Special Terms. 8. Make a presentation on the topics below and answer the questions of the audience:8. Make a presentation on the topics below and answer the questions of the audience: 1. NATO's role and tasks today. 2. Should Russia join NATO? UNIT 5 THE RESTAURANT AREA STRUCTURE Part 1 THE DINING ROOM Special Terms Front of the House: Those areas in a restaurant or hotel which the customer sees. Back of the House: The kitchen, service, storage, and other areas in a restaurant or hotel which the customer does not see.
Turnover: The number of people served in one meal period divided by the number of available seats. Serving Stand: A small stand on which trays and platters from the kitchen can be placed before and after serving food. Deuces: Tables that seat two customers. Banquette: A long, fixed seat along one wall of a restaurant. French, Russian, American Service: Different styles of table service; French is the most elaborate, American the simplest. Station: The number of tables or area served by one waiter or waitress. Headwaiter, Captain, Hostess: The restaurant employee who welcomes and seats guests; often called maitre d'hotel or maitre d. Tip: An amount of money, usually a fixed percentage of the bill, given by the customer to the waiter or waitress; sometimes called a gratuity. Service Charge: A percentage of the bill added in some countries for tips to the staff. Cover: The eating utensils set for each diner. Dining areas in the accommodations and foodservice industries include the front ofthe house, which the customer sees, and the back of the house, which only the staff sees. In a restaurant, the back of the house is comprised of the kitchen, storage, and office areas; in the front of the house are the dining room, waiting areas, and lounges. The front of the house gives the customer a first impression of the restaurant and is therefore of critical importance as a merchandising factor. Utilitarian furnishings with easy-to-clean plastics probably indicate a fast food operation or luncheonette; plain, modern decor often goes with a family-style restaurant. Design around a national motif usually indicates a speciality restaurant while more luxurious surroundings are intended to suggest gourmet food. The owner or manager of a restaurant must not only consider how the dining room looks but also how much business it should yield. There is a limited amount of space available from which to obtain as much income as possible by the arrangement of tables, the space for each customer, the rate of turnover,and the average amount of the checks. In all these matters, the public image of the restaurant and the kinds of customers attracted must be kept in mind. One of the most important considerations is the space provided for each guest. In American restaurants, twelve square feet per person is the average; some restaurants allow only ten square feet which is considered crowded, but others give fifteen square feet which is spacious. Enough space for the staff to work safely and effectively is crucial; many restaurants also allot space for serving stands. The turnover in a restaurant depends on the length of time the average customer occupies a place at a table. It varies according to the kind of restaurant, from a few minutes at a fast food establishment to two hours or more at a luxury restaurant. In some places there can be a turnover of as many as three or four persons per seat during a serving {breakfast, lunch, or dinner), though a more usualrate would be two per seat. There is a formula based on these figures that can help the owner or manager arrive at an estimated income for a serving period:
Number of Seats x Average Check x Turnover 90 x $5 x 2 = $900
Another factor the owner or manager must decide on is the kind of table service. The three most frequently used styles are called French. Russian, and American. French is the most elaborate, often with two people serving each station. One takes drink and food orders from the guests, and the other takes the order to the kitchen and returns with the food on platters; the first one then serves with the assistance of the second. In French service there is often a final preparation—flaming a dish or serving a sauce—that takes place in the dining room, frequently with great show. The service is from the right with the right hand. Russian service is simpler than French since it requires only one person to take the order and serve the food. The food is brought from the kitchen on platters and set on a serving stand. The waiter or waitress than places plates before the guests from the right side and serves each guest from the left. French service is found only in the most luxurious and expensive restaurants; Russian service is used in some hotel, specialty, and less expensive restaurants. American service is faster than Russian: one person takes the order and does the serving. The food is placed on plates—not platters—in the kitchen and is carried to a serving stand in the dining room. The plates are then served from the guest's left with the left hand, while beverages are served from the guest's right with the right hand. In addition to the waiters and waitresses, the personnel in the front of the house includes headwaiters or hostesses, bussers and cashiers. Not all restaurants employ all these people. In lower-priced places the waiters and waitresses may set tables and clear them, without bussers. The job of the headwaiter or hostess is to welcome and seat the guests when they arrive and to arrange reservations in restaurants that accept them. In many cases, the headwaiter or hostess also takes drink orders from the guests after they have been seated. Their most important job is to supervise the work of all personnel in the dining room so that everything runs smoothly and in accordance with the standards of the restaurant. The headwaiter or hostess sets the tone for the entire establishment. They usually thank the patrons when they leave; they should extend the same degree of courtesy to new patrons as to regular guests. The headwaiter is also known as the captain or colloquially as the mattre d'—short for the French maitre d'hdtel. Waiters and waitresses also play an important part in the total merchandising effort because they have more contact with the customers than any other restaurant employee. They must be attentive to the wants and needs of the guests, and they can explain items on the menu that are unfamiliar or make recommendations about dishes. In Europe many waiters in luxury or tourist establishments receive training in restaurant schools and then go through an apprenticeship. In the United States the training is usually given on the job, which often results in a period of awkwardness before they have mastered their work. On-the-job training can be supplemented in some locations by short courses offered by restaurant and hotel associations. Large hotel chains which operate restaurants inside and outside the United States have training courses for inexperienced workers. The rapid expansion of the restaurant business has meant that there arc no longer enough well-trained, experienced waiters and waitresses to meet the demand. Those who do have a good background, special skills, and personality can expect to make a good living. One of the inducements for becoming a waiter or waitress is the extra income from tips. In some countries the tip is added to the bill as a ten or fifteen percent service charge but in the United States the tip is usually at the discretion of the customer. It may vary from ten to twenty percent of the check, with the higher figure not uncommon in luxury restaurants: the term gratuity is occasionally used to mean tip. Another group of dining room employees consists of the bus-boys or busgirls. Their duties include removing extra covers after guests have been seated, pouring water, and serving bread and butter. They are the employees who remove soiled dishes when the guests have finished eating. Some restaurants provide carts for the bussers to use in removing the dishes. In some- restaurants, the bussers serve non-alcoholic beverages to the guests. When theyleave, the bussers are responsible for resetting the table. Some bussers are getting experience in restaurant work in order to become waiters or to qualify for other foodservice jobs. They are paid low wages, but in some restaurants tips are pooled so that the bussers receive a share. Chances for the success of the restaurant will increase if the dining room staff shows the kind of teamwork that makes service unobtrusive, efficient, and courteous. The quality of the service is nearly as important as that of the food in determining a customer's return.
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