Various menus for all types of banquets. Guest service is the most important element of the entire enterprise.

- this is very actual question, since you can wait from several minutes to an hour waiting for your order.

Time is too valuable a resource to waste waiting for food in a restaurant, so you can go to tablepin.ru in advance and find out the rating of the restaurant you are planning to visit. You can also book a table there so that the establishment is ready for guests in advance; this can also reduce the waiting time for food.

The waiting time for an order depends on the types and number of dishes it includes. Drinks are usually served within the first 5-7 minutes, as they can quickly be processed and taken into the hall. It is considered bad form to serve drinks along with the first course. You can wait for a salad from 10 to 20 minutes, since it takes time to prepare its ingredients, and there may be several such orders.

The situation is completely different with hot dishes; here the norm is from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the complexity and duration of their preparation. You need to be prepared to wait half an hour for kebabs, and not be indignant about it.

Waiting for an hour to order at a restaurant that was booked on tablepin.ru is not included in the standards for serving and preparing dishes. However, this often happens, especially in the evenings. What are the reasons for such delays?

There is a large flow of clients that the available staff cannot handle.
The selection of personnel is incorrect from the very beginning - in some workshop there is an excess of them, and in another there is a shortage.
The technological map of dishes is so complex that it takes a lot of time to implement.

Dishes must be presented to guests immediately after the cooking process is completed, so that the cold food does not get cold and the hot food does not get cold.

The waiting time for breakfast in the restaurant is highlighted separately, which is 10-15 minutes. Breakfast in a restaurant is an opportunity to eat quickly before running errands, so there is a special emphasis on speed (due to the ease of preparing dishes).

There are restaurants that place an hourglass on the customer's table after placing an order. Most often they are designed for 15-20 minutes. If the dishes were not served within the allotted time, then the guest gets them completely free of charge. This policy, on the one hand, encourages the establishment’s staff to do everything faster, and on the other hand, it ignites excitement in the eyes of the guests “whether they will bring it or not.”

Should you keep track of the time it takes for a restaurant waiter to serve your order? Definitely yes. Few people want to wait more than half an hour, and this shouldn’t happen. Guests' comments should be taken as an incentive to move for the better and work on your own mistakes. It is necessary to value time, and the restaurant booking service tablepin.ru will help with this.

When starting to place an order, the waiter must remember general rules service techniques and strictly adhere to the accepted sequence of serving cold and hot snacks, various dishes and drinks. First of all, you should adhere to the rule: bring all ordered dishes and drinks into the hall on a tray covered with a napkin, carrying it on your left hand, and, if necessary, hold it with your right. Carrying a tray on the left hand is due to the fact that the waiter approaches the guest from the left.

There are several techniques for carrying trays: on the area of the entire palm and with straight fingers wide apart, on the tips of five fingers (light tray). A tray with dishes cannot be raised above the shoulder (an exception can be made only in the utility room). It is not recommended to carry anything on a tray without first covering it with a napkin; The napkin reduces the sliding of objects and prevents possible breakage of dishes.

Dishes and drinks are placed on a tray in only one row; Heavier items should be placed closer to the waiter, and taller items should be in the center of the tray. Buffet and kitchen products should be brought separately.

You should not carry an empty tray down to knee level.

Culinary products brought from the kitchen on dishes in bowls and lambs should be shown to visiting customers, and then, having received their permission, placed on plates.

When placing food on plates directly at the dining table, the waiter should approach the diners with the dish from the left side. The dish with food is held in the left hand. Food should be served on plates, as well as clean plates should be placed on the right side of the visitor sitting at the table, with the right hand.

If the dish is laid out on plates on a utility table, this table is moved towards the dining table. The dish is placed on the side or behind the plate, onto which the dishes are transferred using utensils for laying out.

When serving a glass of water, cigarettes, matches, bills (on a plate or small tray), it is customary to approach from the left side. You can remove used dishes from both the right and left sides.

It is very important that the table is kept clean and tidy during service: used dishes, glasses, glasses must be removed in a timely manner; sweep crumbs into a dustpan with a brush; cover stains on the tablecloth with a napkin; Take special care to ensure the cleanliness of your utensils, changing them after each dish.

If a visitor drops a fork or napkin on the floor, you must immediately serve him clean ones on a small tray or plate, and then pick up and remove the dropped item.

When laying out cutlery, placing plates and dishes, the waiter must remember the following rules:

don't touch thumb edges of the plate (it should be behind the edge);

do not touch the edges of cups or glasses; make sure that the saucer under the glass is always dry;

hold instruments only by the handles;

silently, carefully arrange glasses, glasses, cups, put down cutlery;

When cleaning the table, do not brush crumbs onto the floor;

next dish serve only after the used utensils from what was previously served have been removed from the table; When serving, take the dish or plate with a handbrake, after wiping the bottom.

A certain sequence of serving drinks, snacks, and dishes has been established. First, as a rule, mineral and fruit water, bread, snacks, and wines obtained from the buffet are placed on the table, and then hot dishes are served. Alcoholic drinks are only served with appetizers.

Plates for hot dishes are heated (up to 40-50°C), for cold dishes they are slightly cooled (to room temperature).

You need to work rhythmically, giving yourself rest during pauses in service.

When completing an order and leaving the hall, you need to grab extra or used dishes and cutlery, and bring them on the way back ready meals.

The waiter must remember that before placing used dishes from the table on a tray, they are cleared of food debris, removing up to 10 plates at a time. Heavy stacks of plates are placed in the middle of the tray.

SERVING SNACKS

As a rule, lunch in a restaurant begins with an appetizer. The selection of snacks is extremely varied. Snacks can be divided into cold and hot. Both serve good remedy stimulate appetite, add variety to the table. Among the cold appetizers that enjoy worldwide fame as a delicacy are granular caviar (from beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon), pressed caviar, chum salmon, popular assorted fish, jellied and marinated fish, assorted meats; Various vegetable, meat, etc. salads are widespread.

Hot snacks are often served at banquets, festive dinners and dinners. IN common days In the restaurant, hot snacks are prepared to order. Feature hot appetizers - the fact that the food for them is cut small pieces so that the visitor does not need to use a knife. The most common hot appetizers that visitors order are mushrooms (champignons or porcini), game julienne, etc.

It is recommended to serve cold appetizers in porcelain dishes, hot appetizers in nickel silver. The temperature of cold appetizers served should be no higher than 14°C. Some snack foods must be refrigerated (for example, butter).

Snacks served on the table should be aesthetically attractive appearance. For this purpose, greens are widely used - parsley sprigs, beautifully arranged on a dish with an appetizer, curly cutting vegetables, thoughtful color combination of products included in the snacks.

When receiving appetizers at the service, the waiter should pay attention to their external design: check whether the butter has melted, whether there is enough edible ice in the caviar bowl, etc.

Cold appetizers are brought on a tray along with the utensils to be used and placed on the utility table. If fish is ordered, a snack knife and fork is required, not a fish knife and fork. The waiter places cutlery in the appetizer dishes for arranging. Then, with the permission of the guests, he serves snacks on the dining table. It should be remembered that snacks in tall dishes are placed closer to the center of the table, and in lower dishes (for example, on trays) - closer to the edges of the table. Appetizers with side dishes are placed on the table on the left side, without side dishes - on the right.

Salad bowls, caviar bowls, gravy boats are placed on a pie plate.

If several types of appetizers are ordered, they are placed on the table in the same container in which they were brought. When ordering large quantity variety of snacks Two or three types are placed on the table, and the rest are laid out on appetizer plates and served to visitors during the service process.

Before serving snacks in restaurants, bread is placed on the table in bread bins, or more often in plates, and butter, if it has been ordered, on pie plates; when serving foreign tourists - freshly toasted toast on a special plate or wrapped in a napkin to keep it warm, as well as crispbread.

There is an established order in the sequence of serving appetizers. First, caviar and fish snacks are served (lightly salted fish, boiled fish, jellied fish, marinated fish, etc.). Then fish salads and, finally, meat snacks - ham, tongue, pate, poultry, meat, vegetable salads, etc.

SERVING COLD APPETIZERS

Granular caviar (from beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon). The best beluga caviar is gray, coarse-grained, lightly salted. Served in caviar bowls containing a glass rosette and food ice. Caviar is stored in the refrigerator at a temperature not lower than 0°C.

Pressed caviar. Pressed caviar is also obtained from sturgeon fish. During production in fisheries, after salting, it is pressed, and chefs in restaurants form it into a roll. When released, pieces are cut from it, shaped like an ellipse or a rectangle, and placed on a fish tray, garnished with a slice of lemon or parsley. Just like granular caviar, pressed caviar has high taste qualities.

Chum salmon caviar. Like granular, it should have whole grains of light orange color. Caviar is served in caviar bowls with edible ice, chilled.

All three types of caviar can be served with butter, pies with fish or viziga (according to Russian custom), lemon, hot rolls or white bread toast.

