In a restaurant, food service is one of the most crucial part of guest’s stay. It is where the guest determines the service quality and the establishment’s standards as well. Food and Beverage Service can be broadly defined as the process of preparing, presenting and serving of food and beverages to the customers. It also gives the guest the impression on how the establishment values its customers. That is the reason why most restaurants pay lots of attention on their food and beverage service procedures. To begin with, there are a lot of types and styles of food and beverage service and table set-up like English Service, American Service, French Service, Russian Service, Buffet Service, and the Gueridon Service where each has a different style and different tableware to be used as detailed by tutorialspoint.com and djubo.com.
First, English Service is also referred to as Silver Service or Platter Plate. This involves presentation and service of food to the guest by the restaurant staff from the food platter or dish to the guest plate. It is performed by a waiter by using service forks and spoons from the diner’s left hand side. Professional English service is all about mastering the technique of using service utensil held in the right hand to transfer items to the guest plate from a service dish held in the left hand.
Second, American Service is known as the Pre-plated service. A service of pre-plated food to the guest by the restaurant staff carried out from the right hand side of the guest. This demands the service staff to be skilled in carrying plates without disturbing the food arranged on them. Usually involves carrying two or three plates in the left hand and no more than four plates in the right hand at a time. Usually practiced in coffee shops or restaurants serving Western cuisine.
Third, French Service or what others call the Family Service is a very simple method of service in which the serving dishes are presented to the guests and placed on the dining table, allowing the guest to select and serve themselves.
Fourth, Buffet Service is a huge presentation of food items, hot and cold, different cuisines. The service staff positions itself behind the buffet and assists the guests by plating their food for them as they select it, using the silver or American service technique.
Fifth, Gueridon Service which means serving through a use of a trolley and it is used to cook various ingredients, involving a lot of showmanship such as flambé, carving etc. Done next to the guest table. Can either be an elaborate piece of moveable furniture or a simple dining table.
Last, Russian service usually consist of whole roast food, is presented to the host, then taken back to the side station by the service staff, which is then served to the guests. The Russian type of food service is not a very popular style of service.
These different types of food and beverage services which consist of different procedures and techniques are also served best in their own respective styles and set up. However, they only have one goal, which is to meet their customer satisfaction.
By: Mr. Wrence Nichols Y. Dizon | Instructor | Philippine Women’s University
