RESTAURANT SKILLS

PART 2

RESTAURANT SKILLS – PART 2

During the course we will be covering the following subjects:

 LAYING TABLES AND COVERS

 CARRYING
 THE DISEBOARD
 BASIC RULES
 SERVING THE COURSES
 CRUMBING DOWN
 CHANGING AN ASHTRAY
 RELAYING TABLES
 RESTAURANT STATION CLEARING PROCEDURES
 MENU’S
INTRODUCTION

During the second part of the Restaurant Skills course, we will examine the
procedures and standards required for the successful running of a food service
operation.

LAYING THE TABLE

1. When you are laying a table, you must handle cutlery by the handle or stem,
between the thumb and index finger. When holding a plate, you must touch the
edge.

2. The cutlery, the crockery and the glasses must be spotlessly clean.

3. When preparing to lay a table, use a tray, covered with a clean cloth, and place
upon it all the clean cutlery and side plates that are needed for the table
setting.

4. Put a side plate (or a fish plate) in the middle of each cover on the table, a
thumb’s width from the edge. Now you can cover around the each plate.

LAYING THE COVERS

1. Put the meat knife, with the cutting edge towards the plate, to the right of the
plate, two fingers’ width from the plate. The end of the handle should be a
thumb’s width from the edge.

2. Put the fish knife to the right of the meat plate.

3. Put the soup spoon to the right of the fish knife.

4. You have now finished at the right of the plate. Place the meat fork at the left
of the table, two finger’s width from the plate, and the end of the handle
should be your thumb’s width from the edge of the table.
5. Put the fish fork to the left of the meat fork.

6. Place the dessert fork above the plate, two fingers’ width from the plate, with
the handle pointing to the left.

7. The dessert spoon is placed above the dessert fork, with the handle facing to
the right.

8. Put the side plate to the left of the fish fork. (If applicable, the crest on the
plate must be at a 12 O’clock position).

9. Put the side knife on the right hand half of the side plate, in line with fish fork,
and with the cutting edge facing towards the left.

10. Go around the table and lay the other covers in the same way.

11. When you have finished, put a folded serviette in the middle of each cover,
after removing the meat /fish plate.

12. The following equipment is taken from the side board and are carried, on a tray,
to the table and placed in the correct position.

A. Cruet Set
B. Table Number
C. Small Bud Vase (With Flowers)
D. An Ashtray (if applicable)
E. Lamp (Dinner Only!!!)

13. Place a white wine glass and a red wine glass at the top right side of the place
setting (White wine glass in the front).
14. Everything is now ready for the service, but there is not any butter yet. This is
put on the table just before service starts.
15. Ensure you hold the cutlery, crockery and glasses correctly when you handle
these items.

CARRYING

TO THE SIDEBOARD

1. A pile of plates (hot or cold) that is needed for service in the restaurant is
placed on a service cloth and, with both hands, they are carried to the
sideboard.

2. The waitron then puts down the pile on the sideboard and the service cloth is
removed.

FROM THE SIDEBOARD TO THE TABLE

1. When the waitron needs the plates for serving the guests, they must take the
correct number of plates needed by firstly placing a folded service cloth on the
palm of their left hand. Secondly, putting the plates on top of the service cloth,
then proceeding to the table.

2. Of the plates are really hot, please warn the guest!!!

CARRYING PRE-PLATED FOOD

The best way of carrying pre-plated food is on a tray, but the plats may also be
carried with your hands. The general rule is that no more than 3 plates are carried
on the left hand and one with the right.

 THE SIDEBOARD

Most restaurants have one sideboard or more, usually at a station. This item of
furniture is the waitron’s work table. All drawers, shelves and everything in or on it
must be clean and tidy at all times.
USE OF THE TOP OF THE SIDEBOARD

1. The top of the sideboard is used for putting together all the things needed for
laying the tables.

2. Dishes of food brought from the kitchen are put down on it.

3. It can also be used for putting down the following

A) Water jugs and glasses, wineglasses and ashtrays.
B) Sauces such as Worcester or Tomato Sauce.
C) Mustard pots, pepper mills, oil and vinegar bottles.
D) Doilies and paper serviettes.
E) All crockery and cutlery.
F) Service spoons and forks.
Note: When these items are not in use, they should be kept inside the sideboard.

