How To Serve Fine Dining

When people go to a nice restaurant, some think that their servers have an easy job. One that they are only doing until they finish college. Although this happens to be true for myself, serving at a high end, “fine dining,” restaurant requires a skill set that takes years of practice. There are nearly a hundred different steps that must be done correctly. Most diners at these places are unaware that these meticulous things are even going on, but when explained, the practice of serving people food becomes a complex art form. From setting the table just right to presenting the perfect bottle of wine with each dish. From how food is properly delivered to each guest to how the table is cleared properly. Serving food becomes a science in and of itself. As a fine dining server at Charlie Trotters in Chicago and to a lesser extent my current job at Vivace in the old market, I have learned the proper techniques and will explain them here. The first step in serving someone an awesome meal is of course to set the table that they will be eating on. In a true fine dining setting, it is important that the table the guests will be eating on is relatively large. This is important because the table needs to have ample room for the multiple courses and beverage pairings that the guests will receive. When people come to a place expecting to pay over two hundred dollars a person for their meal, they expect a large table complete with an appropriate linen table cloth, sterling silver cutlery, crystal glassware, candles and a stunning centerpiece. When setting the table, the first thing to do is put a “charger” down on the table in front of where each guest will sit on the tablecloth. A charger is basically a fancy word for a circular place mat that acts a guide for where to place the rest of the dinner ware and gets removed once the entire meal is complete, sometimes being replaced before the desert course. The linen napkin then goes on top of the charger and can be folded in any number of fancy ways. Beside the dinner napkin the silverware is then placed on either side. When setting the silverware, the bottom of the handles of the silverware should be about one inch from the edge of the table with the forks on the left and the knives and spoons on the right. The silverware on each side is placed with the smallest silverware furthest away from the center because diners are supposed to start on the outside with the salad and teaspoon, and work their way towards the middle as the meal progresses. Above the knives and spoons you should place a small bread plate with a butter spreader on top in front of each guest with a corresponding salad plate above the forks. In Europe, this is generally not done because the salad is served at the end of the meal since it is supposedly healthier for your digestive system, but having the plate on the table gives the guest the option of either. The last thing to set on the table is the glassware. It is important that each glass is polished until there is nothing to be seen in the glass and it sparkles in the light coming from the candle on the table. The water goblet goes on top and the wine glasses are placed in a negative angle below that in order of their intended use. The water is placed furthest away from the guest because water is free and wine costs a lot of money in these places and they are businesses after all. Now that the table is set, your guests can start to arrive. It is important to greet each guest by name and to use their name and not simply sir or miss if at all possible. At the type of restaurant that I am talking about, the guest is generally given an option of two or three different 5-7 course meal options. Allow the guests to settle in and read the menu for about ten or fifteen minutes or until the set the menu down in front of them. At this time, you approach the table again and go over all the dishes that will be served. Take time to speak very highly about how each dish is prepared and be sure to name at least 5 prominent ingredients in each dish. After you are sure that the guests has a pretty good idea of what they will be getting, take their order. At this time, you begin to talk about wine pairings with the table. The goal is to talk the table into getting the preset pairings of wine that the dishes are created to go well with. This is also the best thing for you because the preset pairings are almost always the most expensive and this is usually reflected in your own tip. If the table does decide to go with a cheaper bottle of wine, or heaven forbid, glasses of wine, be sure that they choose something that will go well with the dishes they will be served. Once they have chosen the wine that they would like, it is time for the all important wine presentation. Hold the bottle in front of the head of the table-the person who will be paying or who ordered the bottle- and let them look at the bottle. Tell the guest the year that the wine was produced followed by the type of wine and the place that the wine was made. The guest will then approve the bottle and now it is time to open it. When opening and pouring wine, the whole process is about tradition. Open the bottle with the label always facing the table and a cloth napkin draped across the wrist of your non dominant hand. Once you have the cork removed, place it on the table in front of the person who ordered the bottle. Some guests will then smell the cork to check for cork rot, something that occurs when there is oxygen that escaped into the bottle of wine essentially turning the wine into vinegar. After I set the cork down, I personally hold the bottle of wine below my nose and make sure for myself that the wine has not gone bad, although this is not absolutely necessary. Once you set the cork down, you pour about one ounce of the wine into the glass of the head of the table so that they can taste it and approve the bottle before you pour the other glasses. When the guest approves the bottle you can pour the wine. Serve the ladies first and always pour with your right hand to the right of each guest if possible. When you are pouring wine, it is important that they label of the wine faces each guest when you pour it. This is traditionally done because in the olden days it was not uncommon for people to have the head of the table approve one bottle and then switch the bottle out for a cheaper bottle. Try not to pour the entire bottle on the first pass if possible so that you can then wrap the napkin around the neck of the bottle and place it on the center of the table. After the wine has been poured, the first course should be ready to come out. Although there is a standard order that courses should be served in, it is completely up to the chef to decide how they would like the guests to enjoy the meal. There is much debate about the proper way to serve food, but I was always taught that unless the food is being brought on a platter to be served table side, you should serve ladies first and move to the right around the table, serving the host last. Use your left hand to serve each plate to the left of each guest. Also, if possible, don't reach across guests to place anyone's food on the table. Once the first course is set on the table, the job becomes much easier. The guests will be busy enjoying their food and that takes their main attention away from you. From this point on, it is your job to clear each course when the guests have finished and to replace each course with the next one. Food is removed from the table to the right of each guest with your right hand. You should clear each course all at once and not guest by guest. Be sure that you are not rushing anyone through a course and be sure to be in constant communication with the kitchen on the status of the meal. Also, when clearing off the table each time, try to get as many crumbs off the table as possible to keep the table looking clean. The whole process usually takes about 2 to 3 hours for the full course meal. Once the guests have finished their meal and the table is completely clear of everything except a water glass and a wine glass for each guest, it is time to present the check to the head of the table. The server should give the check presenter to the head of the table with both hands as a sign of respect. Once they have paid, your only job is to make sure that their water glasses stay full. When dissected, the job of a server at a nice restaurant becomes a little overwhelming. Once you get the hang of it though, it starts to become fun and it pays well. I can't think of a better job that doesn't require a degree.

How to Serve Fine Dining
Jacob Kelly
10/30/2014