1. Food and Beverage Service
R. Singaravelavan

2. Food Service Equipment
PART I
Food Service Equipment

3. Chapter 3 Food Service Equipment
In this chapter you will learn
Category of Food Service Equipment with examples
Types of dining room furniture, their sizes, and uses
Various linen and their uses, types of crockery and their uses
Parts and types of glassware, their sizes, and uses
Meaning of cutlery, flatware, and hollowware with examples
Special service equipment and their uses
Advantages and disadvantages of disposables
Purchase considerations and storage of service equipment

4. Food Service Equipment
Food service equipment includes all pieces of equipment of furniture, crockery, cutlery, glassware, etc used by the guests and the staff in the service area.
A wide range of service equipment is available in the market to suit various styles of food service operations.
The atmosphere of the dining area is influenced by the quality of the service equipment.

5. Equipment Category and its Examples

6. Furniture
Dining room furniture is available in many shapes, sizes, material, colour, texture, and design. Furniture chosen must blend with the décor of the service areas.
Tables, Chairs, and sideboards are commonly found furniture in food service areas.

7. Furniture Restaurant Tables:
These tables are divided into two sections- table tops and table bases.
Table tops are available in many shapes, sizes, and materials such as wood, glass, stone etc. The standard shapes are rectangular, square, and round.
Table bases are holding post of the tables and are available in many designs. The selected table tops are fixed to the table bases chosen .

8. Furniture
Table tops of granite, marble, mica, or glass is used in the outlet where the seat turn over is very high and the service is informal. These table tops are not covered with table cloth, but place mats are used.
Wooden table tops are used in fine dining restaurants. They have permanent cover of thick woollen cloth or felt, called ‘baize’. The baize is never exposed to the guests and it must always be covered with a clean table cloth.

9. Furniture

10. Furniture Following table shows the table sizes and their capacities
The Standard height of a dining table is 30”
The size of the cover is 24” x 15”

11. Furniture
Restaurant Chairs are available in wood, metal, and PVC They are available in many styles, with arms and without arms. The type of Chairs to be procured depends on the target clients and profile of the restaurant.
Wooden chairs- Favorite in steak houses and fine dining restaurants.
Metal chairs -provide a modern and sleek look. Available in colours
Moulded PVC chairs - suitable for cafeterias and low budget eateries

12. Furniture Standard size of Chair
Height of the chair ( from floor to the seat) : 18”
From floor to the top of the chair : 39”
Depth of the chair : 18”

13. Furniture
High Chairs and booster Seats : Used for children. They are available in variety of finishes and colours.
Banquet Tables: Used in function catering and are available in many shapes and sizes. The Common ones are long and round tables.
The size of commonly used long table is 6 x 2 ½’ and 8 x 2 ½’
Other shapes of banquet tables are quarter round, half round, and serpentine

14. Furniture

15. Furniture

16. Furniture
Banquet Chairs: are used during function. These are available with arms or without arms. The chairs should be stackable, comfortable, strong , and sturdy
Sideboard : It holds all the necessary cutlery, crockery, hollowware, menu cards, check pads, accompanying sauces, etc that are required during service. It is also termed as a ‘dummy waiter’.

17. Furniture

18. Furniture Number of sideboards required for a service area depends on
Total number of covers
space available
style of service
quantity of equipment to be held
number of wait staff to share the sideboard

19. Furniture Reception Desk
It is a high desk placed near the entrance of the restaurants that accept reservations.
It holds a telephone and a reservation book
The keys of the sideboards, linen cupboards etc are placed in the drawers of the desk
Restaurants where seat turnover is very high and customers walk in without reservations would not have such a desk. Example fast food outlets, cafeterias etc

20. Linen
‘Linen’ in food service area refers to tablecloths, napkins, tray cloths, slip cloths, buffet cloths, waiter’s cloths, and tea cloths
The fabric chosen should be long lasting, with non-fading colours and must withstand frequent laundering and stain removal process.