THE DRAWERS OF THE SIDEBOARD

1. The drawers have division, which are used for keeping separate the following
types of cutlery:
 Dessert Forks
 Dessert Spoons
 Fish Forks
 Fish Knives
 Meat Forks
 Meat Knives
 Side Knives
 Soup Spoons
 Tea Spoons
 Large Service Spoons and Forks

Below the drawers, there are shelves, which are used for storing:
 Spare table cloths and linen serviettes.
 Bread baskets, cutting boards and other articles needed for service.

CARE AND CLEANING OF THE SIDEBOARD EQUIPMENT

GLASSES
1. Any glass, clean or dirty, that has a stem, is always handled on the stem.
2. Clean glasses, with a stem, may also be carried hanging between the fingers.
3. A glass without a stem, such as the zombie glass etc, is always handled at the
based.
4. Never handle a glass, dirty or clean, at the top.

SERVING

1. Before taking glasses to the table, each one must be held against the light, to
see whether it is spotlessly clean. If it is not, it must be polished with a clean,
dry cloth.
2. The best way of carrying glasses to the table, is to put them on a tray covered
with a clean tray cloth.

REMOVING

When removing the glasses from the table, they must be picked up the same way
as they were placed i.e. by the stem or at the base. But a dirty wineglass may also
be picked by sliding the fingers under the bowl.

STACKING

Glasses must never be stacked inside one another, because this will increase the
chances of the glasses getting chipped, cracked or even broken.

WASHING

Wash the glasses in soapy warm water. Next, rinse them in clean warm water and
put them upside down to dry. Then polish them with a clean, dry cloth, which is
used only for polishing glasses.

WATER JUGS AND VINEGAR BOTTLES

Water jugs and vinegar bottles are always washed in the same way as glasses, but a
bottle brush must be used for cleaning the inside of the bottles.
SAUCE AND OTHER BOTTLES

After every meal, the tops, caps, and the outside of the bottles must be cleaned
with a damp cloth and then wiped.

SALT AND PEPPER POTS, SUGAR BASINS AND OTHER CONDIMENTS

Must be cleaned and filled everyday.

CUTLERY AND STAINLESS STEEL ITEMS

1. As soon as possible after use, clean in hot soapy water, rinse in clean hot water,
and dried with a clean cloth.
2. Crockery breaks and chips easily and must always be handled with care.
3. Before you use crockery, you must check that it is clean and has no chips and
cracks. Damaged items must be reported to your supervisor or manager.

LINEN

1. All spare linen, clean linen is stacked neatly on the shelves of the sideboard.
When a waitron handles linen, their hands must be clean and dry.
2. Dirty linen should be taken for washing.

SERVIETTES

1. When you fold a serviette, your hands must be clean and dry.
2. If applicable, it is better not to open the folded serviette for the guest; let
them do so for themselves.
3. A serviette, tablecloth or a service cloth may never be used for dusting,
cleaning or polishing.

BASIC RULES

SERVING AND CLEARING

1. It is easier to serve or clear some things from the right of the guest and
others from the left.
2. From the right:
 A) Plates and pre-plated food, including a bowl or cup of soup, are served from
the right.
B) Coffee, tea and all other drinks are served from the right of the guest.
C) Used plates, glasses and cups are cleared from the right of the guest.

3. From the left:

A) Food served from the platter, dish or bowl, is served from the left, onto the
plate of the guest.
B) Bread, butter and salads are served from the left.
C) Side plates and salad plate are cleared from the left because they are from
the left side of the guest.

4. Cutlery may be placed or cleared from either side, but the waitron must not
stretch their arm across the front of the guest.

GENERAL SERVICE RULES

1. Use a service cloth when carrying hot plates or hot dishes.

2. When touching cutlery, your fingers should only come in contact with the edge
of the handle, and glasses should only be held on the stem or on the base.

3. Use a serving spoon and fork for serving solid food.

4. Use a ladle for serving soup and a spoon for marshed food like rice, and
vegetables like peas, beans and carrots.

5. Anything that could leave marks on the tablecloth is placed on an underliner,

and not directly onto the tablecloth.

6. The lids of dishes, etc, are placed upside down on the sideboard, or the table.
This is done so that the wet or dry side will not soil the tablecloth or surface of
the sideboard.

7. Always pass behind a guest and do not get in their way.

8. Never touch food, the centre area of plates, bowls or cups. Also the tops and
inside of glasses must not be handled.
9. When a number of glasses have to be carried, it is best to use a service tray.

10. If applicable, place vegetable dishes on an underliner.

11. Sugar basins, cups, milk jugs, etc must not be picked up or carried with the
hands over the top.

12. Crockery, cutlery, glassware, operating equipment, etc may not be cleaned or
polished in the presence of guests.

13. If a guest drops an item of cutlery, pick it up and give them a clean piece.

SPILT FOOD/ DRINK

SOLID FOOD

1. Spilt on the floor:

Solid food that has been dropped on the floor must be picked up with a spoon and
fork (not with fingers)), and put on a plate.

