos tend to blend in with what people are already watching.
• Editorial for Stories and for dishes with a higher price or a story behind them.
• Poster for the 4:5 feed, where bold type helps the post stand out between friends' photos.
• Post a dish story mid-morning or mid-afternoon, when people are deciding where lunch or dinner comes from, not after the kitchen closes.