21. Linen
Table cloth
All tables with wooden top are covered with tablecloths
The colour of the cloth must blend with colour scheme of the interior
Hotels with many restaurants may use different colored tablecloths for each outlet for better control of linen movement
The size of the table cloth depends on the size of the table to be covered

22. Linen
The minimum fall of the table cloth from the edge of the table is 9”
To cover the table of 2’6’ square table, the minimum size of the cloth is 48” x 48” which is calculated as
Width of the table : 30”
Add: fall of tablecloth on two sides : 18”
Total : 48”

23. Linen

24. Linen
Napkins
Napkins are used for guests’ use, folded and kept either in the glass, on side plate , or in the centre of the cover.
The folded napkins are kept in the glass for the dinner, and on side plates or at the centre of the cover for lunch. However this is not followed rigidly.
All covers must have one type of fold and all covers must have napkins placed in one position

25. Linen Points observed while folding the napkins
Always use square, clean, and starched napkins
Do not use torn or frayed napkins
Make simple folds that do not require too much of handling
Crease well at every stage of fold
Avoid complicated folds as they look unimpressive when unfolded

26. Linen

27. Linen

28. Linen

29. Linen

30. Linen
Slip Cloth : It is used to cover the soiled table cloth during the operations
Waiter’s Cloth : It is used by waiters during the service for wiping the edges of the dishes and for carrying the hot dishes.
This should be folded and carried just above the wrist and never over the shoulder, around the neck, or tucked inside the pocket.
The cloth should be clean and changed immediately if stained.

31. Linen

32. Linen
Tray cloth : It is used for lining the tray for better presentation and to provide good grip for the items being carried.
The cloth should be changed as and when it becomes wet or soiled.
To avoid frequent changing of cloth, rexin material may be used which can be wiped dry

33. Linen
Buffet Cloth: Buffet cloths of various sizes are used for covering the buffet tables. The following must be remembered while covering the buffet tables
Centre crease of the cloth should run in the middle of the table
When more cloths are used, the overlapping of the cloth should not be facing the entrance
The fall of the cloth should be even all over, especially on the front side

34. Linen
Satin Cloth: It is draped around the front side of the buffet table to cover the legs and to make the buffet counter attractive. It is available in attractive colors.
Tea Cloth: It is used for wiping cutlery and crockery. The cloth should be lint free and changed frequently.

35. Crockery
It includes all items of earthenware or chinaware such as plates, cups and saucers, pots, vases etc
Following are the different types of chinaware available in the market
Earthenware: It is cheaper, but easily chipped, and much heavier than bone china
Bone China: It is strong and translucent. Very expensive
Porcelain: It is vitreous and translucent with blue or grey tinge. It is used in oven-to-tableware dishes
Stoneware: It is hard, tough, and vitreous crockery, fired at high temperature. Available in bright colours.

36. Crockery Consider the following points while selecting the chinaware
Plates should have complete and even glaze
Pattern or design should be under the glaze so that it does not wear out
Should be suitable for multi purpose
Light weight and Stackable
Suitable for machine washing
Resistant to high temperatures

37. Crockery

38. Glassware
Food and Beverage service outlets use variety of glasses for different types of drinks. Glasses are named by the drinks served in them.
There are two types of glassware
Plain glass
Cut glass
Glasses have any or all of the following parts
Bowl
Base or foot
Stem

39. Glassware
Glassware is classified into the following according to their parts
Tumbler: It is a bowl without stem or foot. Its sides may be straight or widened. Examples Rock glass, Collins, highball, juice glass
Footed ware: In this, the bowl is attached to the base/foot without stem. Examples Brandy balloon, Beer goblet
Stemware: This type has all three parts. The stem connects the bowl with the base. Examples Red wine glass, white wine glass, Champagne saucer etc