2. Spilt on the table:

Use a spoon and fork to pick it up, or use your folded service cloth to brush it off
the table.

LIQUID FOOD OR DRINK

1. Spilt on the floor:

If it is a tiled floor, use a mop. If it is a carpeted floor, use a cloth to suck up the
excess liquid.

2. Spilt on the table:

Remove the cutlery and crockery, on or near the soiled spot.

With a service cloth, dry up as much of the liquid as possible.
Put a serviette under the tablecloth to prevent damage of the table top.
Put a clean serviette over the stain and place back the cutlery and crockery that
you removed.
Fetch a clean service cloth.

If soiling is very bad, either, move the guests to another table or, take everything
off the table, wash your hands and relay the table again with a clean tablecloth.

FOOD SPILT ON THE GUEST BY A WAITRON

If this should happen, apologise and help the guest as well as you can in cleaning
their clothes with your service cloth. Call the Restaurant management to assist you
with the problem.

SERVING THE COURSES

Listed below is a BASIC guide for the service of certain different courses (you
may find that the procedure may vary from one restaurant to the other).

 Soup - Cold Soup – In a soup cup/ bowl on a saucer with a doily.

Hot Soup – In a warmed soup plate on an underplate with
a doily.

 Fish - Hot fish on a warmed fish plate, cold fish (such as

pickled or smoked
Fish) on a cold fish plate.

 Entrée - On a warmed meat plate

 Hot Meat - On a warmed meat plate
 Vegetables - From a vegetable dish onto the plate – The hot
vegetable dish is carried
to the table on a cold meat plate. The serving is done
from the left of the guest. Ensure that potatoes and
other vegetables are placed on the plate in the correct
position.

 Cold Meat - If pre-plated, these are served from the right of

the guest.
 If served from a platter onto the guest’s plate, the
serving is done from the left of the guest, and the meat
is place on the lower half of the plate.

 Salads - Salad is served from a bowl onto the side plate,

which is then , from the
left of the guest, placed above slightly to the left of the
meat plate.

 Desserts - Before serving (after everything except the

ashtray, bud vase, table
Number and table d’hôte cutlery – if applicable, is
removed), the
Waitron must crumb down the table.
If hot, dessert is served on a dessert plate/ bowl, on an
underplate with
A doily.
If cold, usually in a coupe of silver, glass or stainless
steel, placed on a side plate with a doily.

 Fresh Fruit - From the right, a cold side plate is placed in front
of the guest, together
With a dessert knife and fork.
I finger bowl with warm water and slice of lemon is
placed on the table, slightly above the plate.
The fruit basket or dish is then put on the table near the
guest.

 Cheese - If a guest orders cheese, put a side plate, with a small

knife and fork on
It, in front of them. Do not take away the salt, pepper
and butter before the guest has finished with the
cheese.
Cheese is served, together with biscuits, on a tray or
cheese board.
If the cheese is served onto the guest’s plate, the
serving is done from the left.
 If the cheese board is put on the table for the guest to
help themselves, it should, if possible, be placed above
and to the right of the guest’s plate.

CLEARING THE TABLE

When all guests have left the table, the waitron must clear it. The must use a tray
on which he/ she puts all the dirty crockery, cutlery and glassware. Only the table
cloth (if clean), the table number and the bud vase are left on the table. All unused
articles are taken off the table and stored in the sideboard.

It may be necessary to relay the table; it the restaurant is busy or it is still early
in the service period.

CRUMBING DOWN
 When the main course is finished and dessert is ordered, remove all the used
items, including the side plates and side knives, cruet set and butter. Then with
a plate held in your left hand and a cloth in your right hand, approach the table
on the left of the guest.

 Hold the plate close to, and just below the level of the tabletop. Brush from the
centre of the cover to the side. Firmly and steadily sweep the crumbs off the
tablecloth and onto the plate.

 Place the dessert fork in position, to the left of the cover, and move to the
other side of the guest.

 Crumbing down is complete this side, as described before, the whole cover is
then clean.

 Place the dessert spoon in position, to the right of the cover.

 NOTE!!! When crumbing down, move around the table in an anti-clockwise

direction.
CHANGING AN ASHTRAY

In smoking restaurants, all tables are to have an ashtray available (minimum 1

ashtray per 4 guests). Spare ashtrays are to be kept in the sideboard.

