PREPARING FOR SERVICE

PREPARING FOR SERVICE

The serving food and beverage to the anxiously waiting

customer needs professional expertise. The service should follow a

sequence and have a plan of action based on the practices of the

professional catering industry. The service staff should be expert

performers of certain tasks before, during and after service. Deligent

and courteous service would certainly transform a satisfied customer

to regular customer.

Preparation Before Service

The service staff should check the following before service:

i) The tables and linen are clean.

ii) Tablecloths are evenly spread on the table.

iii) Chairs are dusted and properly arranged.

iv) The table set up is appropriate and pleasing.

v) The silver is polished and the china and crockery are

spotlessly clean and befitting the occasion.

vi) Cruet sets, sugar bowls and flower vases are filled

and placed on the table suitably.

vii) The floor / carpet is clean and dry.

viii) The restaurant and back area are in a state of

readiness before the service session commences.

ix) The side station is fully equipped for service and the

following should be checked:

· Condiments tray is cleaned and refilled.

· Napkins are folded and kept handy for the

particular session.

· Salvers, extra linen, cutlery and service equipment

necessary for the session are stacked up.

· Water jugs and ice buckets are filled and kept

ready.

· Coffee pots ready with freshly brewed coffee / tea.

· Sugar cubes, butter and butter plates ready.

 Preparation During Service

i) When the guests arrive greet them warmly, by wishing

them the time of the day.

ii) Escort the guests to the table and seat them promptly

by pulling the chairs out to ease seating. If need be,

the table should be moved so that very little

inconvenience is caused to guests when they seat

themselves.

iii) Ensure that children have high chairs and special

attention is paid to the elderly.

iv) Remove extra covers, if any.

v) Serve water and present the menu card, if the captain

is busy.

vi) If the order has to be taken, offer suggestions to the

guests on the choice of food and beverages and

repeat the final order to avoid possible errors.

vii) Do not leave the station unattended, as nothing

annoys a guest more than not being able to find a

waiter, when something is needed.

viii) If the table cloth has to be changed during service, the

table top should not be exposed. Any articles on the

table should be cleared to the side station and not

placed on chairs or on the next table. The soiled cloth

should be brushed using a service cloth and a

crumbing tray or plate.

ix) Do not neglect little things such as lighting a guest's

cigarette, responding to a request and showing

interest in the guest's needs.

x) Ensure that service is fast, efficient and pleasant.

xi) Before serving dessert, clear and crumb the table.

 Preparation After Service

i) Pull out the chairs or the table to enable guests to

move out comfortably.

ii) Wish them warmly and request them to visit again,

saying - Do visit again, sir / madam.

iii) Clear the table immediately and reset for the next

guest.

iv) Have the side station cleared and restacked for the

next sitting.

 MISE-EN-SCENE

Mise-en-scene, the French term means to prepare the

environment of the outlet before service in order to make it pleasant,

comfortable, safe and hygeinic. Before each service session, the

restaurant should be made presentable enough to receive t h e

guests. The supervisor or team of waiters should ensure the

following mise-en-scene:

· Carpets are well brushed or hovered.

· All tables and chairs are serviceable.

· Table lights or wall lights have functioning bulbs.

· Menu cards are presentable and attractive.

· Tent carts or other sales material are presentable.

· Doors and windows are thrown open for sometime to air

the restaurant. This should be followed by closing the

windows and doors and setting the air-conditioning or

heating to a comfortable temperature.

· Exchange dirty linen for fresh linen.

· Table cloths and mats are laid on the tables.

· Replace wilted flowers with fresh flowers.

 MISE-EN-PLACE

Mise-en-place, the French term means to “putting in place” is

attributed to the preparation of a work place for ultimate smooth

service. It is widely used in the food and beverage service

department in everyday hotel operations. Before service

commences, the staff should ensure that the station is in total

readiness to receive guests. A station comprises of a given number

of tables which are attended by a given team of waiters. Thus a

restaurant may have several stations, each with a team of waiters. In

a large restaurant, each station may be headed by a Chef-de-rang.

Mise-en-place involves:

· Side stations should be stacked with sufficient covers for

resetting the restaurant after the first sitting is over. Extra

linen, crockery, cutlery, glassware and ashtrays should

be kept handy so that they are readily available for use.

· Cruet sets should be cleaned and filled on a daily basis.

· Sauce bottles should be filled and the necks and tops of

the bottles wiped clean.

· Butter, condiments and accompaniments for service

should be kept ready for use when needed.

