1. Chapter Seven

2.  A production plan lists the types and amounts of finished foods and beverages needed, when they must be ready, and when they should be produced  The chef and banquet manager must have copies of the banquet event orders (BEOs) so that they can incorporate them into the daily production and work schedules.

3.  The chef needs to requisition foods from the storeroom  If the kitchen staff needs something unusual that the catering operation does not normally carry in stock, he or she will need to prepare a purchase requisition a few days before the meal function and for the purchasing department  The purchasing agent will then have enough time to shop around for the product and get the best possible value.

4.  The amount of food that must be requisitioned and produced depends primarily on the:  Number of guests expected  Style of service  Expected edible yields.

5.  You should plan to prepare enough foods to handle the guaranteed guest count, plus a set percentage above that amount  Generally speaking, if the guarantee is 100 guests, you should plan for 10 percent more  If the guarantee ranges from 100 to 1,000 guests, you should plan for 5 percent more  If the guarantee exceeds 1,000 guests, you should plan for 3 percent more.

6.  With a sit-down, pre-plated meal, it is less difficult to compute the food-requisition amounts as you can control portion sizes  If the main course is roast bottom round of beef, the serving size is 6 cooked ounces, and the expected edible yield percentage for the raw roast beef is 75%, you will need to requisition approx. 55 pounds of raw beef for a party of 100 guests  Fifty-five pounds will serve 110 guests, 100 plus an extra 10 guests.

7.  Divide serving size by edible yield percentage. ◦ This will tell you how much raw product you need per serving. ◦ 6 ounces/.75 = 8 ounces  Divide 16 ounces by the amount of raw product needed per serving ◦ This will tell you the number of edible servings you can get from one raw pound of roast beef. ◦ 16 ounces/8 ounces = 2 servings  Divide the number of guests by the number of edible servings per raw pound ◦ This will give you the amount of raw roast beef you must requisition. ◦ 110 servings/2 = 55 raw pounds

8.  It is much easier to determine how much alcoholic beverage you will need than it is to forecast your food requirements  Unlike food, beverage is a standardized, manufactured product  You do not have to worry about spoilage and quality and yield variations  As long as your liquor storeroom is well stocked, you will never run out of product.

9.  Usually the banquet and reception bars are set up with a par stock of beverages, ice, glassware, garnishes, and other necessary supplies about a half-hour to an hour before the catered event is scheduled to begin  The normal par stock used is influenced by the: ◦ Number of guests expected. ◦ The caterer’s experience with similar events ◦ Amount of storage space available at the bar.

10. Type of Spirit# of Liters Blend1 Canadian1 Scotch2 Bourbon1 Gin1 Vodka3 Rum2 Brandy/Cognac1

11.  Expect liquor consumption to average at least 2 1/2 drinks per guest during a one-hour reception, particularly if the event attracts a mixed-company crowd  Average consumption tends to drop at very large receptions and it usually increases at male-only events  If you schedule enough help and stock enough inventory to handle 2 1/2 drinks per hour, you should be able to accommodate any type of beverage function adequately.

12.  Usually you will estimate 2 ½ servings of wine per guest for the typical dinner banquet  In this example, you will need to order enough wine to serve 275 glasses ◦ 110 X 2.5  Since the standard wine glass holds a 5- ounce portion (approx. 148 ml), you will need to order about 55 750-milliliter bottles of wine.

13.  Divide the amount of liquor per 750-milliliter bottle by the serving size ◦ This will tell you how many potential drinks you can obtain per container ◦ 750 ml/148 ml = 5.07 potential drinks per bottle  Divide the number of servings needed by the number of potential drinks per container ◦ This will tell you how many containers you will need to special order ◦ 275 servings/5.07 = 54.24 750-milliliter bottles, rounded to 55 ◦ 750 ml bottles needed.

14.  If you take into account over-pouring, waste, and the fact that usually you cannot get all of the liquid out of a bottle (some of it will stick to the sides), you will need to increase your order size  If you assume that you will lose 1 ounce (approximately 30 ml) per 750-milliliter bottle, your order size will be about 57 750-milliliter bottles of wine  The calculations are: ◦ 750 - 720 ml/148 ml = 4.86 potential drinks per bottle ◦ 275 servings/4.86 = 56.58 750-milliliter bottles, rounded to 57 750-milliliter bottles needed.

