Photography by Ian L. Sitren

Posts tagged “party food

A Monument to Cheese Pizza

Another entry from the calendar of invented holidays: National Cheese Pizza Day. As if anyone needed a reminder to eat melted cheese on bread. Still, here it is — and so is my monument to it. Two frozen Red Baron cheese pizzas sliced and stacked into a tower of excess, photographed against a black background.

Cheese pizza is the baseline of the whole idea. From Naples in the 1800s with mozzarella and tomato on flatbread, to Lombardi’s in New York serving it to immigrants in the early 1900s, it’s the foundation on which every other topping variation was built. Frozen in the 1950s, it became the fallback dinner most of us know.

So if today calls for honoring cheese pizza, this is mine.

See more in my Commercial Food Photography gallery:
👉 https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU


Ten Chili Dogs, Elegantly Served – Because It’s National Chili Dog Day

Nothing says “refined dining” quite like ten chili cheese dogs arranged on a cut‑glass platter. Today is National Chili Dog Day, and what better way to mark the occasion than with a full platter of Wienerschnitzel chili cheese dogs, photographed as if they belong at a formal banquet.

Lined up side by side, the hot dogs are topped with chili sauce and melted cheese, shot against my black background for a polished, commercial look.

Chili dogs have been part of American food culture for more than a century, found in diners, ballparks, and roadside stands. Wienerschnitzel has been serving its own version since 1961, making it one of the most recognizable names for chili dogs in the U.S.

📷 See more of my commercial food photography here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU


International Chicken Wing Day

Today is International Chicken Wing Day, marking the popularity of one of the simplest yet most enduring foods in American dining culture. Chicken wings were first popularized in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, when Teressa Bellissimo cooked them in hot sauce and served them as a late-night snack for her son and his friends, creating what we now know as Buffalo wings.

The original Buffalo sauce is a straightforward mix of hot sauce, melted butter, and a few seasonings, creating a distinctive bright orange coating that has defined the category ever since. It’s estimated that Americans consume over 1.4 billion chicken wings on Super Bowl weekend alone, showing how wings have cemented their place as a go-to for takeout, parties, and game day gatherings. Wings remain a staple for bars, fast food, and home kitchens, served in countless variations from mild to extra hot.

This photo of Buffalo wings, photographed on a clean white background, is part of my ongoing commercial food photography project. I photograph foods exactly as they arrive, emphasizing their color, texture, and shape without styling tricks.

You can see more from this series in my commercial food photography gallery here:
https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU