How to Serve a Full-Course Meal

Video Transcript

"We're here to talk about the basics of serving. Very basically, we're going to go over the proper steps of service and which side you should serve things and where you should clear and that type of thing on a very basic level, so you shouldn't be afraid. First off, make sure that your place setting is correct. If there's anything out of place, correct it before you start bringing out food and and such. From that, when you pour into a glass, you always pour into the glass that's on the right hand side with your right hand. You never want to show anybody any guest the back of your hand and you'll notice there's a little a little twist at the end that'll help prevent a drip of water or a drip of wine from dropping on a table cloth. If you put that down on the table, make sure it always has an under-liner and then facing the host. Alright, now the next step is actually when you after you've taken the order, you bring out the food. Now there are some pretty elaborate rules in the classical French brigade kitchens and and restaurants about proper service. I'm going to give you the basics that we deemed useful here in America. General rule of thumb is that you serve the plate of food on the same side as the utensil is that they will eat it with. So if I'm serving you a plate of fish, I'm going to be coming around, say this is the guest, I'm going to be coming around from, to this side with my left hand across the top and I place it down, positioned so that it's the way the chef wants it prepared. There'll usually be a twelve o'clock, and they tell you this is the twelve o'clock on the plate, and that's the way it's put down. If if for instance, I always clear from the right with my right hand, you'll bring it around, keep it in your left. You can put more plates on top of here. Never mash food between plates. If you have more than one thing to clear, if you're picking up more than one at a time, which you should clear everybody's at the same time, take that one there, have another food, you have all the foods scraped to the back and on this plate that you have up here, you scrape all the food to the back of this plate and then you stack the silverware there. Then you can take another plate and put it on top without mashing food down between it. Number one, this'll make you make you pretty friendly with the dishwashers in the back and number two, it just looks a lot better and you could typically clear a whole table, a a four top with one pass. And back to what we were talking about earlier, if I'm serving a soup, soups are traditionally eaten with a spoon, and the spoons are on the right side, I want to come around that way and once again, using my right hand on the right side, place it down where the twelve o'clock position where it needs to be. When you clear a table, you want to wait until everybody has completed their meal. You don't want to clear a piece meal. If one person's finished and someone else is still eating, the person who is still eating may feel rushed because the other person's food has been cleared already, and then they feel a little self-conscious about taking quite so long. Traditionally, once it is time to clear, and it's time for dessert, everything is cleared off the table, coffee orders are placed, coffee is brought out and then dessert is brought out. Then after that, you can go ahead into the after dinner drinks and and if you so desire, cheeses and such, but that's pretty much the basics."