15.  Finish cooking involves cooking to guest order  The chef must wait for the guest to order a rare steak; he or she does not prep it in advance.  Finish cooking is the most difficult part of the food production plan  It is also the most labor intensive  You need to schedule a lot of worker hours  Worker hours must be provided by highly skilled food handlers who can work under the demanding conditions that accompany most finish-cooking activities.  A chef working at an egg action station must be quick, efficient, and accurate as he or she will be producing two or three guest orders at a time and will need to remember them as well as those that are coming in from other guests waiting in line.

16.  In general, the number of food production work hours needed for a catered event will depend on the: ◦ Number of guests ◦ Amount of time scheduled ◦ Union and company policy ◦ Type of service style ◦ Amount of convenience foods used ◦ Amount of scratch production ◦ Amount of finish cooking needed ◦ (Continued)

17.  Continued ◦ Type of menu items offered ◦ Number of last minute requests ◦ Number of special diets ◦ Accuracy of meal time estimates

18.  Types of service personnel: ◦ Maitre d’hotel (floor manager) ◦ Captain (room manager) ◦ Food server ◦ Cocktail server ◦ Sommelier ◦ Food runner ◦ Bus person

19.  Napkin folds  Placing table pads and tablecloths  Table settings  Presetting foods  Greeting/seating guests  Taking food/beverage orders  Serving food and beverage  Opening wine bottles, pouring wine  Hot and cold beverage service  Crumbing and bussing tables

20.  The number of service personnel needed to handle a given number of guests, are usually established by management  These ratios are the heart of the service staffing guide.

21.  The number of service personnel needed depends on many factors, including: ◦ Number of guests ◦ Length of the event ◦ Style of service ◦ Menu length and complexity ◦ Timing of the event ◦ Room location ◦ Room setup ◦ Probability of overtime ◦ Extraordinary requests ◦ Union and company policies

22.  The number of servers can vary from one staff member for every 8 guests to a high of one staff member for every 40 guests.  Industry experts suggest that the minimum service ratio for conventional sit-down meal functions with American-style service with some foods pre-set, is one server for every 20 guests. If you are using rounds of 10, you should schedule one server for every 2 dining tables  If you are using rounds of 8, two servers should be scheduled to handle 5 dining tables.

23.  If the conventional sit-down meal function includes Russian, French or poured-wine service, you normally will need one server for every 16 guests  You should schedule one server for every two rounds of 8, or two servers for every three rounds of 10  One busser for every six rounds of 10, or every eight rounds of 8

24.  The banquet manager usually sets aside one day each week to prepare the service work schedules for the following week  Each week, he or she must prepare a fixed work schedule and a variable work schedule  Fixed employees usually have steady, predictable work schedules  Variable labor is incremental labor, it fluctuates with the volume of catering business.

25.  The work schedules will be based primarily on the: ◦ Types of functions booked that week ◦ Expected lengths of each function ◦ Number of guests anticipated ◦ Styles of service required ◦ Allowable labor costs ◦ Employee availability ◦ Degree of guest satisfaction required

26.  Allocate a sufficient number of work hours to cover the pre-opening and tear-down periods  Stagger your servers so that some arrive and leave earlier than others  You should aim to have the maximum number of workers available when the catered functions are in high gear, and fewer scheduled at function beginnings and endings.

27.  About 15 minutes before you want the meal service to start, you should begin calling guests  You can start the music, dim the lights in the pre-function area, ring chimes, or make announcements to signal guests that it is time to enter the dining room for dinner  Servers should be standing ready at their stations when guests walk into the room, not against the wall talking with each other.

28.  For most conventional meal functions, the salad course will usually take about twenty to thirty minutes  The main course, about thirty to fifty minutes, from serving to removing of plates  Dessert can usually be handled in approximately twenty to thirty minutes  The entire meal will be about 1 1/4 hours for a typical luncheon and 2 hours for a typical dinner.

29.  Food and beverage production and service must be carried out in a safe and wholesome manner  Anyone handling foods and beverages must be trained to practice basic safety and sanitation procedures to ensure that employees and guests do not fall victims to accidents or food-borne illnesses.

30.  In most locations in the U.S., all food-contact equipment must display the blue seal of the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation)  Equipment that does not carry this seal usually cannot be used in commercial food and beverage operations.  Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) and the American Gas Association (AGA) inspect and certify equipment compliance with generally accepted safety standards  A gas oven displaying the AGA seal is safe to use in commercial production  Most local building codes usually require all equipment and permanent installations to meet or exceed safety standards promulgated by these types of independent inspectors.