 TABLE SETTING

Table setting refers to the way to set a table with tableware -

such as eating utensils and dishware - for serving and eating. The

arrangement for a single diner is called a place setting. The

arrangement varies across various cultures. The rules for laying a

table are not rigid. They are followed to facilitate dining and making

the table neat. The basic rules for laying the tables are given below:

1) Table Linens: Table linen has to be laid properly. A white

cloth is preferred but not mandatory. The only rule is to make

sure that linen patterns and china patterns don't clash.

2) Chargers: Chargers or dinner plates should be placed on the

table first. Chargers are decorative elements that are placed

underneath plates to add color or texture to the table. Each

plate should be set in the center of the place setting and each

place setting on the table should be set equidistant. The rest

of the components used to set a formal table will be set with

the dinner plate in mind. If a charger is used, soup and melon

bowls will be placed on top. The charger will generally be

removed just before the main course.

3) Napkins: Linen napkins should be folded elegantly and

placed in the center of the dinner plate.

Figure 6.1 Table Setting

4) Silverware: Silverware is to be placed in order of use. In other

words, the diner will start at the end and work his way in. The

first course will use silverware farthest from the dinner plate,

while the last course will utilize the silverware closest. Place

all silverware an inch from the table's edge.

5) Knives: Set knives on the table to the right of the dinner plate.

Technically, one should only use a knife if one is cutting

meat; however, up to three knives can be placed on the table,

in order of use. Blades should face inside, towards the table

setting.

6) Forks: Forks are to be set to the left of the dinner plate in

order of use. In most cases, there are three: one each for

seafood, the main course and the salad. When dining

formally, salads are generally served at the end of the meal.

7) Spoons: Spoons are set to the right of the knives in order of

use. If there is a melon course, this spoon will be set closest

to the plate with the soup spoon on the end. If there is a

dessert spoon, this will be set above the plate. Coffee spoons

are set on the saucer when it's time for dessert.

8) Glasses: Glasses are set above the plate to the right in order

of use. From left to right: Water glass, red wine glass, white

wine glass, champagne flute (if ordered).

9) Dessert: Dessert plates and coffee / tea cups will be set out

after dinner. If a fork is to be used with dessert, this will be

placed on the dessert plate. A dessert spoon should have

already been set above the dinner plate. Coffee spoons

should be placed on the saucer. Coffee / tea mugs aren't

used for a formal dinner.

 Points to Remember When Laying a Table

1) The table on which a tablecloth is to be spread, should be

first covered with a baize base cloth, for the following

reasons:

a. To protect the diner's wrists and elbows from the

table's sharp edges.

b. To keep the tablecloth firmly in place.

c. To protect the surface of the table and prevent the

rattling of crockery and cutlery.

d. To absorb moisture in case liquid spills on the table.

2) Based on the size of the table, appropriate linen should be

used. The central fold of the tablecloth should be in the

middle of the table and all the four edges should just brush

the seats of the chairs. Soiled or torn linen should not be

used. Three types of tablecloths namely cotton, linen and

damask are used. Of these, damask is the best.

3) If a bud vase is used as a central decorative piece, it should

not be very large or tall as that obstructs the view of guests

sitting opposite each other. Heavily scented flowers should

be avoided, as they affect the flavour of the food.

4) Each cover should be well-balanced. (A cover is the space

required on a table for laying cutlery, crockery, glassware and

linen for one person to partake of a meal).

5) Only the required cutlery, crockery and glassware should be

placed on the table. On a normal dining table, the space

required for one cover is 60 cm x 38 cm. The cover on the

opposite side should be exactly similar, so as to give a wellbalanced

look.

6) Cutlery should always be laid from the inside to the outside of

the cover, since the order of sequence in which they are to be

used is always from outside to inside.

7) Knives and soup spoons should be placed on the right-hand

side of a cover, while forks should be placed on the left-hand

side. Dessert spoons and forks should be placed on top of

the cover. The side knife should be placed on a quarter plate

and kept on the left side of the cover. The cutting edge of all

knives should face to the left.

8) Water tumbler should be kept to the right of the cover, at the

tip of the large knife.

9) Napkins should be placed in the centre of the cover, in

between the cutlery. Normally during a dinner session,

napkins are arranged in empty water tumblers.

10) Cruet sets, a butter dish, an ashtray, meal accompaniments

and a bud vase should be placed in between the covers at

the centre of the table.

11) Crockery and cutlery should be spotlessly clean and the

glassware well polished.

12) Chipped or cracked equipment should not be used. The

hotel's monogram should be visible to the guest.

13) All cutlery and crockery should be placed about an inch from

the edge of the table so that they are not accidentally tipped

over.