training the service staff to serve the meal chapter 6 copyright 2008 delmar learning. all rights...

Copyright 2008 Delmar Learning.All Rights Reserved.

Training the Service Staff to Serve the Meal

Chapter 6


Training the Service Staff to Serve the Meal

•Manager’s role is KEY

– Sets tone and pace of the establishment

•Business runs effectively by proper

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–

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• evaluation


The Manager’s Role

•Restaurant manager’s attitude is passed to the guests by the employees


The Manager’s Role (continued)

•Final important element in providing excellent service

– Staff knows and communicates information that adds to the guests’ overall dining experience


Parts of the Meal

•Four parts as related to service

– Getting prepared to serve the guest•

– and taking meal orders

– Actual service of the meal

– of the check


Learning the Menu

• employees should know information about menu items

•Dining room manager trains the employees about the information


Learning the Menu (continued)

•Employees should know

– Which food and beverages are offered

–

–

– of preparation of all menu items



• of the manager

– To prepare this information for the employees

•Information MUST BE

– written in a manual and given to ALL employees when first hired



•Applicants told when hired that knowledge of the material in the training manual is a requirement to start and keep the job

•To make certain that employees are knowledgeable, they are tested on the material



•Training manual MUST cover

–

– prices and descriptions

– prices and descriptions

– Specific information about the restaurant



•Done correctly, it pays off in

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Service Person’s Knowledge

•Before new employees are allowed to wait on guests, they should be trained on facts about the restaurant

•Broken down into three areas:

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–

–


Service Person’s Knowledge (continued)

•Specific policies about the restaurant

– Acceptable standards of appearance and dress

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– When to

– Food and drink policies—consumption both on and off the job

–



• about the establishment

– Service staff can answer ANY and ALL questions guests may ask

– Guests feel assured of the competency of the service persons’ ability to answer questions intelligently and confidently



•Facts about the

– How to order and pick up food and beverages

– How to write and read guest dinner checks

– area

– area


Knowledge about the Restaurant

•Guests perceive the service person in two ways:

– Are they friendly?

– Can they answer questions?


Knowledge about the Restaurant (continued)

•Employees should answer questions on– History of the business

– Ownership of the restaurant

– How long it has existed

– Days and hours of operation

– Type of food served

– General price range

–


Knowledge about the Restaurant (continued)

•Information is vital for service person to answer questions intelligently

– Converse with the guest

•Knowledge demonstrated makes guests feel comfortable and confident in server’s ability


Physical Layout of the Restaurant

• Floor plan of the dining room

– Ensures service staff taking orders and delivering food to guest tables correctly

•Floor plan should

– Have size and number of each table

– Be laid out easily so that employees understand it


Physical Layout of the Restaurant (continued)

•Confusion should be kept to a minimum

– Tables should NOT be numbered haphazardly

– Tables should be numbered sequentially

– See Figure 6-1


Physical Layout of the Restaurant (continued)

•Floor plan MUST state the number of guests at each table

– See Figure 6-2

•By designing the floor plan CAREFULLY, having the staff memorize it will help make the restaurant run more smoothly


Writing and Reading the Order

•Manager MUST translate ALL menu items into STANDARD ABBREVIATIONS

•ALL employees—including kitchen staff—are required to know abbreviations to prevent confusion


Knowledge of the Menu

•Service staff should know

– The names of ALL the items

– How to pronounce them

– How to describe them

•See box on page 159—Shrimp scampi


Ingredients

•Should list predominant ingredients in description because of allergies

•Guests have become sick and/or died because of misinformation by service or kitchen staff


Ingredients (continued)

• Eight foods account for 90 percent of allergic reactions:

– – Tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.)– – – – – –


Ingredients (continued)

•Leading cause of reactions is peanuts.

•Followed by

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–

–

–


Garnishes and Substitutions

•In the manual explanation of how each item is garnished

– Diagram or picture showing where garnished is placed and how it looks (very helpful)

– See Figure 6-5


Garnishes and Substitutions (continued)

•Have a CLEARLY stated policy for substitutions for each item

•If service person has questions about substitutions, ask person in charge of the restaurant


Garnishes and Substitutions (continued)

•With clearly written policies, guests receive consistent meals and answers to questions, regardless of the service person

•Possibly makes the restaurant more profitable because guests are comfortable with consistency of the restaurant


Cooking Methods

•Guests inquire about cooking methods –

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–

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•Service person should know what each means


Preparation Time and Cooking Doneness

• Critical part of service person’s training

– Knowing cooking times and doneness of items—“Medium” or “Pittsburgh”—is important for ordering and picking up food from the kitchen


Preparation Time and Cooking Doneness (continued)

•Use of a chart listing cooking times of all menu items

– Range from “Pittsburgh” to “Well Done”

•In addition—description of terms for cooking doneness

– Steak ordered “Medium” has a pink, hot center


Alcoholic Beverages

•Should have a description of every beverage available

•In addition—description of– How the drink is made

– Glass served in

– Proper garnish

– See box on page 165—Margarita

• Brand names of wines and beers


Glasses

• Diagram or picture of ALL glasses used for drinks

•Underneath the picture, give name of the drink served in the glass

– Description of the glass• Fiesta grande glass—16¾-ounce glass

– Used for ALL frozen margaritas


Pricing

•With menus constantly changing

– Use a separate price sheet• Included in the manual

– Cuts down on waste of time and costs of printing the entire manual

– Only need to print new price sheet to reflect price changes


Tasting the Food and Beverage

•Part of training that has to be continuous

•Should be part of daily staff meeting

•Service staff does not get a gourmet meal every night but tastes the food and beverages for guest recommendations


Merchandising Food and Beverage

•Another term for “selling”

– Occurs because guest feels confident in service person’s ability

•Service person should assess the mood of the guests for the appropriate behavior for the situation


Merchandising Food and Beverage (continued)

•Each guest deserves and expects a warm and sincere greeting

•If staff person knows the guest by name, address appropriately

•Acknowledge guest immediately– Take care of requests as soon as possible

•Makes guests feel appreciated– Positive dining experience


Assisting Guest with the Order

•Many times guests know exactly what they want to order

•Other times, they cannot make up their minds

•Trick that experienced service persons use:– Count backwards from seven

– If guest has NOT made a choice, he or she needs help

•


Suggestive Selling

•First step is getting guests to feel confident in service person’s knowledge

•Guests trust service person’s knowledge and judgment

•When questions arise, train staff to turn questions around to find likes of guests


Suggestive Selling (continued)

•Once preferences are discovered, service staff can recommend an item based on taste testing items and can describe flavors of food

•Key to suggestive selling– Service person to keep a POSITIVE

ATTITUDE

– Mouth-watering descriptive terminology• Will greatly enhance sales—especially dessert


Suggestive Selling (continued)

•Suggest items you want to sell LAST

– Most guests remember the LAST thing you say

•Can build profits by increasing check average, which increases tips for service staff


Special of the Day

•Can be called CHEF’S CREATION

•Service staff describes creation, including price—positive factor that builds trust


Wine, Dessert Tables, and Gimmicks

•Restaurants include wine glasses on place setting

– Sell a sample portion

– Put a bottle of unopened wine on each table

•All done to encourage guests to order wine with their meal


Wine, Dessert Tables, and Gimmicks (continued)

•Desserts– Easiest category to create add-on sales

– Provide opportunity to increase sales

•Desserts displayed– In view of guests before they are seated

– Brought out in sample trays or carts for display and explanation at guests’ table

– Trays or carts need to be attractive and eye-appealing


Wine, Dessert Tables, and Gimmicks (continued)

•Gimmicks used—Manager giveaways that draw attention to an item, which encourages other guests to order that item

•Management must encourage service staff to sell extra items

– Have a contest with servers—who can sell the most of an item?


Taking the Order

•Management must train staff to take food and beverage order correctly

•Main goal is to serve the meal without asking who gets what

•Manager must impress upon service staff to treat the guests as if they had never dined here before


Taking the Order (continued)

•Management must train staff to explain in detail the Chef’s Creation

•Finally—order should be repeated back to guests to avoid misunderstandings

•Service staff is the link between the kitchen and the guest


Where to Stand

•Two opinions:

– Service person stands to the left of the guest, moving to the next guest• Following Guidelines of Service

– Service person stands in one spot and takes all the orders from there• Good for a deuce or a four-top

• Harder for a six-top or larger


86 Items

•Means a restaurant is out of an item

•Management must set up a system to communicate 86ed items

– Oral communication

– Blackboard

•System to inform service staff when only 10 items remain of a certain entrée


Home Base

•System that works the following way:– Manager decides on one focal point in

the restaurant as home base

– May be a clock or kitchen door or any other easily observable item

– Tables are numbered• A chair at each table is designated as chair 1

• Remaining chairs are numbered clockwise

• See Figure 6-6 and Figure 6-7


Order Forms

•Management must train employees how to write the guest orders

•System should

– Be easy enough to explain simply

– Use a standard form

– Keep service person organized

•Example of an order form—page 176


Ordering on the Guest Check

•Restaurants use a system where a duplicate (dupe) check is turned into the kitchen

• Explanation of the check– Combines many different techniques for

taking orders

– Service staff must know abbreviations on the check

– See pages 177–178 for explanation


Code Order

• NOT recommended for use

– Can add too much confusion, resulting in embarrassment

•Derogatory ID toward guest

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Placing Orders in the Kitchen

•Correct ordering is a MUST for guests to receive their dinner cooked and served properly

•Servers submit orders according to how long it takes to cook


Placing Orders in the Kitchen (continued)

•Can submit when server picks up salad from the kitchen

•On a salad bar

– Submit when guest obtains salad from the bar

• Fire the table or meal

– Informs kitchen to cook main course of meal for a specific table


Serving the Meal—Timing Is Everything

•Critical part of the meal—done incorrectly, it can ruin the dining experience

•The longer food sits in the kitchen waiting to be delivered

–

– Guests become

•Food should be brought to the table as soon as it is ready


Serving the Meal—Timing Is Everything (continued)

•Before delivering food to the table, check the tray and the dupe to make sure they match

•Load the tray:

– Cold items first

– Hot items next, so that they don’t cool off as fast


Sequence of a Typical Meal

•Team system

– 38 steps (pages 180–183)

•Individual system

– 26 steps (pages 184–186)


Computerized Systems

•Machines are designed to make sales more efficient

•Called Point of Sale (POS)

– Can save as much as 10 minutes off a meal• Able to serve more diners with saved time


Step-by-Step Method of MICROS System

•The following illustrates a MICROS system

– See pages 187–189


Presenting the Guest Check and Accepting Payment

•In Europe and some Canadian restaurants, the check is presented when requested

•In the United States, when no more ordering is going to happen, the service person brings the check to the center of the table


Presenting the Guest Check and Accepting Payment

(continued)

•If check is presented on a tray or book, server will be back to pick up payment and bring it to the cashier

•Otherwise, guest should bring check and payment to the cashier

•When leaving, the guest should be thanked and invited back

training the service staff to serve the meal chapter 6 copyright 2008 delmar learning. all rights...

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