Essential Service Tips

Service, Service, Service

Aside from staff and diner interactions and service recovery, here are a couple of other service tips and topics that are good to know.

Communicating quality for diners

Learn the basics in presenting quality service, food and ambience that meet your diners’ expectations.

Quality service

• Efficient, professional and meets high service standards
• Prompt and courteous
• Entertaining and personalised

Quality food

• Has the right portion, taste, freshness and presentation
• Described accurately in the menu
• Presented in the same way as seen on menus and other marketing collaterals

Quality ambience

• Pleasant in terms of lighting, music and appearance
• Marked by clean cutlery, glasses, plates and comfortable seating

Making menus accurate

Having absolute accuracy in your menu is important as diners are now becoming more educated about food. Here’s a list of things to consider for menu accuracy:

1. Quantity – Clearly and accurately stated.
2. Quality – Use quality grades and descriptions.
3. Price – Clearly indicated and include any extra charges (e.g. corkage fees, GST, VAT, etc.).
4. Brand names – Ensure brand names and claims are true.
5. Product identification – Declare actual and substitute ingredients.
6. Origin – State the source of your ingredients.
7. Advertising terms – Never exaggerate or use misleading language.
8. Means of preservation – State the methods clearly and truthfully (e.g. “Frozen” is not the same as “Fresh”).
9. Verbal & visual presentation – Serve exactly what is shown in the menu.
10. Dietary or nutritional claims – Use appropriate dietary terms (e.g. “low-fat”, “sugar free”, etc.).
    

Offering value for money options

With so many dining choices available, value for money is fast becoming a deciding factor in choosing where to eat. Diners expect the best value for their spending. Here are ways to offer value for money options:

• Choose fresh, local and in season products and ingredients.
• Combine affordable and expensive menu items.
• Use trimmings as leftovers.
• Use an efficient and effective purchasing and storage system.
  

Communicating health

There is a growing trend amongst diners for healthy eating and they expect the front of house to communicate this option to them. Here are some ideas to help communicate “healthy” to your diners:

• Use healthy key words like baked, braised, broiled or grilled to describe cooking methods.
• Suggest ways to make dishes healthier through better cooking methods.

Understanding allergens

It is unavoidable that some diners might be allergic to certain menu items. As the front of house, knowing these allergens helps you and your diners make the right decisions.

Here are the major food allergens:

1. Milk & dairy products
2. Eggs & egg products
3. Fish
4. Shellfish
5. Tree nuts
6. Peanuts
7. Wheat
8. Soy & soy products

For more information, read our Food Safety Module, or see our food allergen articles.