A good food and restaurant photo shoot is mostly decided before the photographer ever arrives. The kitchen, the dining room and the dish list all need a little planning so the session runs smoothly and every minute is spent shooting, not improvising.
Start with the dish list. Choose the items you most want to promote — new dishes, best-sellers, or the ones with the highest margin — rather than trying to photograph the entire menu in one session. A focused list of 8 to 15 dishes usually gives the best results.
Brief your kitchen team in advance. Dishes photograph best fresh out of the pass, so it helps enormously if the chef knows the shoot order ahead of time and can plate each dish exactly as it would go to a table — not a 'special' version made just for the camera.
Think about the dining room too. A quick tidy-up — chairs aligned, tables cleared of clutter, any temporary signage removed — makes a real difference in ambiance shots, and takes far less time than it seems.
Finally, block out enough time and expect some flexibility. Natural light changes through the day, a dish might need a second attempt, and the best shots often come from a few unplanned minutes near the end. Treat the shoot as a working session with your photographer, not a fixed script.