Specialized forms of services
3 likes4,028 views
Specialized forms of service involve serving customers where they are located rather than in a conventional dining area. This includes services like room service, lounge service, hospital tray service, and airline tray service. Room service can vary from basic tea and coffee to full meals served in hotel rooms. Floor service staff are responsible for taking orders and delivering meals to rooms. Hospital tray service aims to deliver nutritious meals to patients on time and attractively. Airline tray service provides meals and beverages on flights, with more extensive options on long-haul flights.
Specialized forms of services
- 1. Specialized forms of services Chapter one BY ABIY KEBEDE
- 2. Service in situ • Specialized forms of service are those where the food and beverages are taken to where the customer is. • In other words, the customer is served in situ and the service takes place in areas not conventionally designed for food and beverage service. • It includes tray service methods found in hospitals and aircraft, as well as lounge service, room service, service on trains and home delivery. It also includes off- premises catering
- 3. Floor/room service • Floor or room service varies from basic tea and coffee making facilities in the room and possibly a mini bar, to vending machines on floors or the service of a variety of meals in rooms. • The extent of service in hotel guest rooms will depend on the nature of the establishment. • In five star hotels 24-hour room service is expected, whereas in two and three star hotels service may be limited to tea and coffee making facilities in the room and only continental breakfast will be available to be served in the room.
- 4. Full and partial room service • Service may be operated from a floor pantry – there may be one on each floor of an establishment or one sited to service two or three floors. • An alternative system is where all food and beverages come from a central kitchen and are sent to the different floors by lift, before being taken to the rooms, possibly in a heated trolley. • Floor service staff must have considerable experience as they have to deal with the service of all types of meals and beverages. The floor service staff tend to work on a shift system, in order to provide 24-hour service.
- 5. Cont.… • The hotel guest may call direct to the floor pantry or telephone their request to reception or the restaurant or dining room. Orders are taken and recorded. • When the order is delivered to the room it is important that a signature is obtained in case of any query when the bill is presented to a hotel guest on leaving the establishment. • All orders, once processed and signed for by the hotel guest, should be passed immediately to reception or control so that the services rendered may be charged to the guest’s account.
- 6. • The pantry from which the floor service staff operate may be likened to a mini stillroom and holds the equipment required for the preparation and service of any meal. This equipment can include • gas or electric rings , refrigerator, glassware cutlery and hollow-ware • ice making machine lift to central kitchen l cutting boards • Knives, crockery • storage shelves and cupboards • Salamander, hotplate • small still-set or other coffee making machine • sink unit Cont.…
- 7. • Sufficient equipment must be available to maintain a high standard and to enable efficient service to be given. • The service staff carry out all their own pre- service preparation (mise-en-place) before the service of meals. This includes checking and refilling cruets and other accompaniments, laying up breakfast trays, changing linen, laying up tables, washing and polishing glasses, cleaning trays and so on. Cont.…
- 8. • Floor service staff must also co-operate with other staff within the establishment. • The floor service staff should ensure that all trays and debris are cleared as soon as meals are finished so that the meals are not in the way when rooms are being cleaned, or left in bedroom corridors outside guest doors, as this constitutes a trip hazard and looks unsightly. Cont.…
- 9. Breakfast only service • In some hotels only breakfast service is available, which is often provided by the housekeeping staff. • This menu also acts as an order which, when completed, is hung on the outside of the hotel guest’s bedroom door. The bottom portion of the card is detached and sent to the billing office for charging to the guest’s account. • The remaining portion goes to the floor service pantry or to the central kitchen. A tray is then made up and delivered to the room at the appropriate time.
- 10. • Laying up a breakfast tray involves the same procedure (with a few exceptions) as laying up a table for a full or continental breakfast in the restaurant. As most orders for the service of breakfast in the room are known in advance the tray may be laid according to the order. • The positioning of items on the tray is important: • Items should be placed so that everything is to hand for the guest. For example, the beverage and breakfast cup, saucer and teaspoon should be placed to the top center-right of the tray, as this is in the correct position for pouring and helps balance the tray. Cont.…
- 11. • Any bottled proprietary sauce required should be laid flat to avoid accidents when carrying the tray. • The spouts of hot beverage pots or jugs should face inwards, to avoid spillages, which may cause scalding to the server or slippages on wet floors. • On arriving at the door of the room, the member of staff should knock loudly, wait for a reply, and then enter, placing the tray on a table and then adjusting the items on the tray as appropriate. Cont.…
- 12. • If there are two or more people taking breakfast in the room, it may be necessary to lay up a table or trolley and to serve the breakfast in the same way as in the restaurant. • After approximately 45 minutes the floor service staff should return to the room, knock and wait for a reply, enter and ask if it is convenient to clear the breakfast tray away. • When breakfast service is finished all equipment must be washed up in the floor service pantry and foodstuffs such as milk, cream, butter, rolls and preserves should be returned to the refrigerator or store cupboard. Cont.…
- 13. In room facilities • Mini bar • An example of a mini bar menu is shown in Figure 9.6. This card also acts as a hotel guest self- completion bill; many modern mini bars now have automatic sensors, which charge to the guest’s room bill when items are lifted from the fridge. • This reduces theft and increases control. Mini bars are usually audited and restocked each day with the consumption recorded and the billing office advised.
