Video Training on How to Set a Formal Dining Table

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Physical Akes and Pains of Serving Food and Beverage

It stands to reason that every job has is limits. Time is the tester. Working a physically repetitive job will in time cause a repetitive injury. It is common in all industries from office work to the automotive assembly line. After the industrial revolution, working jobs were more specific and more repetitive. Skills were downgraded so as to train employees to work and manage simple repetitive work. The production line would be composed of many labours each with a specific task of labour on the product being manufactured. These employee injuries from these simple common tasks are called Musculoskeletal Disorders or MSD.

This kind of injury can happen in the Food and Beverage Industry. Many servers who have put in the time and worked for many years have developed these repetitive injuries. The most common is the wrist with carpal tunnel syndrome. The next would be rotator cuff injuries from heavy plates. Standing up and walking over different surfaces can also cause varicose veins in the legs. Repetitive pushing of a swing door with your leg while caring plates can cause a hernia. Knee pain from rapid starts and stops stresses the joints. Tendinitis can occur from heavy plates stressing the elbow. There can be back pain from adjusting your center of gravity and reaching far into the table to serve. This is a long list of potential physical injuries. If you have any of them, you need help and maybe even physical therapy to get your health back.

In Ontario the WSIB Ontario, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will pay for your therapy if you were injured in the workplace. You need to see a doctor and mention that the injury occurred from repetitive work at your job. The doctor will issue a Form 8 and send it to WSIB. WSIB will assess the injuries. If there is merit to your case then WSIB will send you confirmation of acceptable injury and allow direct payments to the physiotherapy treatment center. Not all injuries will be accepted. Varicose veins are the hardest to prove and it can be considered cosmetic surgery. The ultimate knowledge about workplace injuries is to know how injuries can happen and how to prevent them. Learning about potential risks and then organizing systems for prevention is the goal of work safety.

Serving has its ups and downs. All servers start out young and after at least 10 years the body shows the wear and tear of the job. This is why it is important to know about the prevention of these injuries.

The Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario have issued guidelines for the Prevention of MSD. This will open your eyes to these work-related injuries. This is a 36 page PDF document. You can learn from it to implement Health and Safety in your workplace. Here there is A Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Every worker has the right to a safe work environment. Serving food and beverage is a physical job and has much demand on the body. Know the potential injury risk of your job and your chances of getting injured will below.

Eliminate Your Carpal Tunnel Pain

How to tell if a steak is cooked right to order

There is nothing hard about cooking steaks.  You just need to know your grill.  The heat of the grill is different as you go up it is usually hotter as heat rises.  Steaks should never be played with, there should be nice grill marks on both sides.  The steak should be flipped or moved no more than 4 times, with each time giving a set of grill marks.  Never cut a hot steak to see how it is done.  This is a big mistake because the blood and cooked juices will escape and the steak will be dry and tough.  Cooked steaks should have 2-3 minutes of rest time before being plated to allow the internal juices to cool down.

To tell if a steak is cooked right you touch it to feel the meat.  A rare steak will feel soft and springy.  Medium rare will have less softness.  Well done will be fairly firm.  Here is the trick using your hand to see how a steak is cooked.  You move your pinkie finger to touch the thumb muscle.  What does it feel like?  Kind of firm, right... this is well done.  Now try your index finger.  How soft is that?  Rare maybe.

Thick steaks are usually marked on both sides and finished in a convection oven.  I have seen cooks use timers, but the true test is still the touch.  It will work all the time.

When you are serving steak and you think it is overcooked take it back to the kitchen (never check steaks in front of the cooks or the chef you will never hear the end of it) and have the chef assess the steak.  If you are checking steaks use a spoon (servers should never touch the food),  press it and feel the softness or firmness of the meat.  Training makes perfect.

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Learn How to Become a Server: Champagne Service

Learn How to Become a Server: Champagne Service: "Champagne Service The art of pouring a glass of Champagne is truly a sight be behold. It looks as elegant as a romantic moment in life and..."

Champagne Service

Champagne Service

The art of pouring a glass of Champagne is truly a sight be behold. It looks as elegant as a romantic moment in life and certainly could be part of that memory. You can tell that I am passionate about Champagne as one should be. Champagne is a passion as it brings out our inhibited emotions. If you want to loosen someone’s feeling fast then it is Champagne which will do it.

The reason Champagne gets you feeling so good so fast is that it is the fastest way to deliver alcohol to the bloodstream from a beverage trough the mouth. The natural carbonation (carbon dioxide, CO2) occurring in the Method Champagnoise process (a double fermentation) of producing Champagne increases the rate of absorption of alcohol.

This is the reason Champagne is used at receptions, for pre-dinner drinks and especially on first dates. You will start to open up and talk to guests and dates very easily.

Opening the bottle of Champagne is easy if you know how and poring is just as easy with the proper training. The whole idea is to serve Champagne with style. The first measure to be taken is the chilling of the bottle. Champagne needs to be chilled to about 6 to 8 degrees C if it is a younger Champagne and a vintage Champagne is perfect at 9 to 10 degrees C. Over chilling could freeze the wine and destroy it. Having the wine too cool will also not allow the release of its aromas and flavours.

