Food &Beverage SERVICE AREAS

F&B SERVICE AREAS

ROOM SERVICE

Service of food and beverage to the resident guests at his room is known as room service

Features

1. 24 hrs room service in good hotels

2. Room service is multi cuisine in nature- Except items which need a lot of garnishing is not served at rooms because by the time it reaches the room it won’t be in the proper condition. Even noodles and pastas are not served

3. All meals- The various meals one have in a day are served. E.g.Bed Tea, Afternoon Tea etc.

4. Dearly priced- It is priced more because it is served at the rooms and even lot of effort and equipments are required for the transportation of the food

5. Low turnover- The majority of the resident guests only takes breakfast in their room which is much cheaper. They may have their lunch or dinner outside. Room service depends on the number of resident guests. And even there is no way of promoting room service in a hotel as in restaurants they do by advertising

6. Dispense Bar/ Mini Bar- A bar situated in the back area of a restaurant or in the pantry is known as Dispense Bar. The bar situated in the restaurant is known as American Bar or Cocktail Bar. A small refrigerator inside the room stocked with mineral water bottles, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages is known as mini bar.

7. Ordering through phone- Order taker is one of the most important people in room service. An order taker should be attentive and listen properly to the guest and should repeat the orders

8. Breakfast Door Knob Card- A card which can be hung on the door knob mainly for breakfast. During or at the morning most of the guests order for breakfast and there is less number of order takers so guests can order their breakfast through Breakfast Doorknob Card.

      Room Service Errand Card                                                                     

                                                                                                                             DATE…….

Sl. No.	Room No.	Bill No.	Waiter No.	Time Out	Time In	Sign

STYLES OF ROOM SERVICE OPERATION-

1. CENTRALISED-

Everything is served from the same kitchen starting from the tea to deserts. It may be the room service kitchen or the main kitchen. The main kitchen is a huge area having different departments where food is prepared in bulk mainly for banquet parties. The different sections of the kitchen ex: salad section, continental section, pantry etc.

2. DECENTRALISED ROOM SERVICE OPERATION-

Each floor or every two floor (depending on the size of the hotel) have a small kitchen called a floor pantry. Small orders are taken care by the floor pantry, for ex: tea, coffee, snacks etc. Floor pantry is there along with the centralized kitchen to improve the service frequency or effectiveness of service.

3. MOBILE-

This type of operation is found in resorts. In resorts there are mobile vans which go to the cottages and prepare the food in front of the guests or bring prepared food in it.

4. DUMB WAITER-

Dumb waiter is a specialized elevator for room service. Mainly used in countries which are technically improved and have shortage of man power. They are of 3 types

---one in which there is a waiter standing in the elevator and prepares the food inside the elevator and goes to the room and serves.

---The second one is in which the elevator along with the prepared food opens into the floor pantry and the food is served from the floor pantry to the guests in their rooms

---The third one is found in really technically improved countries in which the elevator along with the prepared food opens into the guest room and the food is directly served to the guests.

RESTAURANT

A restaurant implies service at the table. It may be platter to plate or pre plated. Restaurants are again sub divided into various types:

SPECIALITY RESTAURANT/ THEME / ETHNIC RESTAURANT

Specialty Restaurant- Concentrates on one special cuisine i.e. one particular type of food. Ex - Sea food restaurant.

Theme Restaurant- Where the décor of the restaurant is based on a particular theme.Ex-Theatre restaurant.

Ethnic Restaurant- Refers to a particular race of people.Ex-Chinese restaurant.

Features

1. Open only for lunch and dinner- lunch is from 12pm to 3.30 pm and dinner is from 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm.

2. Special exotic dishes are served

3. Highly Priced Menu-

-- High Investment

-- Business hour is less

-- Platter to plate service

4. Low turnover for covers

5. High average check (A.P.C.) - Highly priced menu and less number of guests so the average check OR the Average Per Cover is high

6. Cover Charge- It is the charge put on a guest for being at the cover or using the cover.

7. Dispense Bar

COFFEE SHOP

Features

1. 24hrs in operation.

