Chapter 13
Managing the Function
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Preparing for the Function
•Banquet manager MUST plan and organize
the minute details to make the function a
success
•Great service is made up of many moments
of truth that the banquet manager must
control
•If the manager successfully attends to the
details, the event will be a success
– See Figure 13-1
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Preparing for the Function (continued)
•The banquet event order (BEO)
– Information is used to organize, plan, and
manage the event
– Distributed to department heads to schedule
employees, order food and beverages
– Any last-minute changes are forwarded to
department heads, highlighting the changes
– Guarantee obtained from the client
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Staffing the Event
•After the guarantee is received,
schedule proper number of employees
to serve the party, including bar and
kitchen staff
– Too few results in slow service
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Staffing the Event (continued)
•Service staff needed depends on the
– Number of guests at a table
– Competency of staff
– If staff is covered by union representation,
contract states staffing requirements
– Generally one service person serves
between 16 to 24 guests efficiently
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Staffing the Event (continued)
•Bar staff needed
– Cocktail reception—either before dinner
or by itself
– One bartender for every 50 guests
– After dinner, one for every 100 guests
– Extra bartenders needed
• Only for cocktail reception
– See Figure 13-2
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Staffing the Event (continued)
•Kitchen staff
– Area where most banquet managers do not give
proper consideration
•At a banquet, it is extremely important to
serve the guests as quickly as possible
– Kitchen MUST be organized—Figure 13-3 and
Figure 13-4
•Industry guideline to serve one course
– 100 guests in a maximum of 10 minutes
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Planning for the Equipment
•BEO
– Contains information needed for planning
the equipment
•Banquet manager determines exactly
what plates and utensils are needed
– See page 358, Lockwood wedding
•Banquet checklist
– See Figure 13-5
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Planning for the Needed
Extra Equipment
•Need extra equipment such as
– Salt and pepper shakers
–
–
–
– Cream containers
•Guests never have to ask for any item
– See Figure 13-6
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Planning for the Needed
Extra Equipment (continued)
•Need to order extra
– Napkins
• Used for sidetowels
• Center of banquet table
– Contrasting color from the table cloth and same
color of guest napkins
– Bread and butter dishes
• Used as coffee shields
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Planning for the Needed
Extra Equipment (continued)
•Once equipment is calculated, the
banquet checklist is completed
•Obtain equipment before staff arrives
– Can start setting room when clocked-in
• No waiting for equipment
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Organizing the Jobs for the
Service Staff
•Manager plans detailed work schedule
– Before employees arrive to work
– Prepares a duty roster
• Posted in the same location
• Three columns
– First: Time by which the job must be complete
– Second: Who is responsible for doing the job
– Third: The specific job to be done
– See Figure 13-7
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Organizing the Jobs for the
Service Staff (continued)
•The first job of the day
– Manager checks the banquet room to
see the physical set up
• Once setup is proper, doors guests enter are
locked
– Prevents guests from entering the room
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Organizing the Jobs for the
Service Staff (continued)
•Planning the place setting and cover
– One setting is set on one table before
staff arrives
• Called sample setting to eliminate any
questions the staff may have
– See Figure 13-8
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Organizing the Jobs for the
Service Staff (continued)
•Direction of setting up the room
– