Duties of hostesses

As guests approach the restaurant, hostesses may hold the door open and welcome them to the restaurant.

Once inside, hostesses, or as TGI Friday's calls them, «smiling people-greeters» (SPGs), greet guests appropriately and, if seating is available, escort them to a table. If there is a wait, the hostess will take the guests' names and ask for their table preference.

Aside from greeting the guests, one of the critical functions of the hostess is to rotate arriving guests among the sections or stations. This ensures an even and timely distribution of guests — otherwise one section may get overloaded.

Guests are sometimes asked to wait a few minutes even if tables are available. This is done to help spread the kitchen's workload.

Hostesses maintain a book, or chart, showing the sections and tables, that they use to keep track of which tables are occupied. Hostesses escort guests to the tables, present menus, and may explain special sales promotions. Some may also remove excess covers from the table.

Duties of waiters

In some restaurants, waiters are allocated a certain number of tables, which may vary depending upon the size of the tables and the volume of the restaurant. Normally, five is the maximum. In other restaurants, waiters rotate within their section to cover three or four tables.

The waiter introduces him/herself, offers a variety of beverages and/or specials, or invites guests to select from the menu. This is known as suggestive selling. The waiter then takes the entrée orders. Often, when taking orders, the waiter begins at a designated point and takes the orders clockwise from that point. In this way, the waiter will automatically know which person is having a particular dish. When the entrees are ready, the waiter brings them to the table. He or she checks a few minutes later to see if everything is to the guests' liking and perhaps asks if they would like another beverage. Good waiters are also encouraged, when possible, to prebus tables.

Bussers may clear the entrée plates, while waiters suggestively sell desserts by describing, recommending, or showing the desserts.

Coffee and after-dinner cocktails are also offered. Suggestions for steps to take in table service include the following:

1. Greet the guests.

2. Introduce and suggestively sell beverages.

3. Suggest appetizers.

4. Take orders.

5. Check to see everything is to the guests' liking within two bites of the entrees.

6. Ask if the guests would like another drink.

7. Bring out dessert tray and suggest after-dinner drinks and coffee.

In addition to the seven steps of the table service, waiters are expected to be NCO (neat, clean, and organized) and to help ensure that hot food is served hot, and cold food is served cold.

Waiters are not merely order takers; they are the salespeople of the restaurant. A waiter who is undereducated about the menu can seriously hurt business.

Vocabulary

to be cross-trained проходить обучение по различным видам

деятельности

«curbside appeal» зд. привлекательный внешний вид

ресторана с улицы (букв, с тротуара)

word soon got around зд. слава (известность) быстро

распростра­нилась

to take orders зд. принимать заказы

clockwise по часовой стрелке

to prebus предварительно убирать посуду со столика

likewise точно так же; аналогичным образом

3. Exercise 3.1 Match the words on the left with the correct definitions on the right:

1) recognition a) a woman whose job is to welcome customers in

a restaurant and take them to their table

2) hostess b) a place for one person at a table at a restaurant

3) checklist c) a duty that you have to do because it is part of

your job or position

4) responsibility d) a chance to do something, or a situation in which

it is easy for you to do something

5) promotion e) praise, respect, or admiration

6) cover f) a word or phrase used for referring to something

7) kitchen g) a list of all the things you need to do or consider

8) term h) a drink, usually with a lot of alcohol in it, made

by mixing different drinks together

9) opportunity i) a room where they prepare and cook food

10) cocktail j) the process of attracting people's attention to a

product or event

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