How to Serve Food in the Most Correct Way?

As the number of guests increases, the confusion about food service increases. It is important to make a correct plan at the beginning so that the service does not get interrupted. Otherwise, the person who prepares the food cannot sit down and cannot spend time with their guests at the table. If you want to prepare a table that appeals to the eye and serve your meals without any problems, you can take a look at the details we have listed to learn how to serve food in the most correct way. In this way, you can take strength from the aspects you realize you are doing right and improve the deficiencies.

Direction of Food Service

The direction of the food service, which is always one of the confusing issues, allows you to manage the food better. In restaurants, this issue may vary depending on the concept of the venue. If you are wondering from which side the food is served, there are two different options at the beginning. If you are the host and you will be serving the food, you should start the service from the person to the right of your own chair. However, if you are hosting a large group of guests and want everything to be perfect, you can get help from a relative or hire a waiter for the service. In this way, you can prevent confusion and ensure that the food service is much more fluid. Apart from the host, the person who will serve should also start the service from the chair to the right of the host. In this way, the host is served last. The food placed on the plate is placed on the table from the left of the person being served. Dirty plates are taken from the right and the service flow is ensured in an orderly manner.

Soup Service

The first course at dinner parties is usually soup. For those wondering how to start a dinner service, we have an article on Jumbo Blog called Cutlery Arrangement on Our Invitation Tables. After making sure that the cutlery arrangement is correct, you should not forget the glass arrangement. You need to put two glasses on the table for all your guests. One of them is for water and the other is for the drinks that will accompany your meal. It is important to distribute the water and bread equally on the table before serving the soup. The purpose of serving the water first is to prevent someone from choking while drinking the soup. In such cases, having a bottle of water ready at the guest's hand allows the situation to be resolved quickly. When serving the soup, you can wait for everyone to sit at the table and open their napkins. In this way, you will prevent the soup from cooling down quickly. If you wish, you can first place the flat plates and serve the soup bowls after the guests sit at the table. You can also be careful not to fill the bowls completely at this stage. Half-filled bowls both prevent the guests from getting full quickly and reduce the risk of spillage during service.

Main Meal Service

The second place in the service of the meal groups belongs to the main course. After the soup is drunk, the spoons are collected in the bowl and collected from the right of the guest. When collecting the dirty plates during service, you should definitely consider the sensitivities of your guest. For this reason, you can be careful not to pile the dirty plates on top of each other in front of the person eating. It is also useful to check the water and bread conditions before serving the meal. Unless someone specifically requests otherwise, you should take care to serve everyone the same food. In this way, you can both ensure that the food is enough for your guests and prevent any misunderstandings that may arise.

Dessert Service

When all the delicious dishes are finished and it is time for dessert, there are some service stages. The cleaning stage is also included in how to serve food. First of all, after removing the salt and pepper shakers from the table, the salad and dinner plates should also be removed from the table for dessert service. At this point, the crumbs on the table should be collected with a dustpan using small brushes used to clean the table, if any, or with a napkin on a plate. The table, which generally looks clean, is ready for dessert service at this point. Since the dessert fork and spoon are placed on top of the plate in the dinner service cutlery arrangement, you do not need to open an external service. All you need to do is bring the dessert plates and present them to your guests. If fruit is to be eaten instead of dessert, it should be placed in the middle of the table in a large plate. In this way, your guests can put as much fruit as they will eat on their plates and serve themselves.

General Service Ethics

The manners you display at the table are also a part of the dinner table service order. For this reason, we can list some of the rules you should pay attention to as a courtesy:

When preparing and serving the daily menu, you should not choose dishes that will put your guests in a difficult situation. There may be dishes that people cannot eat due to special reasons, illness or religious beliefs. Asking for such dishes at the beginning and removing them from the menu or preparing a special alternative for that person are among the options you can choose.
In terms of hospitality, the host must definitely serve the best part of the meal to the other person. If a different person is serving, the host must be informed about this.
You may have spent a lot of time making delicious meals or you may want your guests to be well fed. However, it is important that you do not insist more than three times when offering treats.
Although the order of serving food starts from the right of the host, on a day when important guests are being hosted, you should serve the first course to the guest of honor.
It is also beneficial to stay away from hot, spicy and garlicky foods that may put your guests in a difficult situation.

Different Service Types in World Cuisine

Service types are basically divided into four different groups. Restaurants usually choose one of these four different methods when deciding on the way to serve food. Let's take a closer look at these types, which are named after four different nations: British, French, Russian and American.

American Service

American Service, which is one of the most preferred service types in our country, is basically known as plate service. In this service type, which is frequently encountered in the casual dining concept, the entire plate comes to the table ready. The food plate, decorated with sauces and garnishes in the kitchen, is served directly to the table. The staff serving the food only focuses on serving drinks, and does not need to make any different preparations for plate service.

French Service

The French Service, which goes beyond the service definition we are accustomed to, is called “Service a la Française” in French. In this service method, certain ingredients are cooked in advance, but the plating process is done at the station called “Gueridon”. In order for the service person to be able to plate the food at this station, which is placed next to the table, they also need to undergo special training. The meals listed as starters, appetizers, main courses and desserts are served in an extremely stylish manner.

British Service

English Service, also known as Family Service, has the appearance of a crowded table. In this type of service, all the products are placed on the table and the people eating serve themselves. After completing their own service, they pass the food to the people next to them. In this way, everyone serves themselves. The service staff checks if there is anything missing after bringing the food.

Russian Service

Russian Service, which is very similar to French Service in terms of system, differs in terms of the products used. Foods plated at a station called Gueridon are served on silver plates. Offering a very stylish and elegant appearance, this service model stands out with its silverware.

All of these food service tips we have listed will make it easier for you to host your guests. You can also determine your own service plan according to the number of guests and the menu situation and host your guests perfectly. If you liked our article, you can also check out our article titled What You Need to Know About Breakfast Table Presentation.

How to Serve Food?