Food and Beverage Service
What is tested
Service styles, cover layout, the sequence of service, beverage service, complaint handling and upselling.
Core rules
- Styles: plate/English (food plated in the kitchen), silver/butler (served from a dish at table), French/guéridon (finished at a side table), Russian (platters presented), buffet, family, cafeteria and room service.
- Cover: forks left, knives right, blade towards the plate; cutlery used outside-in; dessert spoon above the plate; side plate left; glasses above the knife; napkin left or on the plate.
- Sequence: greet, seat, present menu, take order (write and repeat), serve, check back, clear, crumb down, present bill, farewell.
- Serve and clear from the right with the right hand. Serve women first, host last. Clear when all guests have finished.
- Beverage service: chilled white wine, room-temperature red; open away from guests; pour to two-thirds; host tastes first.
Worked example
A guest orders soup, steak and coffee. Lay the soup spoon on the right of the soup bowl; the steak knife and fork are laid after the starter is cleared. Serve the soup from the right, clear from the right when finished, then place the main cutlery outside-in. Coffee cup and saucer go to the right, handle at four o’clock. Reasoning: cutlery follows course order, outside-in, and the service side stays consistent.
Traps
- Laying dessert cutlery with the main course.
- Serving from the left with the right hand.
- Clearing one guest’s plate while others still eat.
- Filling wine to the brim or serving red wine ice-cold.