Beverage Preparation and Service
Hot beverages
Coffee: arabica is aromatic and mild, robusta stronger and more bitter. Grind size matches the brew method - fine for espresso, medium for filter, coarse for cafetière. Water should be about 90–96 °C for brewing, never boiling, which scalds the grounds. Espresso uses about 7 g per single shot, 18–20 g for a modern double, at 9 bar with a 25–30 second extraction. Tea: water at 70–80 °C for green, about 95–100 °C for black; steep 2–5 minutes; do not over-steep or it turns bitter.
Cold beverages and mocktails
Balance sweet, sour, bitter and dilution. Shaking with ice chills and dilutes; stirring is gentler for clear drinks. Build in the glass for fizzy mixtures. Garnishes must be fresh and handled with tongs.
Service standards
Serve from the right of the guest, place the cup handle to the right, and pour coffee or tea at the table where possible. Hold glasses by the stem or base, never the rim. Check the beverage is at the correct temperature and the glass is polished and undamaged.
Responsible service
Know the legal drinking age in your jurisdiction, recognise signs of intoxication, offer water and food, and refuse service politely. Never serve someone already intoxicated. Record incidents.
Worked example
A guest orders a filter coffee. Use a medium grind, water at 92–94 °C, a ratio of roughly 60 g coffee per litre of water, and brew for 4–5 minutes in a cafetière before pressing. Serving it at 65–70 °C is comfortable for the guest.
Traps
Confusing arabica and robusta; using boiling water for green tea; holding glasses by the rim; forgetting that shaking both chills and dilutes.
Food and Beverage Service Operations
Service styles
Table service includes silver, plate, family, English, French and Russian styles. Plate service is the most common in restaurants: food is plated in the kitchen and carried to the guest. Silver service presents food on a platter and serves from the guest's left with the right hand. Gueridon service is done at a trolley at the table. Buffet and counter service are self-service variants. Room service and banqueting follow their own timing rules.
The sequence of service
Welcome and seat, present the menu, take the order (repeat it back), serve beverages, serve food from the correct side, clear between courses, offer dessert, present the bill, and farewell. Serve food and beverages from the right, clear from the right (in the modern convention; older texts say clear from the right and serve from the left - always state your convention). Serve women and then guests in order, or follow the host's lead.
Table setting and covers
A basic cover includes a dinner plate, side plate, cutlery in order of use from outside in, a glass above the knife, and a napkin. Cutlery is placed about 2.5 cm from the table edge. Glasses sit above and to the right of the knife.
Reservation and POS systems
Know how to take a booking (name, time, party size, contact, special requests), manage a waitlist, and use a point-of-sale system to record orders and process payment. Upselling and suggestive selling improve revenue without pressure.
Worked example
A party of four arrives without a booking. Check availability, offer a table or a wait time, seat them, present menus, and take drink orders first. Record any allergy declared at the table and pass it to the kitchen immediately.
Traps
Mixing silver service with plate service; serving from the wrong side; forgetting to repeat the order; ignoring allergy declarations.
Costing, Portion Control and Waste Management
Costing building blocks
Food cost is the cost of ingredients in a dish. Food cost percentage = (food cost ÷ selling price) × 100. A target of 28–35% is typical in many operations, but quote the target your course uses. Gross profit = selling price − food cost. GP percentage = (gross profit ÷ selling price) × 100. Mark-up is the percentage added to cost to set the price; it is not the same as GP percentage. This is the most common exam trap.
Portion control
Standard portion sizes, scoops, ladles, scales and portioning charts keep costs predictable and guests satisfied. Over-portioning by 10% can wipe out a thin margin. Yield testing tells you the edible portion from an as-purchased item, and the portion cost = total recipe cost ÷ number of portions.
Recipe costing
Cost each ingredient as purchased quantity × unit price, then sum, then divide by portions. Include trim loss. Add a wastage allowance of a few percent for real kitchens.
Waste management
The waste hierarchy is prevent, reduce, reuse (safely), recycle, recover, dispose. Track waste daily, use FIFO, menu-engineer slow sellers, and use trim in stocks or staff meals where safe. Record waste so it can be analysed.
Worked example
A dish costs 4.20 in ingredients and sells for 14.00. Food cost % = 4.20 ÷ 14.00 × 100 = 30%. Gross profit = 14.00 − 4.20 = 9.80; GP% = 9.80 ÷ 14.00 × 100 = 70%. Mark-up on cost = 9.80 ÷ 4.20 × 100 = 233% - very different from 70%, which is why the two must never be confused.
Traps
Confusing mark-up with GP%; forgetting trim loss; ignoring wastage in costing; pricing by competitors alone without checking cost.
Workplace Safety and Professional Conduct
Accident prevention
The main kitchen hazards are slips, trips and falls (wet floors, trailing cables, clutter), cuts (knives, slicers, broken glass), burns and scalds (hot pans, oil, steam, water), manual handling injuries and electrical and chemical hazards. Control measures: non-slip footwear, immediate spill cleaning with a wet-floor sign, safe knife carrying (point down, blade back), pan handles turned inward, and dry cloths for hot pans.
Fire safety
Know the fire classes and extinguishers. Class A solids (water, foam, dry powder), Class B flammable liquids (foam, CO₂, dry powder), Class C gases, Class F cooking oils and fats (wet chemical). Never use water on an oil fire. Turn off the heat, cover with a fire blanket or use a wet chemical extinguisher, and raise the alarm. Know the evacuation route and assembly point.
Manual handling and chemicals
Lift with the legs, keep the load close, do not twist, and get help for heavy loads. Chemicals must be stored in original labelled containers, away from food, and never decanted into drinks bottles. Know the safety data sheet (SDS) location and the meaning of hazard symbols.
First aid and reporting
Know the location of the first-aid kit and trained first-aiders. Report every accident and near miss in the accident book. Burns are cooled under running water for at least 20 minutes; do not apply butter or ice.
Professional conduct
Punctuality, clean uniform, personal hygiene, respect for colleagues, honesty, confidentiality and teamwork. Bullying and harassment are unacceptable and should be reported.
Worked example
A pan of hot oil ignites. Do not move it or throw water. Turn off the heat if safe, smother with a fire blanket or wet chemical extinguisher, raise the alarm and evacuate if it spreads.
Traps
Using water on fat fires; storing chemicals in unlabelled bottles; failing to report near misses.