2. Multi cuisine- serves more than one cuisine

3. All meals- From morning tea to dinner and even late night service. There are two sets of menu card in a coffee shop- Breakfast menu card and the main menu card with timings (the meals are time specific).

4. Economically priced- The food served in coffee shop is not cheap but compared to other F&B outlets it is economically priced

5. Pre plated service.

6. High turnover.

7. Dispense Bar- family restaurant

A coffee shop generally has 3 shifts

MORNING SHIFT: 6:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

AFTERNOON SHIFT: 2:00 PM TO 10:00 PM

NIGHT SHIFT: 10:00PM TO 6:00AM

Note-Restaurants generally have guest bookings whereas Coffee shops generally do not have guest bookings.

BAR

Features

1. Sells alcoholic beverages, also non- alcoholic beverages and snacks

2. Licensed premises

3. Entry restricted area- On the basis of age and time.

4. Rules vary from state to state

5. Timing is from 11am to 11pm. The last order time is 15mins before closing time. With extended hour service drinks can be served till 2a.m. Liquor are not sold on dry days, ex 15^th august, 26^th January

6. Bar are of 2 types-

ON SHOP- liquor are purchased and consumed on the same premise. Sold as per glass, pegs or bottles.

OFF SHOP- Liquor are purchased and then taken out of the premise and consumed elsewhere. Sold as per bottle

7. Cozy comfortable environment with soothing music and dim lighting. The tables in the bar are round with no edges

8. Service at the table and even at the bar counter

9. Bartender/ Barman- He should be skilled and must possess good communication skill.

PUB (PUBLIC HOUSES)

It is a place to dine with beer. It is an English concept where beer along with authentic English foods are served like steak, shepherd’s pie etc. early days there would be symbols like Bear head or Lion head on top of the entrance gate so that on seeing that people would recognize that that was a PUB.

BANQUET

The origin of the word banquet both is either from the Italian word “Banchetto” or French word “Banquette” and in both the cases it means benches. The concept is to do anything together. Banquet can be termed as a functional catering where we celebrate any occasion together, cater to a large number of people within a specific time. Largest Banquet: Hosted by Emile Loubet the famous mayor’s banquet. , 25^th September 1900. 22,295 mayors attended the function, entertained at Tuileres garden in Paris waiters covered a distance of 7 km on bicycle.

Features

1. Highest revenue earning in Food & Beverage

2. Caters to a large number of people at a time – if possible under the same roof

3. Types of Function-

FORMAL GATHERINGS- are among people for some official purpose or any other serious purpose where the guests have to follow many protocols. For example State banquet (when the head of the state calls for any meeting). In such parties there is a head table arranged with odd numbers of chairs so that the chief guest can sit in the middle. Seating arrangements are made according to respective names of the guests and they are escorted to their seats. The food is served at the table.

INFORMAL GATHERINGS- are among friends and relatives where everyone knows each other. The food is served mainly in buffet system.

4. Customized menu and facilities- The food served is multi cuisine. Facilities like microphone needed or hall decoration etc.

5. Outdoor Catering Service

OTHER FOOD & BEVERAGE OUTLETS

1. GRILL ROOM: Basically grilled food items and dishes are served.Generally grilled over fire. People may get the view of food being fired.

2. BARBEQUE: food cooked generally meat items over open charcoal fire. Barbeque is served in open places:-

-Poolside

-Terrace

-Lawns

-Gardens

3. CAKE SHOP: If a hotel has a bakery outlet, they can sell their products from these stalls.

4. VENDING MACHINE: Automatic dispensing machines- aerated beverage, coffee, tea etc. installed in cafeteria, airlines, railways etc.

5. SNACKS BAR: Areas where snacks are served at counter service

6. KIOSK: Stalls opened for specific items like chocolates, soft drinks, books, flowers etc., generally at kerbside, shopping mall, railways, airways etc. A kiosk has three open sides and one closed side.

7. Discotheque: is an entertainment venue or club with recorded music played by Disc jockeys through a PA system, rather than an on-stage band serving alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic beverage along with light food items.