Lightly salted salmon, salted salmon, chum salmon. This fish appetizer served in porcelain trays or on dishes at the rate of two pieces per serving. A portion of fish is complemented with a slice of lemon and a sprig of parsley.

Fish under marinade. Fried pieces of sturgeon, pike perch, cod or perch are poured with marinade, sprinkled with chopped parsley on top. Serve in salad bowls, on trays or porcelain dishes.

Boiled fish. Served with a side dish. Sturgeon and stellate sturgeon are cut into pieces and, after cooling, placed on trays or a dish. As a side dish, you can serve fresh red tomatoes and fresh or pickled cucumbers (in winter, add jelly in pieces). Decorate the dish with green salad leaves. Sauces are served separately - horseradish with vinegar or mayonnaise.

Jellied fish. Pieces of boiled and then chilled fish - pike perch, sturgeon,

stellate sturgeon, sterlet, perch or cod - put on a dish, garnish with lemon slices, parsley and pour jelly. Served on oval porcelain dishes

or patches. Horseradish sauce with vinegar is served separately.

Canned gourmet snacks.

Before serving, they are removed from the jars and placed on trays. The remaining amount is transferred to porcelain or glassware and stored in the refrigerator.

Sprats in oil. Served on trays. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of parsley.

Sardines. Served on trays. I decorate* with lemon slices and finely chopped parsley. If parsley is not available, it can be replaced with green lettuce leaves.

Sprat. Clean the entrails, cut off the heads, and place them on a tray. It is recommended to serve fresh cucumbers with sprats, hard-boiled egg, cut into circles. Egg circles can be decorated (from an envelope) with mayonnaise (in the form of a grid).

Crabs. Can be served squeezed, placed in a salad bowl or on a vase. Decorate with bouquets of boiled vegetables, slices fresh cucumber or an apple. Mayonnaise is served separately in a gravy boat.

Assorted meats. This dish contains at least three types meat products, cut into pieces: veal, ham, rotsbeef or boiled tongue. Served on porcelain oval or round dishes. Garnish: gherkins, pickled fruits, sliced horseradish, fresh tomatoes. Sometimes they add pieces of meat jelly. Mayonnaise sauce with finely chopped pickles and capers is served separately.

Roast beef. Fried half-raw tenderloin of reddish color. Serve two or three pieces per serving on an elliptical tray, garnish with gherkins and red tomatoes. Mayonnaise sauce is served separately.

Assorted poultry. This appetizer includes two pieces each of chicken (white and dark meat), turkey, duck, and goose. Garnished with pickled fruits, red cabbage, gherkins, lettuce or parsley and served on an ellipse-shaped dish. You can serve mayonnaise sauce with chopped gherkins.

Assorted game. This snack includes pieces of black grouse, partridge, and hazel grouse. Served on an ellipse-shaped dish. Garnish with pickled fruits. Garnish with parsley.

Roasted poultry and game. Serve cut into pieces. Poultry should be cut into two parts, and then each into several pieces depending on the size of the goose, turkey, chicken; hazel grouse and partridge are cut into two parts. Pieces of poultry or game are placed on dishes and decorated with sprigs of parsley or lettuce leaves. Garnished with pickled plums, grapes, cherries, lingonberries, soaked apples, white and red cabbage, which can be served separately in a salad bowl.

Mayonnaise sauce is served separately with poultry, and fruit and berry sauce is served with game.

Jellied meat. For this appetizer, veal, ham, and tongue are used. They are prepared in portioned molds, served in oval dishes, and eaten on snack plates.

Game pate. This layered cake with minced game. The gaps between the minced meat and the dough are filled with jelly. Served on an ellipse-shaped dish or tray. Before serving, cut into slices.

Fish, meat, vegetable salads. Serve in salad bowls placed on small plates on which a spoon or fork is placed. Refueling for foreign tourists vegetable salads often served separately in a gravy boat. If the salad serves as an addition to the ordered dish ( green salad lettuce), it is placed to the left of the plate with this dish.

SERVING HOT SNACKS Hot snacks are served in special dishes, usually in the same container in which they were prepared (portioned pans, cocotte makers, chillers, etc.). For example, baked fish is served in portioned frying pans, with the frying pan placed on a plate covered with a paper napkin.

Cocotte makers and chillers are also placed on a pie plate.

Mushrooms (champignons or porcini). Fried mushrooms are seasoned with sour cream and placed in a cocotte maker, sprinkled with grated cheese. Before serving, the cocotte makers are placed in an oven or combi oven for baking. The appetizer is served in the same cocotte. There are two cocotte makers per serving, you can offer half a serving.

Game julienne. Game fillet, as well as ham, tongue, champignons are cut into strips, seasoned sour cream sauce, sprinkle with cheese and bake in cocotte makers in the oven. Serve two cocotte bowls per serving.

Meatballs in tomato. Can be served in round lambs or on a cupronickel frying pan.

Crabs. They are prepared in tomato sauce. Serve two cocotte bowls per serving.

Vol-au-vents, baskets (filled with mushrooms, pike perch, chicken, pate, etc.) are served on a pie plate or on a round dish covered with a paper napkin.

Oysters, mussels, pike perch with sauce, baked in white wine with onions or milk sauce, served in a chill bowl (sink), which is placed on a pie plate or on round dish, covered with a napkin.

Cancers. Among the gourmet hot appetizers, they are in greatest demand. Foreign restaurants believe that it is best to use them as delicacies from May to August, i.e., in months whose names do not have the letter “r”. A variety of snacks are prepared from crayfish. Are in particular demand boiled crayfish.

If crayfish (as well as crabs and shrimp) are cooked in broth, they are served in soup bowls, and a deep half-portioned plate and a special utensil are placed on the table. Boiled crayfish are served on round dishes. A snack plate and a special device are placed on the table. On the right side, place a slightly damp napkin on a small plate to wipe your fingers.

Having placed the appetizers, the waiter takes bottles of alcoholic drinks, sweets or mineral water and asks permission to fill glasses or wine glasses.

After this, he can move away from the table, for example, to a work stand and from there observe all the tables in his service area so that, if necessary, he can immediately come to the guest’s aid - for example, put a snack from a common dish on a plate, etc. The waiter should not be intrusive, but must be attentive.

Before serving the first courses, you must remove used dishes and cutlery. First, they take the cutlery from the table, and then the plates. They are stacked on a tray, on which a napkin is previously laid to avoid unnecessary noise. The tray should not be overloaded to prevent the dishes from breaking.

SERVING SOUPS

Soups come in hot and cold varieties. Based on the method of preparation, there are clear soups (broths), dressing soups (cabbage soup, borscht, etc.) and puree soups (puree soup from cauliflower, asparagus, chicken, game, etc.). A separate group consists of fruit and berry soups.

Transparent soups are prepared with meat, chicken, fish broth. Broths for clear soups are prepared stronger than those for dressing soups.

Seasoned soups are characterized by a wide variety of products used for their preparation. These soups are made from vegetables, legumes and pasta. For dressing soups the roots and onions are sautéed.

Puree soups are prepared using meat broth, milk or a decoction of products included in soups, which are pureed after cooking.

Soups are usually served in cupronickel bowls with lids placed on chalk plates. Deep plates and broth bowls for serving soups must be heated. To do this, prepare them for service in time. During the working day, the waiter on duty replenishes the stock from the service table as they are used up.

The waiter, receiving the first dishes from serving bowls, places them on a tray, deep plates should already be placed and pouring spoons should be placed. Having brought the tray into the hall, he places it on a sideboard or utility table and pours the soup into deep plates placed on shallow ones. This is kept as close to the plate as possible so as not to spill the soup. The filled plate is held with the left hand at the level of the soup bowl. When pouring the sous, do not shake it, but evenly distribute the fat and sour cream if the first course is seasoned with it, then add the thick part of the soup and then pour the broth. When serving during the day, a spoon, if it is not placed on the table in advance, is served on a substitute plate.

There is another way to serve soups to visitors. The soup bowl is placed on a shallow plate on the dining table. A pouring spoon is placed on the right side of a deep plate. In this case, sometimes a little soup is poured into the visitor’s plate, and he can top it up himself.

Broths and clear soups are served in broth cups, which are filled in production. The cup should be placed on the saucer with the handle to the left. The spoon is placed on a saucer or on the table to the right of the guest. The broth is usually served with croutons, pie or profiteroles on a pie plate, which is placed to the left of the cup of broth. You can offer an egg (hard-boiled or “in a bag”) or an omelet.

Side dishes such as eggs, baked rice, meatballs, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, omelet, vermicelli, dumplings, etc. are added to clear soups before serving.

