CORE 1: PREPARE THE DINING ROOM/ RESTAURANT AREA FOR SERVICE

I.INTRODUCTION AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

Food and Beverage Services is one of the fast expanding businesses. To

create and maintain quality service, food outlets need to establish their service
standards and procedures and properly orient their staff on such standards. The
first competency for this unit is preparing the dining or restaurant area for
service. It includes the standards such as food service operations, reservation
process, telephone ethics, preparation of service, equipment, utensils, and
supplies, basic types of tableware, station mis-en-place, legislation of
Occupational Health and Safety, general rules in laying cover or table set-up,
different napkin folding styles, table skirting styles and banquet set-up styles.
To achieve the first competency, the learners must be apply to practice and apply
the establish standard for food and beverages services. How can students
describe the food service operations? How students can understand the concepts
and principles in preparing dining room or restaurant area for service? How can
students apply their knowledge and skills in taking table reservations, preparing
service stations and equipment, table setting, table napkin folding and table
skirting? Why it is important to apply and perform hygiene and sanitation in
handling food and beverage? How students can demonstrate their skills and
knowledge in setting a banquet set-up in a dining area?

LESSON 1: FOOD SERVICE OPERATIONS

Types of Food Service Operations

I. Commercial Enterprises – committed to make profit

A. Restaurant
 It is a commercial establishment committed to the sale of food and
beverage.
 It can be a licensed part of a hotel operation whereby the sales of the
restaurant contributes to the sales performance of the hotel.

Types of Restaurants

1. Coffee Shop – it is a concept borrowed from the United States. Food is pre
plated from the kitchen. The Chefs prepare complete and balanced meals
and arrange them in plate.
- The atmosphere in a coffee shop is informal which means that the
guests can come in casual wear. The restaurant will have lively piped
music. Tables have table mats and table napkins.

2. Specialty Restaurant – The atmosphere in such restaurants is geared to a

particular theme normally related to a regional cuisine.
- Another variant to specialty restaurants are those that concentrate
on a particular food item.
- Specialty restaurants can range from very up- market and exclusive
places to very casual ones.

3. Grill Room or Rotisserie - It specializes itself in grills of different meats,

fish and poultry. The distinguishing feature of this type of restaurant is a
glass partition that separates the kitchen from the seating area so that the
guests can see the grill preparation of their choice.

4. Dining Rooms- found in smaller hotels, motels, inns, clubs, or heritage

hotel. The dining room is usually meant for the residents of the hotel or
members of a club who may bring their guests along
- Dining rooms can change their atmosphere from the casual in the
morning breakfast to formal for lunch and dinner. Dining rooms
specialize in a good buffet spreads or a choice of two table d’ hote
menus.
5. Discotheque – a restaurant meant for dancing to recorded music. The
music is driven by a qualified disc jockey (DJ) who creates or responds to
the moods of the guests. Special lighting and a dance floor are essential to
the discotheque.

6. Night Clubs – It is principally open at night for dinner, dance and live
entertainment.

7. Food Bars - This is a collective name to cover informal snack bars, milk
bars, kiosks, frozen yoghurt stands, theatre counters, etc. a food bar is a
counter at which people eat food. Basically, these food bars have
refrigerated or heated glass counters displaying their wares.

8. Fast Food Restaurant – give ready- to – serve foods at reasonable rates.

The guest pays cash and carries the food instantly. Such restaurants can
operate in limited space and have small kitchens to finish food that is semi
prepared elsewhere in central kitchens. The essential features are standard
preparations, standard portion sizes, standard décor , friendly waiters and
brightly colored interiors.

9. Casual Dining – it is anew classification of restaurant where delectable pre

plated meals are served in an informal atmosphere, yet formal in
presentation. The chairs and tables, lighting and artefacts are off beat yet
selective. These restaurants have built their expertise to an extent that
they are now in a position to franchise their operations and have done so
with great success worldwide.

10. Food Courts – is a variant to fast food operations brought about by

the emergence of mega malls. Food court is a dedicated place for eating
where several fast food franchises can hire food booths and set up their
 operations. Shoppers now have a choice of cuisines under one roof. The
seating is common for all booths. A customer reads a menu board outside
the booth and pays for the choice to the cashier in the booth who
announces the dish and supplies the food within fifteen minutes.

11. Cafes - are casual restaurants in commercial and entertainment

districts. Café’ means “coffee” in French and cafes were opened in response
to the popular Coffee Houses of London. They are meant to serve only
coffee or tea initially; however, they have included house wines and limited
snack menu.

12. Bars – are where liquor is sold and consumed. In Europe, they are
called Inns: while in UK they are called pubs and taverns. Bars have to be
licensed to serve liquor as they have to follow strict laws and rules like
closing time, serving underage persons, observing dry trays, etc.

I. Institutional Enterprises –It is an operation that serves food in huge

quantities to institutions like schools, hospitals, pension homes etc.

1. Industrial Catering – refers to food programs in factories and corporate

houses.

2. Hospitals – The main focus of these food programs is to provide diet foods
supervised by qualified dieticians to patients who actively seek alternative
sources of food. Food comes to the hospital beds. Hospitals also have large
cafeterias on a paying basis for their staff and the visitors of patients.
3. School Food programs – are popular in full day school schedules and
boarding schools. Food is nutritious and planned by providing national
subsidies.

4. Military Catering – covers the entire armed forces and paramilitary forces.

5. Airline Catering – may be classified into flight catering and airport

catering.
A. Flight Catering – is specialized food program for passengers on board
planes
B. Airport Catering – involves food outlets that are self – service, waiter
service, vending machines and licensed bars. They may be run by the
airport authority or by outsource catering establishments

6. Ship Catering - is almost like catering in a hotel. The challenge in cruise

liners is the ability of stocking and storing the right quantity of provisions
and raw materials between ports. The standard of catering is high as it is
part of the sales package.

7. Theme Parks and Resorts – offer a great opportunity for food catering
programs. Such opportunities may come in a wide variety of facilities from
restaurants, mobile vans, vending machines, kiosks, and dining room.

8. Railway Catering – is a large and challenging food program. They may be

classified into railway terminal catering and in transit service.

9. Prison Catering - is another challenge as inmates have to be fed nutritious

and wholesome food as to avoid the spread of disease.
10. Outside Catering – is a popular service of food and beverages at a specific
time and place, for guaranteed number of people, to an agreed menu price.
Catering of this nature is provided at social functions like weddings,
dances, etc. conferences, and conventions; training workshop, etc.