Taking pictures that pop on Instagram is Emily Cooper’s (Lily Collins) superpower. She is, after all, a social media strategist at luxury marketing firm Savoir, where a big part of her job is creating attention-getting content. Season 2 of Emily in Paris highlights Emily’s skills at snapping photos of food, specifically — a talent that can be credited to the behind-the-scenes work of chef and food stylist Myorei Le Ruyet.

Le Ruyet trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in both the United States and Europe. Now she runs her own business teaching home cooks how to make French cuisine. Le Ruyet first took her talents to television on Season 1 of Emily in Paris. Thanks to a connection with the set decoration team, she was initially asked to make the coq au vin at the center of much sexual innuendo in Season 1, Episode 8, “A Family Affair,” and has now returned to bring viewers even more food in Season 2.  

Le Ruyet says that her approach to making each dish featured on Emily in Paris was almost exactly the same as it would’ve been if she were making it with her students or for restaurant customers. She emphasizes that quality ingredients, proper cooking techniques and balanced plating are always the foundation of the kind of beautiful finished product that makes an impact on screen and in real life. Since this season of Emily is set during the summer, Le Ruyet worked with bright, seasonally appropriate vegetables like carrots and peas and vibrant fruits like peaches and strawberries. These choices are aligned with Gabriel’s (Lucas Bravo) very French rule to only ever cook with ingredients bought fresh at the market — something he taught Emily in Episode 3, “Bon Anniversaire!” 

Gabriel’s aspirations and background were also considered when Le Ruyet determined which dishes to make and how to plate them. “With his new restaurant venture, Gabriel is looking for one Michelin star, so I needed to stick with food that’s higher-end,” Le Ruyet tells Tudum. “It was important to think about the colors and the quantity. I couldn’t put a lot on a plate, otherwise, it would look messy and not like French cuisine.”

Le Ruyet did have to think outside the box when it came to cooking up some of the meat-forward meals, though, because certain cast members are vegetarian. For instance, in Episode 1, “Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi?” Gabriel holds a tasting ahead of the opening of his new restaurant and serves tripe with apple cider, a dish from his home region of Normandy. For the tripe (aka stomach lining) to be edible to non-meat-eaters, Le Ruyet used tofu as a replacement. “That was a bit difficult,” she explains. “Even the bouillon had to be vegetarian.”

Another challenging dish for Le Ruyet was the leek creation featured in Episode 4, “Jules and Em.” “It's one very simple leek, but it was quite difficult to get right because I had to make a single leek in a stylish way,” she says. “When you see the scene, you need to know that it’s a leek, so I couldn’t break it down.” The finished product shows off her minimalist approach to plating food and is an example for anyone looking to capture food photos worthy of Emily Cooper’s social media feed.

“Don't make it too messy. Make it as simple as you can,” the chef says. “These days people are putting stuff that’s not edible on their plates, and that’s a little bit against my nature. Some people put ribbons or huge flowers in the middle of the dish, and maybe it looks nice, but I don't really recommend using anything that’s not enjoyable to eat.” 

This less-is-more advice reflects Le Ruyet’s overall attitude toward the aesthetic of food. She’s adamant that, if you learn the proper preparation methods — from seasonal shopping to tasteful plating — your dish is going to look good. That’s why she’s a teacher. “You can cook Michelin food at home. The food that I make, everyone can make it. The food Emily shares, you can make, too.”