Dressing milk and cold soups are served in bowls. There are some special features when serving seasoned soups. So, sour cream is served separately in a gravy boat with daily cabbage soup. According to Russian custom, you can serve buckwheat porridge on a plate or in a clay pot. Moscow borscht is served with cheesecake or a piece of krupenik, Ukrainian borscht- donuts with garlic sauce. Meat in dressing soups is placed only cut into strips.

Some cold soups, such as botvinya and okroshka, are served in a salad bowl with edible ice, chopped into small pieces or in small shapes.

Fruit and berry soups are also served in bowls.

Some soups are served in the same container in which they were prepared: for example, piti soup, daily cabbage soup - in clay pots. A deep plate is served separately.

SERVING SECOND COURSES

Before setting the table for serving main courses, the waiter collects the used dishes on a tray, sets them according to size and type, collecting leftover food from the plates on one plate, and putting the cutlery on another. These plates are placed on top and taken away. When carrying heavy objects, they are placed closer to the board facing the waiter. Then, on a tray or in a stack with a handbrake, the waiter brings clean plates for the main courses.

The range of second courses offered to restaurant visitors is extremely diverse. These are dishes from fish, meat, game, poultry, vegetables, boiled, fried, stewed, baked and other forms.

There is an established order for serving second courses: first fish (boiled and poached fish, fried and baked), then meat and poultry and game dishes, then vegetables, legumes, cereals, flour, eggs, dairy.

To serve fish dishes, use the following dishes: for boiled fish - oval cupronickel dishes, for fried fish - cupronickel frying pans placed on small plates or oval metal dishes. Boiled fish is served in a lamb, the sauce for it, for example, for pike perch in Polish, is served separately in a metal sauce boat. When ordering fish dishes (Polish pike perch, mirror carp, etc.), the table is additionally served with fish knives and forks. The plates must also be warmed. It is advisable to place a plate for bones next to the pie plate.

If the fish is cooking whole carcass(from a live one), then it is also served whole, and on a utility table the waiter puts it on plates if he has received the visitor’s permission.

Before preparing a dish from live fish, it should be shown to the visitor.

To submit meat dishes the following utensils are used: for natural - steaks, entrecotes, as well as breaded products (chops, schnitzels, etc.) - cupronickel dishes; stewed in sauce (for example, stew) - round lambs or clay pots with lid.

Poultry and game are served on platters. When arranging them into portions, the waiter must ensure that there is a piece of white and dark meat on each plate.

Shish kebab on a skewer, fish fried on a spit, whole fish, roast pig and goose are served on an oval dish. In this case, the kebab or fish fried on a spit is removed with a special two-pronged fork, holding the skewer or spit at a slight inclination in relation to the plate on a utility table in full view of the customer.

Boiled vegetables are served in round cupronickel dishes. Butter can be served separately.

Baked vegetables are served in the pans in which they were cooked. If vegetables are served as independent dish, and not as a side dish, only a large fork is used as a utensil - it is placed on the right side of the main plate or in front.

If a vegetable dish contains any product that requires cutting, a knife is added to the device.

Having received a ready-made second course from serving, it is brought to the table along with heated plates and utensils for laying out and placed on a utility table. Then the waiter shows it to the guests and, after their permission, using serving utensils, places the dish on plates and serves it to the visitors.

First, the main product is transferred to a small plate located to the left of the dish, then the side dish and sauce.

The side dish is scooped up with a spoon with your right hand and helped with a fork in your left hand. The sauce is scooped up with a spoon and poured over the main product. The plate with food is served to the guest from the right side.

Sometimes, during group service, the waiter presents the guests with a dish, which they serve for themselves (a plate should be placed in front of each guest). When serving a plate or dish to the table, the waiter's thumb should be on the side of the plate. Guests are served with dishes only on the left side, holding the dish in the left hand on a napkin.

At the request of the guest, the waiter can also put the food on the plate.

To lay out the dish, the waiter uses the following techniques. The fork is placed between the thumb and index finger, the spoon - between the index and middle finger of the right hand, giving them the shape of tongs. The curve of the fork's arms should be above the recess of the spoon. The ends of the handles of the spoon and fork should rest against the palm, they are held with the ring finger and little finger. The handle of the spoon is held in the middle with a bent middle finger. The middle of the fork handle is held between the tips of the thumb and forefinger, which are used to freely move the fork relative to the spoon to the right or left, up or down.

Very often, salads or side dishes richly seasoned with sauce stick to the cavity of the spoon. To free it, just make a sliding movement with a fork, like a scraper, and the spoon will be cleaned.

To serve some products, as well as to quickly transfer large quantities of food, the spoon and fork are held in the same plane, forming a wide spatula. To lay out, for example, a steak and egg, two forks are used. They are also held in one hand at the same level, forming a spatula.

Meeting with guests

Welcoming guests is one of the most basic stages in serving visitors. It is at this very first stage that the mood of the guests is formed and the first opinion about the establishment is formed.
Readiness for service should be felt already at the entrance to the restaurant - this is a beautiful sign, bright lighting at night, unobtrusive background music, a doorman opening the door and much, much more. In the lobby, a cloakroom attendant should come out to meet the guests and take their clothes, after which the guests can put their toilet in order in front of the mirror. By this time, the administrator (head waiter) must approach the guests to greet the guests, clarify how many people need to prepare a table for and invite them into the hall. In the hall, the administrator must escort guests to the table they have chosen and seat them. When inviting guests to take their seats, it should be remembered that the woman should sit on the right side of the man or opposite him and be served first. After the guests have taken their seats, the waiter should approach them and be sure to greet them.

Accepting an order

Approaching the guest, the waiter should stand on his left side and offer the menu in expanded form. If the menu and price list are on alcoholic products are in different folders, it is not necessary to submit the price list open. First of all, the menu is served to the woman; if the woman is not alone, then the first menu is served to the eldest of them. In case of service big company, the menu is served to the customer or the eldest of the guests.
The waiter can take the order from the visitor, and the administrator can take the order from large companies. The order is written in two carbon copies. While waiting for an order, the waiter should not lean on tables, walls or the backs of chairs. You cannot touch your face or hair, comb your hair, interfere in the conversation of guests, talk with other employees of the establishment, or keep your hands in your pockets. If a guest has difficulty choosing a dish or drink, the waiter must immediately come to his aid. When talking about any recommended dish, you should not focus on its taste characteristics. It is only necessary to briefly describe on what basis the dish is prepared, the composition of its products and the method of preparation. For example: “Pork “Three Boars” - pork fried in a frying pan, baked in cheese sauce and flambéed with cognac. Served with fried potatoes, eggplant and ham." When accepting an order, the waiter should always maintain a straight posture; when accepting an order, there is no need to lean towards the guest. It is necessary to choose the optimal distance from the guest at which the guest could speak neither too loudly nor quietly. If, within a few minutes, guests are not ready to place an order and they need a little more time, the waiter is allowed to go to other tables to clean dirty dishes and serve ready meals. Also, if guests, without placing an order, are having a conversation at the table, the waiter is allowed, without waiting for the end of the conversation, to ask: “May I take the order?” When accepting an order, the waiter must be very attentive and, in the case of a large order, in order to avoid unpleasant situations, once again clarify the entire order, the time of serving the dishes and the degree of frying of the meat. Upon completion of the order, in addition to wine, tea, coffee, mineral or fruit water should be offered. It is considered unacceptable to show indifference, quarrel and argument with guests, as well as tactlessness and absent-mindedness.

Waiter techniques and etiquette rules

When starting to serve an order, the waiter must remember the rules of service technique and follow the sequence of serving dishes and drinks.
1. All ordered dishes should preferably be brought into the hall on a tray. The tray must be covered with a napkin - this will help prevent the dishes from slipping. The tray is carried with the left hand, at shoulder level. Heavy objects are placed in the center of the tray, and light ones are placed closer to the edge. The tray is carried over the entire palm, with the fingers spread apart, or on the tips of the five fingers of the left hand. An empty tray is also carried; it cannot be carried by lowering it to knee level.
2. Brought dishes in bowls or lambs, first of all, should be shown to the guests and, having received permission, placed on plates.
3. If the waiter lays out a dish on a utility table, then the utility table is moved towards the dining table.
4. When laying out directly at the table, the brought dish is held with the left hand, and the laid out dish is served on the right, with the right hand. Also, on the right, clean plates are placed on the table and dirty ones are removed.
5. Bills, matches, cigarettes and water are supplied from the left.
6. Utensils must be changed after each dish. The cutlery is served on a special tray or on a pie plate, wrapped in a napkin. The waiter must be especially careful about their cleanliness.
7. When carrying plates, do not grab their edges with your thumb. The plate should lie on the palm, and the thumb should be lowered down over its edge. Do not touch the edges of cups and glasses. Devices can only be grasped by the handles. Shot glasses, cups, glasses, cutlery and decanters should be placed on the table as quietly as possible.
8. All clean and substitute utensils must be wiped dry.
9. When serving food and drinks, the following must be observed: temperature regime dishes. For hot dishes and drinks - heated dishes, and for cold dishes - chilled ones.
10. During the entire service, the waiter must strictly follow the order of serving dishes and drinks:
1) cold snacks;
a) fish;
b) meat;
c) bird;
d) mushrooms and vegetables;
e) eggs and flour;
2) hot snacks;
a) fish;
b) meat;
c) bird;
d) mushrooms and vegetables;
e) eggs and flour;
3) soups;
a) transparent;
b) pureed;
c) gas stations;
4) hot main courses
a) fish
b) meat
c) poultry and game
d) vegetables, eggs, cereals and flour
5) dessert and sweet dishes
11. Crumbs from the table should not be swept onto the floor, but with a special brush, into a dustpan. Immediately cover dirty spots on the tablecloth with a clean napkin, or, if possible, change the tablecloth.
12. During the entire time of work, the waiter is obliged to monitor the presence of napkins, spices and other serving elements on the tables.

Serving snacks

The dishes and snacks served on the table must have an aesthetically attractive appearance; they are decorated with herbs, fruits and vegetables. The temperature of cold appetizers served should be about 10 - 14°C. When serving cold appetizers, the table is served with a snack plate and a pie plate, as well as a snack knife and fork, regardless of the type of meat. When serving several cold appetizers at once, the order of serving is as follows: fish, meat, poultry and game appetizers, mushroom and vegetable appetizers, etc. Snacks are almost always served from the left. Before serving appetizers, the waiter must ensure that they have utensils for laying out and, if necessary, help guests lay out the dish. When serving individually, all appetizers without a side dish are served on the right, and appetizers with a side dish and salads are served on the left. It is not allowed to serve snacks in the hands of guests, place snacks and other dishes by bending across the entire table, and place them on the table with your left hand, approaching the guest from the right side.
Following the cold appetizers, hot appetizers are served, as a rule, in the same dishes in which they were prepared (cocotte makers, chillers or portioned pans). A characteristic feature of hot appetizers is that all the products included in their composition are finely chopped so that guests do not have to use a knife. The table is set with a heated snack plate, a pie plate, a snack utensil and a vodka glass. Hot snacks are served in the following order: fish, meat, offal, vegetable, mushroom, egg and flour. Hot fish appetizers are served in chiller makers, and meat appetizers are served in cocotte makers. Hot appetizers with sauce - from poultry, champignons and others - are served in cocotte makers. The cocotte maker is placed on a snack plate covered with a napkin, and its handle is decorated with a papillot. Place a teaspoon or cocotte fork nearby. At the request of the guest, the waiter can transfer the appetizer from the cocotte maker or chiller to a heated appetizer plate.

Serving first courses

Soups consist of a liquid part, which serves as the base, and a dense part, the garnish. The liquid basis of soups is broth, and vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken, fish, pasta, cereals and other products serve as side dishes.
According to the method of preparation, soups are distinguished: clear, dressing, and puree. Fruit and berry soups are included in a separate group.
Clear soups are prepared with meat, chicken or fish broth. Broths for clear soups are prepared more rich and stronger than those for dressing soups.
Seasoned soups are distinguished by a wide variety of products used for their preparation.
Puree soups are prepared with meat broth, milk, cream or decoction of products.
Almost all soups are served hot. Their temperature is about 65 - 75° C. The exception is soups at bread kvass and some soups based on fruit and vegetable decoctions. Serving temperature for cold soups is 8 -10° C.
There is a certain sequence in which the first courses are served: broths are served first, then puree soups, dressing soups, dairy soups, cold soups, and lastly sweet ones.
The utensils for serving soups are also varied. Clear and puree soups are served in broth bowls. It is advisable to serve dressing soups in cupronickel bowls, and soups are served in deep plates placed on small dining rooms when serving set lunches, banquets and various events. All utensils for serving hot first courses must be heated.
If there is no tablespoon in the table setting, when serving the soup it is placed on the side of the substitution plate.
Very often, clear soups are served with pies or croutons - they serve as a side dish. They are served, like bread, on a pie plate. Profiteroles are served in a salad bowl, which is placed on a pie plate covered with a napkin. A layout device is required for profiteroles. Profiteroles are placed on the table on the left side. When serving a large number of servings, profiteroles can be served in a vase lined with a napkin.

Serving second hot dishes
Before serving the second hot course, the waiter must remove dirty dishes from the table and set the table.
Depending on the order, the table is served with cutlery or fish cutlery. In the absence of utensils for fish, the table is set with two dinner forks, one of which is placed to the left and the other to the right of the dinner plate. If both meat and fish dishes are ordered, there should be cutlery for both meat and fish on the table.
The waiter brings the finished main courses along with utensils for laying out and heated plates, after which he places them on the utility table, in full view of the visitors. After showing the dish to the guests and receiving their permission, the waiter can transfer the dish onto plates and serve it to the guests. The second method is this: first, the waiter places the plates for the hot dish, then, going around all the guests, places the dish directly at the dining table. With this method, which is called “take-out”, the waiter approaches the guests from the left side, holds the dish with his left hand, and shifts it with his right, using a dinner fork and spoon as a serving device.
There is a certain sequence for serving second hot courses: fish are served first, then meat and poultry and game dishes, and then vegetable, dairy, egg and flour dishes.
All a la carte dishes released from production in metal utensils: dishes, lambs and portioned pans. Side dishes and sauces can be served separately from the main dish in porcelain and metal dishes.
Porcelain dishes, cupronickel dishes and cupronickel pans are used to serve fish. Boiled fish is served in porcelain dishes, fried fish is usually served in cupronickel round dishes, and baked fish is served in cupronickel frying pans.
Meat dishes are served as follows: for natural and breaded products (steaks, entrecotes), as well as for serving poultry, game and boiled vegetables Various porcelain and cupronickel dishes are used; lamb, frying pans and clay pots are used to serve stewed and baked dishes. Basically, all baked and stewed dishes are served in the same container in which they were prepared. Sauce, butter and side dish can be served separately.

Serving sweet dishes

At the end of the meal, sweet dishes are usually served. Sweet dishes have a pleasant taste and delicate aroma, can be either cold or hot.
Cold sweet dishes include jelly dishes, ice cream, compotes, fruit in various syrups etc. The serving temperature for cold sweet dishes should be about 8 - 10° C.
Hot sweet dishes include pancakes with various fillings, puddings, Guryev porridge, etc. Serving temperature ranges from 65 to 70°.
Before serving sweet dishes, all dirty dishes must be removed from the table. The dishes for serving dessert must be pre-cooled or heated, depending on the temperature at which the dish is served. Basically, all sweet dishes are served in bowls and dessert plates. The exception is dishes such as soufflé and Guryev porridge. They are served in the same container in which they were baked, after which they are laid out by the waiter directly at the dining table. A teaspoon or dessert spoon is used as a utensil for sweet dishes.

Serving tea and coffee

Tea and coffee are served after dessert, as a last resort, with the permission of the guests. All utensils for serving tea and coffee must be preheated to a temperature of 65 - 70°. The water temperature for brewing black and green tea is different. Black highly fermented tea is best brewed with water whose temperature is close to 100°, and green tea with water between 60 and 80°. The tea brewing time ranges from 1.5 to 7 minutes - it depends on the type, quality of tea and water temperature. After the kettle has been filled with tea hot water, you should wait for the brewing time and only then serve the tea. Tea and coffee are served from the right, with the right hand. The cup should be turned with the handle to the left, and the spoon on the saucer should be turned with the handle to the right. When serving sugar, lemon, milk and cream separately, they are placed on the right, and jam, jam or honey on the left.
Payments to visitors and seeing off guests

After serving tea and coffee, the waiter must ask the guests about additional orders. Having received a negative answer, the waiter must prepare the bill. Taxation of the account is carried out in advance, during free time from servicing. After entering the total amount and date, the waiter signs the bill. The invoice is filled out in two copies, the top of which is given to the visitor. The bill should be served, having previously received the permission of the guests, face down, on a pie plate or in a special folder. When serving a group of people, the bill is submitted to the customer. Under no circumstances should you voice the amount of the bill, count money at the dinner table, or ask for tips or ask guests about them. Having received money on the bill, the waiter must immediately bring the change.
After paying the bill, the waiter must help the guests leave the table and escort the guests with the same courtesy and attention with which he greeted them.

The waiter receives dishes for cold appetizers and dishes in the service room and passes them through the vintage maker to the cold shop, having accepted the order, then places the order in hot shop and punches the receipts on the cash register.

In order to make the waiter's work easier, some restaurants use a light number alarm system. Each waiter is assigned his own number, which is stamped on orders that are sent to the kitchen. Upon completion of the order, the waiter's number is illuminated on a two-sided light display. In order to attract the waiter's attention, before the number appears on the board, a quiet melody sounds, pleasant to the ear. The numbers on the scoreboard are visible from a distance of up to 30 m. The scoreboard can be designed for 5, 10 and 20 numbers.

Convenient interconnection must be ensured retail premises with production - dispensing, service, washing, which helps speed up service to visitors, provides the necessary convenience in the work of waiters and thereby increases their productivity.

The waiter names the dishes and the number of servings that must be prepared, handing over to the marquee maker the utensils obtained from the service necessary to complete the order. The maker repeats the order (some restaurants use microphones for this), and the cook confirms its acceptance. In order to more accurately fulfill orders for portioned dishes, you can use a special display installed at the stamp maker’s workplace.

The scoreboard is a box with square cutouts for plexiglass disks with numbers and names of dishes. There are four fluorescent lamps inside the box. Instead of verbally transmitting the waiter's order to the cook, the stamp maker marks it on the board using a disk.

The cook, looking at the board, finds out how many and what dishes he should prepare.

When receiving ordered dishes from the kitchen, the waiter is obliged to pay attention to their design, temperature, etc. If, when serving identical dishes, he sees that one is good and the other is poorly prepared, or one of them seems smaller in volume or weight, the waiter should not accept their. It is necessary to call the head waiter or production manager and correct the shortcomings. It is prohibited to accept carelessly prepared, burnt or cold food from the distributor.

With the receipts, the waiter takes from the service table the utensils necessary to receive the products from the buffet and serves them to the visitors. Having received drinks, wine and vodka products, fruits from the buffet, the waiter must check whether there is sediment in the bottles, whether all bottles have labels, whether apples, pears, etc. are well washed and dried. Drinks received from the buffet in bottles and decanters etc., cigarettes, cigarettes, matches are carried on trays.

Techniques for serving food and drinks

The waiter must know the rules of service techniques. When starting to place an order, you must strictly follow the accepted sequence of serving cold and hot appetizers, various dishes and drinks. First of all, you should adhere to the rule: all ordered dishes and drinks must be brought into the hall on a tray covered with a napkin, carrying it on your left hand, and, if necessary, holding it with your right. This is due to the fact that the waiter approaches the guest from the left.

Place dishes and drinks on the tray in only one row, heavier items should be closer to the waiter, and tall ones should be in the center of the tray. Pantry and kitchen products must be brought separately. You should not carry an empty tray down to knee level. Culinary products brought from the kitchen on dishes in bowls and lambs must be shown to visiting customers, and then, having received their permission, placed on plates.

When placing food on plates directly at the dining table, the waiter must approach visitors with the dish from the left side, holding the dish with the food in his left hand. Food should be served on plates, as well as clean plates should be placed on the right side of the visitor sitting at the table, with the right hand.

If the dish is laid out on plates on the utility table, this table is moved towards the dining table. The dish is placed on the side or behind the plate, onto which the culinary products are transferred, using utensils for laying out. When serving a glass of water, cigarettes, matches, bills (on a plate or small tray), it is customary to approach from the left side. You can remove used dishes from both the right and left sides.

It is important that the table is kept clean and tidy throughout the service: used dishes, glasses, glasses must be removed in a timely manner; sweep the crumbs into a dustpan with a brush, and cover the stains on the tablecloth with a napkin; You need to be especially careful about the cleanliness of your utensils, changing them after each dish.

If a visitor drops a fork or napkin on the floor, you must immediately serve him clean ones on a small tray or plate, and only then pick up and remove the dropped item.

The waiter, when laying out cutlery, placing plates and dishes, must remember the following rules:

your thumb should be behind the edge of the plate;
It is forbidden to touch the edges of cups or glasses;
the saucer under the glass should always be dry;
devices can only be grasped by the handles;
You should silently and carefully place glasses, glasses, cups, and cutlery;
do not brush crumbs onto the floor when cleaning the table;
bring the next dish after the used dishes from under the previously served one have been removed from the table; when serving, the dish or plate is taken with a handbrake, after wiping the bottom.

There is a certain sequence of serving drinks, snacks, and dishes. First, as a rule, mineral or fruit water, bread, snacks, and wine received from the buffet are placed on the table, and then hot dishes are served. Plates for hot dishes are heated to 40–50°C, for cold dishes they are slightly cooled to room temperature.

You need to work rhythmically, giving yourself rest during pauses in service. When completing an order, leaving the hall, you need to grab extra or used dishes and cutlery, and bring ready-made dishes on your way back. The waiter must remember that before placing used dishes from the table on a tray, they are cleared of food debris, removing up to 10 plates at a time. Heavy stacks of plates are placed in the middle of the tray.

Serving snacks. General rules

Lunch begins with appetizers. Snacks can be divided into cold and hot. Both serve as a good way to stimulate appetite and add variety to the table. Cold appetizers include caviar, vegetable salads, meat salads, etc., assorted meats and fish, marinated fish, aspic, and gastronomic products.

On regular days, the restaurant prepares hot snacks upon customer's order. A characteristic feature of hot appetizers is that the food for them is cut into small pieces so that the visitor does not need to use a knife. The most common hot appetizers that visitors order are mushrooms (champignons or porcini), pancakes, game julienne, etc. Cold appetizers are served in porcelain dishes. Hot snacks in luxury and highest category restaurants are served in cupronickel silverware. The temperature of cold appetizers served should be no higher than 14°C. Some products included in snacks should, on the contrary, be chilled, such as butter.

When receiving appetizers to be served, the waiter must pay attention to their external design, check whether the butter has melted, whether there is enough edible ice in the caviar bowl, etc.

Cold snacks are brought on a tray along with the utensils that should be used, and placed on the utility table. If fish is ordered, a snack knife and fork is required, not a fish knife and fork. The waiter places cutlery in the appetizer dishes for arranging. Then, with the permission of the guests, he serves snacks on the dining table. It should be remembered that snacks in tall dishes are placed closer to the center of the table, and in lower ones (for example, on trays) - closer to the edges of the table. Appetizers with side dishes are placed on the table on the left side, without side dishes - on the right.

If several types of appetizers are ordered, they are placed on the table in the same container in which they were brought. When ordering a large number of different snacks, two or three types are placed on the table, and the rest are laid out on snack plates and served to visitors during the service process.

Before the start of serving snacks in restaurants, bread is placed on the table in bread bins, or more often in plates, and butter, if it has been ordered, on pie plates. Toast is served hot on a special plate or wrapped in a napkin. There is an established order in the sequence of serving appetizers: first, caviar and fish appetizers are served (lightly salted fish, boiled fish, jellied fish, marinated fish, etc.); then salads - fish, meat, vegetables and, finally, meat snacks - ham, tongue, pate, poultry, etc.

Serving cold snacks

Assorted game. This snack includes pieces of black grouse, partridge, and hazel grouse.

Served on an ellipse-shaped dish. Garnish with pickled fruits. Garnish with parsley.

Assorted meats. This dish includes at least three types of meat products, cut into pieces: veal, ham, roast beef or boiled tongue. Served on porcelain oval or round dishes. Garnish: gherkins, pickled fruits, sliced horseradish, fresh tomatoes. Sometimes they add pieces of meat jelly. Mayonnaise sauce with finely chopped pickles and capers is served separately.

Roasted poultry and game. Serve cut into pieces. Poultry should be cut into two parts, and then each into several pieces, depending on the size of the goose, turkey, chicken; hazel grouse and partridge are cut into two parts. Pieces of poultry or game are placed on dishes and decorated with parsley sprigs or lettuce leaves. The garnish is served with pickled plums, grapes, cherries, lingonberries, pickled apples, cabbage or red cabbage, which can be served separately in a salad bowl. Mayonnaise sauce is served separately with poultry, and fruit and berry sauce is served with game.

Jellied meat. For this appetizer, veal, ham, and tongue are used. Prepare in portioned molds, serve in oval dishes, and transfer to appetizer plates.

Chum salmon caviar. Like granular, it should have whole grains of light orange color. Caviar is served in caviar bowls with edible ice, chilled.

Pressed caviar. Pressed caviar is also obtained from sturgeon fish. When produced in fisheries, after salting, it is pressed and then formed into a roll. When released, pieces are cut from it, shaped like an ellipse or a rectangle, and placed on a fish tray, garnished with a slice of lemon or parsley. Just like granular caviar, pressed caviar has high taste qualities.

Sprat. Clean the entrails, cut off the heads, and place them on a tray. It is recommended to serve fresh cucumbers and a hard-boiled egg, cut into slices. Egg circles can be decorated (from an envelope) with mayonnaise (in the form of a grid).

Canned snacks. Before serving, they are removed from the jars and placed on trays. The remaining amount is transferred to porcelain or glassware and stored in the refrigerator.

Crabs. Can be served squeezed, placed in a salad bowl or on a vase. Decorate with bouquets of boiled vegetables, slices of fresh cucumber or apple. Mayonnaise is served separately in a gravy boat.

You can serve butter with all three types of caviar, rasstegai with fish or viziga (according to Russian custom), lemon, hot rolls or white bread toast.

