What is a RESTAURANT

A Restaurant is a commercial establishment committed to the sale of food and beverage. A Restaurant may be part of a Hotel operation, whereby the sales of the Restaurant contribute to the sales of the performance of the hotel as a whole, Restaurant may also be independent business entities under individual ownership and management.  Basically, Restaurants provide tables and chairs for people to sit and eat food prepared by an attached kitchen. They are equipped with crockery, Cutlery and linen which may vary in quality according to the standard of the Restaurant, which is determined by its decor, independent bar, Entertainment facilities and above all the quality of service.

TYPES OF RESTAURANTS

THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESTAURANTS:

Coffee Shop:

A concept borrowed from the limited states, Distinguished by its quick service food is pre plated and the atmosphere informal table cover layouts are less elaborate and have basic essentials only.

Continental Restaurant:

The atmosphere is more sophisticated and caters for people who can eat at leisure. The accent is on good continental food and elaborate service.

Specialty Restaurant:

The entire atmosphere and décor are geared to a particular type of food or theme thus restaurants which offer Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Polynesian cuisine would be termed specially Restaurant

The service

The service is based more or less on the style of the country from which the particular cuisine originates.

Grill room (Rotisserie)

Various meat cuts are grilled or roast here. Normally, a grill room has a glass partition between the restaurant and the kitchen, so that the guest can choose his meat cut and see the actual preparation.

Dining Room

Found in smaller hotel, motels or inns who find it uneconomical to have more than one eating place. The dining room is basically meant for the residents of the hotel but may be open to nonresidents also.

Snack Bar/Cafe Milk bar

Here the restaurant is informal and the service quick. The snack bar may a counter for self service and specialize in snacks, soda fountain specialties, ice – creams etc. the décor is relatively inexpensive.

Scotheque

A restaurant which is principally meant for dancing to recorded music. A live band may also perform. An essential part of a discotheque is a bar while the food offered consists mainly of snacks.

Night Club

It is principally open at night for dinner, dance and cabarets. A dispensing bar is always provided décor is lavish while service is elaborating a live band.

Restaurant Department’s

Kitchen

The kitchen is the place where food is prepared. While larger kitchens may have distinctly different sections to deal with various aspects of food preparation, smaller kitchens may have different functions done by a single person.

The main sections in a large kitchen are:

Bucher Shop:

            Here main meats are cut from whole ale cuts and carcasses in to smaller portions of given weight so that they are ready to be cooked.

Grade Manger:

            The section where cold dishes such as hours d oeuvres, cold meat platters, Salads

Galantines, plates are made

Pantry:

            Source for sandwiches, fruit platters, juices and shakers.

Bakery & Confectionery:

            The section which prepares breads, bred rolls, croissants, brooches, cakes, pastries, muffins, cookies, ice creams.

Hot Range:

            The main cooking range where all hot dishes are prepared.

Grill:

            For all grilled items like steaks, fish , chops, ect.

Vegetable preparation;

            Here all raw vegetables are cut into smaller presentable portions.

Still Room:

            Tea and coffee are brewed here. A still is a chamber in witch water is continuously boiling for tea service a waiter may fill the tea pot with tea leaves according to portions required and fill the pot with boiling water from the still for a quick turnover of tea the still may brew tea continuously, at low temperatures. The same applies to coffee service where ground coffee is brew and instant coffee is placed in coffee pots to which water is added.

Kitchen Stewarding:

This department primarily controls the storage and issue of cutlery, crockery, hollowware, chinaware and glassware to the Restaurants and kitchens. The waiter would have to get his supplies of the above items from this department. The department is also responsible for washing soiled service wear and subsequently furnishing clean items the sanitation and hygiene of the kitchen usually comes under the purview of the kitchen stewarding department.

 Bar

             The bar dispenses wines, liquor, spirits, and juices aerated water, cigars and cigarettes. 

 Housekeeping

The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance and the aesthetic standards of a hotel. A waiter should know that the housekeeping department is the source for staff uniforms, Restaurant linen and flowers.

 Cashier (from the account department)

            The cashier receives all cash credit payments made for food and beverage sales in a restaurant or bar.

Engineering

This department is responsible for the supply of air condition or heating, lighting, mechanical and electrical functioning of any service equipment in the Restaurant.

Front Office

This is the central point where all checks or bills of hotel residents are collected and then recorded in their overall bill. The front office keeps a record of all guests residing in the hotel. If a resident wishes to sign his bill, the waiter may contact this department for confirmation of the guests name and room number.

                                              Stores

The source from which a waiter can get supplies of propriety sauces, order pads, pencils, bottle openers or any other supplies. Large hotels would have separate general stores; food stores beverage stores and perishable stores.

The Menu

A menu represents the range of food and beverage items offers in a restaurant. When the menu is represented on a card it is referred to as the menu card great pains are taken in compiling the menu card which should not only be attractive but information and gastronomically sound as this reflects the quality of the restaurant and. In a restaurant there are two different types of menus which are differentiated by the manner in which they are priced.

¨    A la carte:

            Menu in which each food item is separately priced in order to give the guest a choice to suit his taste and budget. The choice offered in various courses are many.

¨    Table D’ Hote:

            Menu in which entire meal is priced and charged, irrespective of whether the guest has complete meal or not. Sometimes there are choices of individual courses within a completely priced meal. A restaurant may offer two TableD’Hote menus where a guest has a choice of a meal.

            The classical French menu consists of eleven courses. The number of courses is restricted in modern times to an appetizer, soup, main dish and sweet dish. Coffee may be served after it. A course is a food item eaten at a particular time and sequence during a complete meal.

Service Equipments

Service equipments (which includes Furniture, Fixtures and linen for all purposes) squarely reflects the standard and style of the Restaurant.

Several factors are considered when they are chosen.

01. Standard of the Restaurant.

02. Types of service.

03. Decor and theme of the restaurant.

04. Type of clientele.

05. Durability of equipment.

06. Ease of maintenance.

07. Availability after stocks runs out.

08. Storage.

09. Flexibility of use.

10. Price factors.

11. Standardization.

Linen

01.   Tablecloths

To fit 2’6’ Square table         – 54’’ x 54’’

To fit 3’ Square table            – 72” x 72”

To fit rectangle table            – 72”x 96”

To fit rectangle table            – 72”x 54”

02.   Slip cloth

To cover a stained table cloth      - 36” x 36”

03.   Serviettes (Napkins)

Square                                               - 18” x 18”

04.   Buffet Cloth

Minimum size                                  8’ x 4’6”

Food and beverage service equipment may be divided in to chinaware, Glassware and Tableware which are further subdivided into flatware cutlery and hollowware.

Chinaware

 It is made of silica, soda, ash and china clay, glazed to give a fine finish. It should be opaque and free from air – bubbles. Chinaware can be found in different colors and designs which are always coated with glaze. Patterns on top of the glaze ware and discolor very quickly. Chinaware is more resistant to heat than glassware.

Glassware

The raw materials used are silica and soda ash. Lead is added to make the glass crystal clear. When purchasing glassware it should be ensured that is completely transparent, free of air bubbles and hot chipped. Glassware are measured in terms of capacity. 

Tableware

Table service consists of the following items and when to use them.

Flatware / Cutlery

a)      Soup spoon                             – soup served in plates

b)      Fish knife and fork                 – fish/hord d oeuvres

c)      Large knives and forks           – entrée/main course

d)     Desserts spoon & fork                        – all sweet served in plates or oeuf sur plat

e)      Desserts spoons                       – soup served in cups/cereals

f)       Small fruit knives and forks    – fresh fruits

g)      Coffee spoon                          – coffee

h)      Tea spoons                              – tea/fruit cocktail/ice cream served -coupes/grapefruit/oeuf on chocolate.

i)        Service spoons and forks        – for service

j)        Steak knives                            – steaks

k)      Grapefruit knives                    – grapefruit

l)        Egg spoon                               – eggs

m)    Cheese knives                                     – cheese

Hollow ware

a)      Soup tureens

b)      Individual soup bowls

c)      Trays

d)     Oval flat with lids

e)      Oval or round vegetable dishes with lids

f)       Oval or round under dish for vegetable

g)      Soufflé cases

h)      Oval or round entrée dishes.