Procedure of changing an ashtray

 Ashtrays are to be change whenever they become dirty, even if there’s only one
cigarette in it.

 If the ashtray id dirty and the guest has a cigarette in it, and you want to
change it:
Do not pick the cigarette yourself or take the cigarette away.
It is best to wait for the appropriate moment or ask if you can change it.

 Ashtrays are to be changed by putting the clean one over the top of the dirty
one, so that the ashy does not blow across the table.

 Lift both ashtrays off the table, standing back to remove the dirty ashtray
from the clean one, before placing the clean ashtray on the table.

 When carrying ashtrays, the waitron must use a tray.

RELAYING TABLE

It is imperative that the restaurant must look clean, neat and tidy at all times. It
is therefore preferable to relay after the guest has left.

When changing a tablecloth, the tablecloth is never fully removed showing the top
of the table. The ‘sliding’ action is used; also the tablecloths must never be shaken
in the restaurant environment.

The bud vase, being the highest decorative item, must be placed next to the wall if
the table itself is next to the wall. The lamp is placed next to the bud vase
(ensuring that flowers do not touch the lamp, as the lamp is very hot). Next we
replace the cruet set, ashtray (if applicable), and the table number, ensuring that
the table number is facing towards the main entrance of the restaurant. The rest
of the covers must be relayed without delay.
Whilst the restaurant is open, any dirty linen must be kept in the sideboard. Then
the linen has to be taken for cleaning (this should be done when the restaurant is
closed). The linen must be counted before being bundled ready for taking to the
laundry. Clean linen should be collected from the laundry when dirty linen is
delivered. Spare clean linen should be kept in the restaurant (in the sideboard).

RESTAURANT STATION CLEARING PROCEDURES

The following procedures must be adhered to when clearing a station in a service

area:

 When using the waitrons station, ensure that all the crockery and cutlery is
neatly stacked.
 Always have a service tray available at the station. Store this between the
station and the wall, in the space provided.
 Never run in a restaurant or kitchen, always walk.
 Keep your station clean and tidy.
 When clearing a table in the service area, never carry more than four plates at
a time.
 When dropping off crockery/ cutlery/ glassware at the dishwasher, exit the
restaurant through the left side door leading to the kitchen.
 Keep to the left and proceed to the drop-off point.
 There will be a clean plastic container with clean soapy water, at the drop-off
point. Carefully place all cutlery into this container.
 Before stacking plates for cleaning in the dishwasher, remove all leftover food
items, by scraping it off into the dustbin provided.
 Ensure no loss of equipment takes place by it accidentally ending up in the
dustbin.
 Neatly stack all crockery for washing, by sorting all different types and placing
them on the correct pile. i.e. meat plate on meat plate, fish plate on fish plate
etc.
 All crockery stacked at the dishwasher must be done in a safe way. Do not
stack crockery too high; this could sauce an accident.
 All liquids not consumed, in the glasses, must be thrown away into the bucket
provided. Do not drink them yourself!!!
 All glassware must be neatly sorted out and placed in the correct plastic rack
provided at the dishwasher.
 All unused butter must be placed into the clean bowl provided.
 All sauces, served in sauceboats, must be returned to the kitchen pass.
 All clean/ washed crockery and cutlery must be polished before being used in
the operation.
 All hollowware must be returned to the stillroom.
 Great care must be taken, at all times, with crockery and glassware to eliminate
breakages.
 Always maintain a high standard of hygiene.
 Always keep to the left when walking to down the kitchen passage.
 No noise is allowed in the passage leading into the kitchen, dish wash area or
restaurant.

MENU’S

A menu is a list of food items, for various courses, that are available in the
restaurant. The menu items available vary greatly from restaurant to restaurant
and are always complied very carefully. A good menu will always have a large great
variety of dishes, so that all our guests will find something to their liking. The type
of menu offered depends on the type of restaurant, and is compiled accordingly.
Some of the different types of menu’s available are as follows:

 À la carte Menu
 Steakhouse Menu
 Coffee Shop Menu
 Fast Food Menu
 Room Service Menu

Also some restaurants are based on a certain country’s food, and will offer
speciality dishes from that country i.e.

 Italian
 Chinese
 Indian

There is always a description of the dish after the name. this gives the guest an
idea of what to expect when he/ she orders that particular dish.
A good restaurant waitron should always know the menu, the dishes available in the
restaurant they are working in and the time it takes to prepare those dishes. This
ensure that the guest always receives the best service possible.