Game pate. This is a layer pie with minced game. The gaps between the minced meat and the dough are filled with jelly. Served on an ellipse-shaped dish or tray. Before serving, cut into slices.

Roast beef. Fried half-raw tenderloin of reddish color. Serve two or three pieces per serving on an elliptical tray and garnish with gherkins and red tomatoes. Mayonnaise sauce is served separately.

Jellied fish. Pieces of boiled and then chilled fish - pike perch, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, sterlet, perch or cod - are placed on a dish, decorated with lemon slices, parsley and filled with jelly. Served on oval porcelain dishes or trays. Horseradish sauce with vinegar is served separately.

Boiled fish. Served with a side dish. Sturgeon and stellate sturgeon are cut into pieces and, cooled, placed on trays or a plate. As a side dish, you can serve fresh red tomatoes and fresh or pickled cucumbers (in winter, add jelly in pieces). Decorate the dish with green salad leaves. Horseradish sauce with vinegar or mayonnaise sauce is served separately.

Fish under marinade. Fried pieces of sturgeon, pike perch, cod or perch are poured with marinade, sprinkled with chopped parsley on top. Serve in salad bowls, on trays or porcelain dishes.

Fish, vegetables, meat salads. Serve in salad bowls placed on small plates on which a spoon and fork are placed. Foreign tourists often serve salad dressing separately in a gravy boat. If the salad serves as an addition to the ordered dish (green lettuce), it is placed to the left of the plate with this dish.

Sardines. Served on trays. Decorate with lemon slices and finely chopped parsley. If parsley is not available, it can be replaced with green lettuce leaves.

Salmon, salted chum salmon, lightly salted salmon. This fish appetizer is served in porcelain trays or on dishes at the rate of two pieces per serving. A portion of fish is complemented with a slice of lemon and a sprig of parsley.

Sprats in oil. Served on trays. Garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of parsley.

Serving hot snacks

Hot snacks are served in special dishes, usually the same ones in which they were prepared (portioned frying pans, cocotte makers, chillers, etc.). For example, baked fish is served in portioned frying pans, with the frying pan placed on a plate covered with a paper napkin.

Champignon or porcini mushrooms. Fried mushrooms are seasoned with sour cream and placed in a cocotte maker, sprinkled with grated cheese. Before serving, the cocotte makers are placed in the oven for baking. The appetizer is served in the same cocotte. There are two cocotte makers per serving, you can offer half a serving.

Game Julienne. Game fillet, as well as ham, tongue, and champignons are cut into strips, seasoned with sour cream sauce, sprinkled with cheese and baked in cocotte makers. Serve two cocotte bowls per serving.

Crabs. They are cooked in tomato sauce. Serve two cocotte bowls per serving.

Boiled crayfish are in particular demand. If crayfish (as well as crabs and shrimp) are cooked in broth, they are served in soup bowls, and a deep half-portioned plate and a special utensil are placed on the table. Boiled crayfish are served on round dishes. A snack plate and a special device are placed on the table. On the right side, place a slightly damp napkin on a small plate to wipe your fingers.

Meatballs in tomato. Meatballs can be served in round lambs or on a cupronickel frying pan.

The waiter, having placed the appetizers, takes bottles of alcoholic beverages and asks permission to fill glasses or wine glasses. After this, he can move away from the table, for example, to the sideboard, and from there observe all the tables in his service area so that, if necessary, he can immediately come to the guest’s aid, for example, put a snack from a common dish on a plate, etc. The waiter should not be annoying, but obliged to be attentive.

Used dishes and utensils must be removed before serving first courses. First, they take the cutlery from the table, and then the plates. They are placed in a stack on a tray, where a napkin is previously laid to avoid unnecessary noise. The tray should not be overloaded to prevent the dishes from breaking.

Serving first courses

Based on the method of preparation, there are clear soups (broths), dressing soups (cabbage soup, borscht), and puree soups (puree soup of cauliflower, asparagus, chicken, game). A separate group consists of fruit and berry soups.

Broths for clear soups are prepared stronger than for seasoned soups.

Dressing soups are prepared from vegetables, legumes and pasta with meat, fish, mushroom or vegetable broth. For dressing soups, roots and onions are sautéed; some soups are seasoned with white sauce.

Puree soups are prepared with meat broth, milk or a decoction of the products included in the soups, which are pureed after cooking.

Milk soups are prepared with milk, cream or a mixture of milk and cream with water.

According to the serving temperature, soups can be cold or hot.

Usually soups are served in cupronickel bowls with lids, placed on small plates, or in tureens. Deep plates and broth cups for serving soups must be heated. To do this, when preparing the restaurant for serving visitors, they are placed in heating cabinets. During the working day, the waiter on duty replenishes the stock from the service table as they are used up.

Receiving bowls of first courses from distribution, the waiter places them on a tray, where deep plates should already be placed and pouring spoons should be placed. Having brought the tray into the hall, he places it on the sideboard or utility table and pours the soup into deep plates placed on shallow ones. When pouring soup, keep the pouring spoon as close to the plate as possible so as not to spill the soup liquid. The filled plate is held with the left hand at the level of the soup bowl. When pouring the soup, do not shake it, but evenly distribute the fat and sour cream if the first course is seasoned with it, then add the thick part of the soup and then pour the broth. When serving during the day, a spoon, if it is not placed on the table in advance, is served on a stand plate.

Broths and clear soups are served in broth cups. The cup should be placed on the saucer with the handle to the left. Sometimes the saucer is placed on a shallow plate. The spoon is placed on a saucer or on the table to the right of the guest. The broth is usually served with croutons or a pie on a pie plate, which is placed to the left of the cup of broth. You can offer an egg (hard-boiled) or an omelette.

Cold and seasoned milk soups are served in bowls. There are some special features when serving seasoned soups. So, with day-old cabbage soup, sour cream is served separately in a gravy boat. You can serve buckwheat porridge on a plate or in a clay pot according to Russian custom. The borscht is served with cheesecake or a piece of krupenik. For some cold soups, for example, botvinya, okroshka, food ice, chopped into small pieces, is served in a salad bowl.

Fruit and berry soups are also served in bowls.

Before setting the table for serving main courses, the waiter collects the used dishes on a tray, sets them according to size and type, removing leftover food from the plates on one plate, and putting the cutlery on another. He puts these plates on top and takes them away. When carrying heavy objects, they are placed closer to the side of the tray facing the waiter. Then, on a tray or in a stack with a handbrake, the waiter brings clean plates for the main courses.

Serving main courses

The order of serving second courses: first fish, then meat and poultry and game dishes, and then vegetables, cereals, eggs, dairy, flour.

When serving fish dishes, use the following utensils: for boiled fish - oval cupronickel dishes, for fried fish - cupronickel frying pans placed on small plates or oval metal dishes.

Sauce for boiled fish, such as pike perch in Polish, is served separately in a sauce boat. When ordering fish dishes (Polish pike perch, mirror carp, etc.), the table is additionally served with fish knives and forks. The plates must be warmed up. But when setting the table for fried fish, the plates are not heated, since the crust must remain crispy. It is advisable to place a plate for bones next to the pie plate.

If the fish is prepared as a whole carcass (from a live fish), then it is also served whole, and on a utility table the waiter places it on plates if he has received the visitor’s permission.

Before preparing a dish from live fish, it should be shown to the visitor.

When serving meat dishes, the following dishes are used: for natural - steaks, entrecotes, as well as breaded products - cupronickel dishes; for stewed in sauce - round lambs or clay pots with a lid.

Poultry and game are served on platters. When arranging poultry or game into portions, the waiter must ensure that there is a piece of white and dark meat on each plate.

Boiled vegetables are served in round cupronickel dishes. Butter can be served separately.

Baked vegetables are served in the pans in which they were cooked. If vegetables are served as an independent dish and not as a side dish, only a large fork is used as a utensil - it is placed on the right side of the main plate or in front. If a vegetable dish contains any product that requires cutting, a knife is added to the device.

The waiter, having received the ready-made second course, brings it along with heated plates and utensils for laying out and places it on the utility table. Then he shows it to the guests and, after their permission, using serving utensils, places the dish on plates and serves it to the visitors.

During group service, the waiter presents the guests with a dish, which they serve for themselves (a plate should be placed in front of each visitor). When serving a plate or dish to the table, the waiter's thumb should be on the side. They pass the dish around to the guests only on the left side, holding it in their left hand on a napkin.

Serving sweet dishes

Sweet dishes usually end the meal. Most of them not only have a pleasant taste, but also a high nutritional value. As a rule, they contain a significant amount of sugars, and some are rich in proteins and fats.

The range of sweet dishes is very diverse. These are jelly, compotes, jellies, mousses, various puddings, casseroles, etc.

Before serving sweet dishes, the waiter must remove all used dishes and cutlery, and sweep away crumbs from the tablecloth.

Many sweet dishes (jelly, compotes, ice cream, jelly) are served in bowls. They are placed on a dessert or pie plate, on which a dessert or teaspoon is placed with the handle facing to the right. Serving some sweet dishes has its own characteristics.

Mousses and jellies served chilled should be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature between 2 and 14°C before serving.

Real Guryev porridge served in a portioned frying pan in which it was baked, placed on a shallow plate and covered with a paper napkin. Milk foam, canned fruit or jam, and toasted almonds should be placed on top. Apricot sauce is served separately in a gravy boat.

Casseroles and puddings are served on cupronickel dishes, portioned frying pans or in rams. When leaving, pour sauce or syrup over it. Sometimes sauces are served separately. For hot sweet dishes, the dishes are heated.

Ice cream is served in ice cream bowls, placed in the form of balls and decorated canned fruit. When serving whipped cream ice cream (parfait), use a round dish on which it is cut into portions and placed on dessert plates.

Pre-washed boiled water and dried fruits are served in vases. In addition to dessert plates, there should be fruit knives and forks on the table. The vase is usually filled with different types of fruit - apples, pears, grapes, oranges. If one of the visitors ordered the fruit individually, they are served on a dessert plate, making up a set of apple, pear, tangerine or orange, and a bunch of grapes.

Sometimes citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines) are served in bowls. In this case, they are peeled, divided into slices and poured with dessert wine.

Berries are served on dessert plates or in bowls. The berries are served separately in a socket powdered sugar. When serving berries with milk or cream, they are placed in a deep plate, and milk or cream is served in a milk jug.

Serving hot drinks

At the end of the meal, the waiter offers guests tea, coffee or other hot drinks. Coffee comes to restaurants as beans, raw or roasted, and ground. When receiving from suppliers, it is important to ensure that not only the variety, but also the type of coffee is indicated on the boxes of coffee. Raw grains can be stored long time. Roasted grains coffee is supplied to restaurants in plywood boxes with a net weight of up to 15 kg, lined with two layers of paper. To preserve the aroma roasted coffee it is recommended to import to enterprises in small quantity, no more than 20–30 days.

Coffee

When preparing coffee, remember that only the right combination Some of its types give the drink a pleasant taste, aroma and characteristic color. Using just one type of coffee cannot achieve good quality drink The most common names and percentages are: various types coffee:

Colombian – 75%, Ethiopian – 25%;
Indian Arabica – 75%, Ethiopian – 25%;
Colombian – 75%, Indian Arabica – 25%;
Colombian – 50%, Indian Arabica – 50%;
Colombian – 25%, Indian Arabica – 75%;
Colombian – 50%, Ethiopian – 50%.

Raw coffee beans have a strong astringent taste and are difficult to turn into powder. To eliminate these shortcomings, they are fried. Before roasting, coffee beans are separated from foreign impurities and then roasted on cast iron frying pans in electric ovens.

The grains are poured into a frying pan in a layer of 2 cm, placed in the oven chamber and fried with frequent stirring until they are uniformly brown and a specific color appears. coffee aroma. The frying temperature of 180–200°C is set in electrical cabinets using a thermostat (switch). If there is no electric oven, coffee beans are roasted in the same way on the stove over low heat.

The roasted grains are poured from the frying pan and quickly cooled, after which they are poured into metal jars with tight-fitting lids or into glass jars with ground plugs. Improper roasting of coffee beans leads to changes in taste qualities and the color of the finished drink. Over-roasted beans give coffee a bitter taste, while under-roasted beans negatively affect the taste and even the color of coffee. During the roasting of coffee beans, profound changes occur in them: the volume of the beans increases by 30–50%, the weight decreases by an average of 18% due to the removal of water and the decomposition of certain substances, the sugar caramelizes and gives the coffee beans a brown color.

In order to obtain strong drink With pleasant taste and the strong aroma used is roasted coffee beans. Coffee is best prepared in coffee makers, but you can also cook it on the stove in coffee pots or Turkish coffee pots. Before starting to prepare coffee, warm up the coffee maker until the metal part of the handle becomes hot.

Coffee beans are ground in coffee grinders immediately before brewing; The degree of grinding on the coffee grinder is adjusted using a special ring. For oriental coffee, the beans are ground finer than for black coffee.

In order to ensure the accuracy of pouring coffee into a portion, use a dispenser on a coffee grinder, which measures a portion of coffee from 5 to 10 g.

Chicory is often not added to ground coffee. It is recommended to prepare coffee with added chicory only upon order.

Black coffee (yield 100 ml)

A portion of ground coffee is poured into the filter of the coffee maker, the filter holder is secured under the dosing cylinder, then the handle is turned towards you and after 15-20 seconds it is returned to the vertical position. When the handle is lifted up, the coffee prepared in the dosing cylinder is poured into the cup through the filter. Black coffee is sold in small coffee cups. Sugar for coffee is served separately in an outlet.

Oriental coffee (yield 100 ml)

Pour a portion of coffee along with sugar into a Turkish dish specially designed for preparing and dispensing this type of coffee - a cone-shaped container with a handle for 1, 2, 5 servings, pour in cold drinking water, bring to a boil with steam from the steam outlet tube. At the same time, the coffee foam formed during brewing should remain on the surface of the coffee. Coffee is served to the table in the same container in which it is prepared. If it is brewed in one container for several servings, then first the coffee foam is laid out in the cups, and then the coffee itself is poured. Chilled water with ice is served separately.

Coffee with milk (yield 150 ml)

Hot is added to the finished black coffee baked milk, sugar, add milk foam when leaving. Coffee with milk is sold in glasses. It is recommended to include it in the breakfast menu. When making mass preparations, coffee with milk can be served without foam.

When serving coffee in coffee pots, an empty cup with a capacity of 100 ml is placed in front of the guest and, after receiving permission, it is filled. There is usually some coffee left in the coffee pot. The waiter places the coffee pot to the guest's right so that it is convenient for him to pour the second cup himself.

If coffee is served in cups, they are placed on a saucer, where a teaspoon is placed. Cups must be preheated. It is recommended to serve a glass of cognac or liqueur with black coffee. Sugar is supplied separately at the outlet.

Tea

In addition to coffee, tea is served. For a very long time it was thought that tea has a tonic effect on a person primarily when it serves to quench his thirst and warm him up from the cold. Then they noticed that tea increases a person’s energy in all cases, since it also acts as a hunger quencher. Indeed, while in no way completely replacing food, tea at the same time helps people withstand its lack or absence for quite a long time. This is explained by the fact that tea leaves are not inferior in protein content and quality. legumes. A cup of tea with a tablespoon of milk and a lump of sugar provides 40 calories (according to some sources - 50). By replacing milk with cream and drinking stronger tea with two pieces of sugar per cup, the calorie content of a serving of tea increases to 95–100 calories. In addition, tea is a real storehouse of vitamins. In the fresh tea leaf There is more vitamin C than in lemon juice (although its amount is reduced during factory processing). In addition to vitamin C, tea also contains vitamins. There are many varieties of tea: black, red, yellow, green. There are several hundred varieties of black tea alone.

Water for tea should not have any, even minor, specific or foreign odors. The second important requirement is a low degree of dissolved substances in the water. minerals, its “softness”. Spring water is considered the best for brewing tea. In second place is the soft water of fast rivers with a rocky-sandy bottom and flowing glacial lakes.

Attaching utmost importance proper brewing tea and the quality of the infusion, the Chinese specially brought soft spring water to the capital from rather remote mountainous areas. The water must be left to stand for at least 24 hours before use to brew tea. You can use special water softeners produced by industry.

Tea is brewed with boiling water, it is best when the water is boiling.

Neither water that has boiled over nor the water whose boiling was stopped at the beginning of the third stage is suitable for brewing tea. For some types of it, specially unboiled water is used at a temperature of 50–60°C. In the vast majority of cases, brewing tea requires water in the middle of the boiling process.

Tea in various countries prepared differently.

Japanese way of making tea

In Japan they drink green and partly yellow tea. Yellow tea brewed in Chinese classical way- directly into the cup, with an exposure of 1.5–2 minutes. As for green teas, in most cases, before brewing, they are first ground into powder in special porcelain mortars, and then poured with boiling water in porcelain, pre-warmed spherical teapots with a capacity of 0.5–1 liters. Dry kettles are heated in special braziers in a stream of hot air or in buckets of hot water and the entire surface (not just the bottom) is heated evenly to a temperature above 50°C, but not above 60°C. Therefore, the handles of Japanese teapots are either made entirely of bamboo or braided with reeds so as not to get burned. The average dosage is a teaspoon of tea powder per 200 g of water, sometimes a little more.