- 15. Tea and coffee making facilities • The standard stock for these (usually complimentary) facilities includes a teacup and saucer, a teaspoon (one per person), tea/coffee pot (or both), kettle (self-switching) and a selection of tea, coffee, sugar, chocolate, creamer, non-sugar sweetener and, possibly, biscuits. • The courtesy tray stock should be a standard stock, replaced and checked for freshness each day by the room attendants.
- 16. Lounge service • Lounge service may include service of continental breakfast, morning coffee, luncheon snacks, afternoon tea, dinner or late evening snacks as well as alcoholic beverages. Although mainly associated with hotels, lounge service is also found in public houses, wine bars and on ships. Organization of lounge service • The lounge is very often the ‘front window’ of the establishment, so the standards of service should be high.
- 17. • The lounge staff must be prepared for the following types of service in the lounge: • various breakfast foods • morning coffee • aperitifs and cocktails before luncheon • coffee, liqueurs and brandy after luncheon and dinner services • afternoon tea • aperitifs and cocktails before dinner • service of late night beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic • other snacks throughout the day, depending on the type of establishment. Lounge service
- 18. • Casual customers usually pay for the service at the time. Resident hotel guests may not wish to pay in the lounge and staff must then ensure that they sign the check to confirm the services received as well as checking the key card to confirm the guest’s room number. • The amount should then be charged to the guest’s hotel account. • The triplicate checking method is normally used for lounge service (or the electronic equivalent with the top copy going to the supplying department – the stillroom or dispense bar. Lounge service
- 19. Buffets and trolleys • For some types of lounge service such as afternoon tea, a buffet may be set up to display the range of foods on offer. • Alternatively, a guéridon (trolley) may be used to offer a selection of foods to customers seated within the lounge areas. • Hospital tray service • Hospital catering services have major foodservice goals, as all meals should reach the patient quickly, look attractive and be of specific nutritional value. Patients in hospital often have special dietary needs
- 20. Hospital tray service • Meal times in hospitals • The timing of patients’ meals generally follows a similar pattern, for example: • Breakfast: 07.30–08.00 • Lunch: 12 noon • Tea: 15.00–15.30 • Supper: 18.00–18.30 • Later hot drink: Anytime between 20.00 and 22.00
- 21. Home delivery • Home delivery services range from Indian and Chinese takeaway deliveries, to restaurants providing full meals (hot, or cold for customers to re-heat). • One chain of pizza restaurants was specifically designed to be primarily a home delivery operation and was based upon an American concept. • There are also social foodservice deliveries for the infirm or elderly.
- 22. Home delivery • Methods of delivery vary, but all endeavor to preserve the product in heat retention presentation packages. • The most simple, but nevertheless effective, is the pizza home delivery system, which utilizes thick cardboard with internal corrugations to provide a form of insulation to keep the pizza hot. • The time required for heat retention is limited by the extent of the delivery area. • Indeed, the companies who operate these services endeavor to deliver the pizza within 30 minutes.
- 23. Airline tray service • Most airlines now operate using a catering commissary. A commissary is a term used to cover the catering, cabin requirements, bonded stores, cleaning and other passenger requirements. • It is now accepted that on many short-haul routes, only snack-type meals or sandwiches and beverages are offered. • For some operators the provision of food and beverages is provided for an additional charge to the customer.
- 24. • On long-haul flights, airlines provide a more extensive service of food and beverages. • The airline will provide dishes to meet its passengers’ particular needs, for example, meals that meet a range of dietary requirements. • Service on airlines is often a combination of the trolley service used for the service of beverages and a service involving trays distributed from the trolley in which they are stacked. Airline tray service
- 25. • Great use is also made of pre-portioned foods, such as salt, pepper, mustards, sugars, cream, cheeses, dry biscuits and preserves. • For economy and tourist flights all meals tend to be of the same size, with identical portions. The meals are arranged in individual portion containers, sealed, chilled and then stored until required. • The economy or tourist class meal is often served on a plastic or melamine tray and uses disposable place mats, cutlery, tableware and napkins, together with disposable glasses for any drinks required. Airline tray service
- 26. • Business and first class passengers will often receive a food and beverage service equivalent to that of a first class hotel or restaurant. • The first class service may offer joints of meat that are carved from a carving trolley as it moves up the central aisle, served with the appropriate garnish and vegetables. • This, combined with the use of fine bone china, glassware and silver-plated tableware, creates an atmosphere of quality while the meal is being served. Airline tray service
- 27. Rail service • Foodservice on trains is provided on the move and away from the home base and suppliers. • The logistics of providing on-train foodservice are therefore similar in organization to off- premises catering. • Food and beverage operations on trains generally fall into one of four categories: 1. Conventional restaurant 2. Kiosk (takeaway) 3. Trolley service operations. 4. Limited type of room service for sleeper trains.