Food and Beverage Service and Production Basics
What the domain tests
This domain tests basic food and beverage service styles, menu and cover terminology, table service sequence, and production controls such as kitchen brigade, mother sauces and food cost.
Core rules and concepts
- Table d'hôte is a fixed multi-course meal at a set price; à la carte prices each dish separately. A cover is one guest to be served; a seat is physical capacity.
- Service styles: French (silver, food presented and served from the left), Russian (plated in the kitchen and served from the right), American (plated), English (family or butler) and buffet.
- Mise en place means preparation before service; mise en scène is the visual set-up. Standard sequence: greet, seat, present menu, take order, serve water and bread, serve courses, clear, present bill, farewell.
- Kitchen brigade: executive chef, sous chef, chef de partie, commis. The five mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato.
- HACCP identifies food safety hazards; the danger zone is roughly 5–60°C.
Worked example
A restaurant serves 60 covers at an average spend of ₹450, giving revenue of ₹27,000. Target food cost is 30%, so target food cost = ₹8,100. Actual food cost is ₹9,000, so food-cost percentage = 9,000 ÷ 27,000 × 100 = 33.3%. Reasoning: the variance is 3.3 percentage points; possible causes are over-portioning, waste, pilferage or supplier price rises. The manager should check standard recipes and portion control before raising menu prices.
Traps that cost marks
Do not use cover to mean a chair. Do not call hollandaise a brown sauce; it is an emulsion. Do not serve food from the wrong side without knowing the style. Do not store high-risk food in the danger zone. Do not calculate food cost as a percentage of profit; it is a percentage of sales.