English way of making tea

The British drink tea with milk or cream. Preheat the dry kettle. Then tea is poured into it at the rate of a teaspoon per cup of water and a teaspoon per teapot. The kettle is immediately filled with boiling water (twice) and left to steep for 5 minutes. While the tea is steeping, milk is poured into very hot cups - from 1/6 to 1/4 cup (to taste) and then tea is poured into the milk. Moreover, the British strictly follow the rule of pouring tea into milk, and in no case vice versa. It has been observed that adding milk to tea spoils the aroma and taste of the drink, and such a mistake is considered in England as ignorance. They drink tea at strictly defined hours: in the morning at breakfast, during lunch (13.00) and in Fife-o-Clock, that is, at afternoon tea (17.00). The British drink exclusively strong tea and they drink little water: firstly, each time they drink no more than two cups of tea, and secondly, this amount of liquid consists of 20–30% milk.

Indian way of making tea

In India, especially in cities, they drink tea in English, with milk, but national drink considered so-called iced tea. It is prepared as follows. Place three teaspoons per 300–350 ml of water the best tea which is brewed in the usual way within 5 min. Then a 0.5 liter glass is filled with several ice cubes and all the tea from the kettle is poured. To this tea add sugar and lemon, cut into slices, about half the fruit, and sometimes the juice of the whole fruit, which is squeezed directly into a glass. The tea is covered with a napkin and cooled for about 3-4 minutes, then drunk in very small sips.

Mongolian way of making tea

This is one of the oldest ways of brewing tea. It is widespread from the Gobi Desert to the Nogai steppes between the Volga and Don rivers. The main ingredients for preparing tea using this method are green brick tea, milk, butter, flour and salt. Depending on the national composition of the population of the area where Mongolian tea is consumed, all its elements, except brick tea, may vary. Thus, milk can be cow, goat, sheep, mare, camel, and can also be partially or completely replaced with kumis; oil may sometimes be completely absent or replaced and supplemented with lard (beef, lamb); flour can be wheat, barley, rye and is supplemented with rice, millet (gaoliang). Sometimes, along with salt, black peppercorns (bitter) are added to tea at the rate of one grain per glass. Mongolians first grind brick tea into powder and pour 1–3 tablespoons of this powder into 1 liter of cold water.

As soon as the water boils, add 0.25–0.5 liters of cow, sheep or camel milk, a tablespoon of melted yak butter (shartos), camel or cow butter, as well as 50–100 g of flour pre-fried with butter (zatirukhi). ) and half or a quarter cup of any cereal (rice, millet). Bring all this again to a boil and readiness, adding salt to taste. If cereal is not added, then very little salt is added.

Russian way of making tea

The porcelain teapot is rinsed with boiling water, tea is placed in it and 1/3 is also filled with boiling water. After 3–5 minutes, the kettle is topped up. Russian tea can be drunk and recommended to restaurant visitors with honey, jam, sugar, milk or cream, lemon and other fruits, bagels, rolls, pies, gingerbread, etc.

It is best to drink tea from porcelain dishes, which should not only be clean and free of foreign odors, but also dry. You should not pour tea into the cup to the top - you should try to leave at least 1.5 cm of space free from liquid to the edges.

You can drink the tea quite hot, but not get burned. Sips should be small, and it is better not to swallow immediately, but to hold the tea a little in the front of the mouth and even rub your tongue on the palate and upper gum, savoring the drink. This will not only help you taste it, but will also prevent too hot liquid from entering your esophagus and stomach.

Tea is served in tea cups or glasses with glass holders. Cup holders should be placed on saucers with a teaspoon.

Serve separately for tea with lump sugar in rosettes and lemon cut into slices. At the visitor's request, hot milk or cream is served with tea in a milk jug.

Serving tea in hotel rooms has some peculiarities. In this case, it is served in two teapots: in a small one - brewed tea, in a large one - boiling water.

Chocolate and cocoa are served in cups and saucers.

Usually served with hot drinks confectionery: various cakes, pastries, muffins, cookies in vases or on dessert plates.

Greetings, friends!

Today I’ll tell you about the basic rules of waiter service. As in any other profession, for a waiter there is a certain list of rules that must be followed.

Waiter service rules

There are very few “iron rules” in the work of a waiter that must be followed 100% under any conditions. Quite often in our work we are faced with the fact that in each specific situation we sometimes have to deviate from the rules. The main thing is to take care of the guests you serve and do everything so that they are comfortable and do not interfere with their communication.

Dirty dishes should be removed from the left side of the guest, and a new dish should be served on the right.

A good rule, fundamental, but not always feasible)) Often the tables in the hall or at a banquet are located in such a way that it is impossible to approach the guest from the left side. He can communicate with the interlocutor sitting on the left, in which case the dishes can be replaced on the right.

Remember that the convenience of visitors and their safety are a priority over all kinds of rules. If it is more convenient and safer to serve the hot first course on the left, then do so. After all, if you accidentally or through the fault of a guest fill his suit with sauce or fat, then he will absolutely not care which side you tried to serve the hot dish from: left or right, right?

Drinks are poured by approaching the guest from the right, using the right hand

Everything is clear with this rule, since wine glasses are placed on the right hand when serving, it is convenient to pour drinks on the right side.

Quite often at banquets, after drinking a glass, guests place it on the left side, in which case you can pour it for the guest sitting on the left and right from the same place.

You can do this as an exception, when the waiter serving the opposite side of the table has moved away, or is changing plates, serving hot food, and the guest urgently needs a drink, there are such cases)) But it would be correct if you go around the table and fill the wine glass correctly, on the right sides.

All cutlery should be grasped by the handles and not by the “working” surface

This is an “iron rule”, unlike those listed above, and is easy to implement. To do this, from the very beginning of working as a waiter, you need to remember this logically justified rule. The surface of the cutlery that touches the food must be perfectly clean and you cannot touch it with your hands, only with a napkin or table linen.

If, before serving cutlery to a guest, you accidentally dropped it or grabbed it with your hand on the “working” surface, or, worse, dropped it on the floor, be sure to put these cutlery in the sink and serve new ones. You don’t need to think that no one saw this; it’s better to go to the utility table or service room for a new fork or knife.

Glasses are taken by the stems, and not by the edges, which the client touches with his lips

When polishing glasses, you can only touch the stem. The entire top part of the wine glasses is in a table towel, which you rub with it. You also need to place the glass on the tray, touching it only by the stems; if there is no stem (this is quite rare), then take such a glass as low to the bottom as possible.

When setting the table before work or replacing wine glasses during service, the glass should be removed from the table only by the stem and a new one should be served in the same way. If it so happens that you accidentally took the wine glass by the top of the glass, then be sure to take a napkin or clean towel and wipe it before serving.

Quite often in restaurants there are guests who can hold an empty wine glass up to the light and notice fingerprints or dirt there, something that will be unpleasant for them, to put it mildly

So make sure the glass you serve is clean.

To fill a glass, it must not be taken from the table

Hold plate correctly before serving

When serving food, the plate should be held as follows: four fingers are under the plate, and the first (thumb) finger rises slightly above its edge. Do not touch the inside of the plate!

This is very important rule, as with cutlery, there is no need to touch the inner surface of the plate on which the snack is served. Sometimes, before serving portioned appetizers at a banquet, some waiters manage to carry 3-4 plates in each hand)) This is good from a productivity point of view, but not very good for hygienic reasons.

This rule also applies when setting the table, if you carry a stack of plates, then only by their outer part or edges.

Any waiter should know and strictly adhere to them. Of course, some may have their own opinions about customer service rules. Minor technical errors in maintenance are not that important. A much more significant point is the general atmosphere of the establishment and the attitude of the staff towards restaurant guests. And the “beauty of the movements” of the waiter is sometimes not noticed by people - so there is nothing to worry about if the waiter suddenly approaches the client from the wrong side. Warm, humane service always compensates for minor technical shortcomings in the work of waiters.

That's all I wanted to tell you in this note. Now you know in theory the basic rules for a waiter, use them in practice. There are many more tricks and secrets in the work, but I will tell you about this in the following articles.

With respect, Nicholai

Notes on the topic:

Since 1996, he has gained vast experience working as a waiter, bartender, and administrator in cafes, nightclubs and restaurants. I have experience working at banquets, buffets, outdoor events, I know many colleagues in the catering industry, and I am the author of a video course for waiters.

Discussion: 4 comments

To fill a glass, it must not be taken from the table

Fill glasses standing directly on the table. I think no special explanation is required to understand the meaning of this rule.

If you are uncomfortable pouring a drink into a guest's glass, you can ask him or her to move the glass a little to the right or left so that you can fill it without spilling the drink past the glass.
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As a guest, it is no longer convenient for me when the waiter asks me to move, bring, etc. This is not service, not maintenance.

Answer

Perhaps the guest is too lazy to move a knife and fork, but this is how the world works: to eat food you need to cut it and then chew it, no matter how difficult it is))
Although you can simply not eat or drink anything at the table, since you are too lazy to move your hand and cutlery.