Food and Beverage Service and Production
This domain tests menu and service terminology, the service sequence, and cost control in the kitchen and restaurant.
Service styles and menus
Table d'hôte is a fixed multi-course menu at a fixed price with limited choice. À la carte means each dish is separately priced and cooked to order. Others: buffet, thali, du jour, cycle menu. Service styles: French/silver (platter presented, served from the left with fork and spoon), Russian (platter presented, plated at the sideboard), American/plate (pre-plated, served from the right), English/family (dishes placed on the table), butler, gueridon, buffet.
Brigades and covers
Kitchen brigade: executive chef → sous chef → chef de partie → commis. Service brigade: restaurant manager → maître d'hôtel → captain → waiter → bus boy. A cover is one guest seated, that is one place setting; 60 covers means 60 guests.
Production basics
Moist heat: boiling, poaching, steaming, stewing, braising. Dry heat: roasting, grilling, baking, frying, tandoor. Mise en place means everything is prepared before service. Keep food out of the 5–60 °C danger zone, follow FIFO, cook to core temperature, cool quickly, and follow FSSAI and HACCP controls.
Worked example
A guest orders tomato soup, paneer butter masala with roti and gulab jamun from the à la carte menu; the bill is the sum of the individually priced dishes. If the same restaurant offers a ₹350 unlimited thali instead, the guest pays ₹350 whatever is eaten. Food cost percentage: ingredients cost ₹150 on a ₹500 dish means 30% food cost. Reasoning: à la carte gives choice to the guest, table d'hôte gives planning to the kitchen.
Traps
Calling a thali à la carte; saying silver service is pre-plated; reversing the left/right service rules; confusing cover with plate; computing food cost percentage on cost instead of selling price.