Unit 7. Serving Techniques (A) Flash on English for Cooking, Catering and Reception

 

Flash on English for Cooking, Catering and Reception Unit 7. Serving Techniques (A)

 

1 Look at the photos. What are the differences in the service?   2 Read the text about different service techniques and check your answers. There are several different kinds of food and beverage service. Here are some of the principal ones: English service or Silver service is quite formal and elegant and the guest receives a lot of personal attention from the server. All the food is prepared and arranged on formal or silver serving platters in the kitchen. The server then brings the platters and heated dinner plates to the dining room on a tray and, using a large spoon and fork or tongs, serves each guest. English service is fast and efficient, but it requires a lot of silverware and platters. Gueridon service is formal and elegant. Skilled servers bring the food from the kitchen on silver platters to a trolley called a gueridon, where food such as steak ou poivre (peppered steak), Caesar salad or flambéed desserts can be cooked or completed in front of the guests. Once the food is ready, it is served to the guests on heated plates from the gueridon. This type of service takes a lot of time, skill and restaurant space and can require two servers; however guests usually love the show. Pre-plated or Italian service is less formal than English and is the most commonly used style in most restaurants today. The main difference between Italian service and the other types is that the food is plated in the kitchen and served to the table. This means that guests cannot decide their portion sizes, but it also means that service is very fast, economical and efficient. This technique can be combined with Silver service. Buffet service is a self-service where guests can see and choose exactly what they want to eat. Customers either help themselves or ask the waiter behind the buffet table to serve them. For sit-down buffet service, tables are laid with crockery and cutlery as in a restaurant, so customers can serve themselves at the buffet table and return to eat at the table. The waiter may sometimes serve a few courses like a starter or soup at the table. They have more time to help more customers but in a less personal way. Family service is when serving staff take food prepared in the kitchen directly to the dining room on big serving platters and bowls for guests to serve themselves the portion they want. It is a very efficient style of service because the orders are limited, easy to take, and the food is fast to prepare and serve. It is also cheaper because it requires less staff and ingredients. However, some people argue that it is too informal and similar to eating at home.     3 Read the text again and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each kind of service.   4 Find the words in the text which correspond to these definitions. 1 a large flat dish for serving food ___platter___ 2 a kind of hot trolley you can cook and prepare food on ____________ 3 food, usually desserts, served with a burning alcoholic drink ____________ 4 a flat object with raised edges, used for carrying plates or food ____________ 5 objects made from silver, especially ones used during a meal ____________ 6 a table prepared for a meal ____________ 7 plates, cups, bowls, etc. for serving food ____________ 8 the knives, forks and spoons that you use for eating food ____________   5 Decide which type of service you would choose for a restaurant you run and write a short paragraph about the reasons for your choice.

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