I think of "plating" food as fancifying its presentation. While I'm generally neat while serving, I don't add parsley or rosemary or other beautifiers.

When my cherub was a toddler, though, some nights we would play "Great Chef of Seattle" and mom would fan out the diagonal slices of hot dog against the creamy goodness of macaroni and cheese, sprinkled with peas. He got a kick out of it.