40. Glassware
The capacity of the glasses is either expressed in ‘out’, oz, or ml
The glassware chosen should
be free from air bubbles
have smooth, transparent, and even finish
be relatively heavy and durable
be resistant to impact and thermal shock
be easy to replace
not be cracked or chipped

41. Glassware

42. Glassware

43. Tableware Tableware refers to flatware, cutlery, and hollowware
Flatware means all forms of spoons and forks
Cutlery refers to all types of knives and other cutting implements used in the dining area. However, cutlery is the common term in the hotel industry to refer to spoons, knives, and forks
Hollowware refers to all tableware other than cutlery. Examples pots, jugs, butter dish, jugs, finger bowls etc

44. Tableware
Cutlery is available in various designs in silver, plated silver, and stainless steel. The type of metal needed depends on the profile of the restaurant, and the capital available.
Silver, and plated silver cutlery: expensive, suitable for high-class restaurant. It is expensive and consumes more labour for polishing.
Stainless steel cutlery: It is cheap, easier to clean, and resists scratching. Most food service operations prefer Stainless Steel.

45. Tableware

46. Tableware

47. Special and Miscellaneous Equipment and Their Uses
Given below are the some of the special and miscellaneous equipment, their uses, and the storage area. Refer to page no. 71 to 75 for more details

48. Tableware

49. Tableware

50. Disposables
Disposables are extensively used in all types of catering operations.
Disposable cups, plates, knives, spoons, forks, table rolls, place mats, napkins are some of the examples.
Disposable has many advantages. It reduces investment, labor on washing, laundry cost, storage area, breakages etc.
The main disadvantage of disposable is that it creates litter, especially during the off premises catering.

51. Purchase Considerations for Food service Equipment
Following points must be considered while purchasing the food service equipment
Capital Available
Type of clientele
Style of Service
Location
Efficiency and durability
Cost of Maintenance
Replacement

52. Purchase Considerations for Food service Equipment
Menu Items
Type of Meal on offer
Storage
Suitable for multiple applications
Design and Pattern to suit the décor
Operation Cost

53. Storage of Service Equipment
Crockery: Clean crockery should be stored in piles of 20 to 25 for easier counting. The piles should be kept covered and stored at convenient heights .
Glassware: Clean and polished glasses should be stored upside down in a cupboard or shelves lined with paper or stored in plastic-coated wire racks. Do not put one inside the other as this will cause cracks and accidents to staff.

54. Storage of Service Equipment
Linen: Linen of different sizes and colours should be neatly folded and stored in linen racks or cupboards lined with paper. The inverted fold of linen should be outside for easier counting and picking up.
Cutlery and Hollowware: Cleaned and polished cutleries are segregated and stored in the compartmental drawers of the sideboard. Hollowware items are stored in shelves at a convenient height.
Furniture: Chairs are stacked and covered and the collapsible tables are stacked one over the other.

55. Points to Remember
Wide range of service equipment is available in the market to suit the requirement and the pocket of the food service operators
The quality of service equipment in use reflects the profile the restaurant
Wooden furniture are used in fine dining and specialty restaurants and metal and moulded PVC chairs are used in fast food joints, popular restaurants, cafeterias and so on

56. Points to Remember
Furniture chosen should be comfortable, easy to maintain, sturdy, and durable.
Linen should be long lasting, with non-fading colours and must withstand frequent laundering and stain removal process
Tables with wooden top should always have ‘baize’ and covered with table cloth whereas other table tops will have place mats
All covers should have one type of napkin fold placed in one position

57. Points to Remember
Bone china crockery is strong, beautiful, but expensive. Upscale restaurants use bone china
Silver and Silver plated cutlery is very expensive and the cost of maintenance is high while stainless steel cutlery is cheaper, easy to maintain, and resists scratches.
The selected cutlery, crockery, and glassware should be opt for multiple applications.
Service equipment must be stored properly in the appropriate place