The cropping feels like the borders have been shrunk down to just barely fit all of the elements into the frame and no more. The arrangement, the viewing angle, the DOF and the cropping are all very conservative.
Making the food shot as a B&W makes it all so much harder for the photographer to make it visually appealing that one would want to reach in and take a bite. Without the color tones of blue/black of the blueberries and the white of the cream vibrantly contrasting off of the gold-orange of the grilled peach we can no longer 'taste' the image. We need those color cues to fully appreciate the dessert with our eyes and as the image is now we cannot do that at all. The other suggestion I have is that the dessert needs a better backdrop for it to shine as the star of the composition. The grain of the wood is far too distracting and calls attention away from your main subject.
This is a tough challenge to vote. I'm torn between "what are you trying to do here" and "what do I expect here". Further complicating matters is the question "what would I do here".
What I would expect would be a technically strong piece of eye-candy that would present the dessert in a way that I would want to at least sample it, if not order it. Along these lines I'm looking at technicals: backgrounds, distracting elements, exposure, sharpness. I'm also looking for creativity, imagination, and originality, which can make up for less than perfect technicals.
So, where does this leave me with your image?
Not for me. I hate the food section of my daily paper, just because they run food photos in black and white. I understand that it's necessary, but that doesn't mean I like it...
Here, I think you have a nice idea that *could* lend itself to some magnificent tones and hues. But, that's just my opinion. If you like it, that's all that matters.
like the B&W over all but very very sharp on my monitor which makes the table top's grain pull more focal attention than the treat. Love te composition otherwise.
Color Wheel perfect - Orange and Blue (or a variation on those tones.) Add in the gorgeous golden richness of the Bourbon, and what do you have? A hunger-inducing repast just begging to be eaten.
Or........ you can enter the image as a black and white, and kill the appetite. Sorry, in my opinion, you didn't make a good choice here.
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