The service of food does not merely mean correctly placing the crockery, cutlery, linen, glassware and serving the food on table, it is indeed an art and is concerned more about creating a relationship with the guests, providing them complete information about a dish prior to its tasting, making a cuisine fascinating by narrating its history and, eventually, generating revenue through guest satisfaction.
The olden days saw restaurants which laid tremendous stress exclusively on the quality and the authenticity of food and were not too much concerned about the décor, the ambience of the outlet. Having said so, they did everything possible to make sure that the guest had a wonderful experience, made sure to see him go back happily and expect him to visit again soon. This was main motto of all the restaurants, which it currently also is. The food outlets were renowned, only and only for their delicious food as nothing else was of any great importance. The style of service and décor started then coming in slowly. Due to there being a slow system of distribution, the cuisine of the menu at these restaurants used to be local, or, belonging to the states and regions in the vicinity so that the ingredients could be easily procured. There was no sign of ‘foreign food’ as we can, in the modern days, see in abundance.
Vegetables used to be grown by the restaurateurs, grains used to be crushed and ground by them and they are the ones who also used to grow their own cattle for dairy and for the non-vegetarian dishes. Everything was, therefore as per the best standards that the chef wanted.
The modern day has seen a sea change in the food world. A number of outlets serving food and beverages like restaurants (fine dining, specialty, ethnic, theme etc), QSR, retails, takeaways, catering etc. are available and are rampant in the market as per the clientele, market segment, spending power, competitors, available resources and many more such contributors. Like mentioned above different outlets with different contributors, doing different styles of service is being followed in theses outlets.
Let us take it from basics table service; Silver Service/Platter to Plate/English Service, Pre-Plated Service/American Service, Family Service/French Service, Guéridon Service, Russian Service, Assisted services; Carvery, buffets, self-service; Counter, free flow, echelon, supermarket, Single point service; Takeaways, Drive thru, vending, kiosks, food courts, bar Specialized service; tray, trolley, home delivery, room drive inn, these range from formal, family to casual dining services.
There was a time when dining in a restaurant was considered as an expensive affair which included lavish menus, sophisticated environment, well dressed staff, beautiful crockery, cutlery which not everyone could afford whereas, if we talk about today’s scenario we have options available for everyone and so their different service styles.
The service staff is required to be well versed with the technicalities of food and beverage service, which is a practice mainly followed in upscale restaurants. apart from American/silver/Russian/now we have options of self-service, take-away, drive-through, drive inn where one can simply order and take their food by themselves or in packed form. Technological advancement has taken place globally and hospitality is not an exception, robots are taking place of humans in our industry as well but its success is still unpredictable as it lacks that personalized wow effect.
Due to most of the couples working, the system of home deliveries has started and organisations like Swiggy and Zomato have started delivering food within a stipulated period of time. This aspect of food service would but have been unimaginable in the olden days as the Khansamas – the chefs, would not ever let their food to be served outside the premises of the eating joints. “if you keep the food waiting, you kill the aroma, the texture and the taste” says one of the cooks of the old times.
I the modern times, family dining restaurants offer you fine dining at the height of approx 16 storey building with a bird’s eye view, they follow pre-plated food service. Under water: Brussels, Belgium, the submerged pod of THE PEARL is located in one of the deepest indoor pools in the world, food is served in airtight containers by the expert divers.
This is the modern era. Innovation in restaurant concepts plays a major role in food and beverage style. But after the pandemic, things are more focused on hygiene and safety, gloves are not a new thing in service but their usage now is increased.
The Vatel Hotel & Tourism Business School, at the Sushant University is rated as one of the best hotel management institutes in south of Haryana. The college exposes its students to different styles of cuisines and encourages them to be innovative, pioneering and yet being original. This article has been created by students in consultation with the faculty members and as a result of their own studies and researches.