The best way to chill a bottle of Champagne is in an ice bucket, in a mixture of water and ice for 20 to 25 minutes. This will bring the Champagne to the right temperature.

There is a very good reason for chilling the wine other than it is white wine and should be chilled. The expansion of the CO2 in the bottle is pushing on the bottle much more at room temperature than when it is chilled. In fact, the Champagne bottle is designed to withstand 17.7 atmospheric pressures (1.8 MPA, megapascals) due to the explosiveness of the CO2. At 20 C the pressure in the bottle of Champagne is 5.5 atmospheric pressures and chilled it is closer to 5 atmospheric pressures. Chilling the Champagne compresses the CO2 and the liquid. This is the difference that causes the Champagne to rush out of the bottle if not chilled properly. So make sure the bottle is chilled.

Because of the pressure in the bottle, the cork is wired down to the lip of the Champagne bottle by a cage to prevent the accidental popping of the cork. It is important to loosen the bindings after taking off the metal foil covering the cork. Make sure to hold the cork with your thumb while using your other hand to loosen the cage. To allow for a rush of CO2 you should tilt the bottle on a 45-degree angle. Using a napkin to hold the cork firmly with one hand and the middle of the bottle with the other hand. The next step is to twist the bottle while wiggling the cork. Make sure to aim the cork away from anyone in the area. Finally, you will hear a “fizz” or slight “puff” of CO2 being realized from the bottle and the cork is off. It is not good to have a loud pop as Champagne could escape with the CO2 and you lose some Champagne. Not good for the person who is paying for it.

Now to pour the Champagne. Most Champagnes have a punt at the bottom of the bottle. The punt is the depression under the bottle. You use the punt to hold the bottle by sticking your thumb in the punt and your four fingers on the outer bottle and doing this with the label showing upwards towards the host and guests. With Champagne, there is no tasting only approving of the bottle ordered at first. If there are bubbles then the wine is good to serve. Guests are served first and the serving etiquette is used. Pouring Champagne takes a steady hand and some strength as the bottle is made of thick glass and full with Champagne which can be a little tricky. The best thing to do in order to have better control is to pick the glass off the table and pour the Champagne into a tipped glass angled at 30 degrees and lifting the angle upward as the glass fills. Adjust your pour rate so as to keep the Champagne from bubbling over the glass. Place the full Champagne glass below the water glass to the right of the guest. Repeat the process until the host is served. Remember one bottle of Champagne will fill 5-ounce glasses to the top.  If one bottle is ordered for 7 people you should pour just over half a glass to make all the 7 glasses. Presenting your skills makes you look professional and professionals get bigger tips! 

Champagne goes with every course of the dinner and is a great recommendation by the server.  The price will also pad the check and increase your potential tip.
　
　
　
　
　

Service Etiquette and Protocol

The Proper serving etiquette is a list of rules created by early European Nobles who had servants in their charge and a large group of guests to serve at dinner or at special events and occasions. Coordinating the servants by the means of a protocol to who was served first and who was next to be served and so on and so on till the last person was served was critical to the flow of the service. Working in this fashion allowed several servants to work without crashing into each other.

In most cases, food service starts from the left and is taken away from the right. This is the same for beverages. If there are obstacles in the way like a wall or guests are leaning into each other in conversation then common sense is used and the service is maintained through the best and safest way possible whether it is either right or left but never over guests' heads.

In formal dinners or informal parties and even in restaurants, there is always a detailed serving etiquette. This serving etiquette can be changed depending on the host's requirements or cultural ideas and attitudes.
Guests are traditionally served first. The guest of honour being served first. Then followed by the women (with the oldest first), then the men (with the oldest first) and then the hostess and finally the host. Order tanking is done with the same protocol. Clearing the plates are done all at once if possible prior to everyone finishing their meals. The service moves on in the same fashion with the different courses providing what is to be a seamless service.

The changes occur with service when there is a priest at the table or ahead of state and his or her entourage. The priest is always served first as is the head of state. The higher the position in the order of power determines the sequence of the service etiquette. Thus, a bishop would be served before a priest. In the case of state dinners servers usually are not sure of the sequence of political service etiquette. There is usually an assistant from the political party who assists in the protocol sequence of service etiquette.

Just as in politics there is service etiquette at a wedding party. The bride is served first with the groom second. Then the bridal party at the head table. The parents of the bride and groom which are usually on one table and are next to be served.  Any table once food service is started is finished before other tables are served. The tables at weddings are numbered for the sequence of service. There are many servers at large events like weddings so it may look seamless with the rest of the service while other tables are served 2 or even 3 at a time.

The whole service etiquette can be overwhelming, but when orchestrated well it provides a safe and smooth transition between courses. The guests see the organization and feel calm and at ease with the service etiquette.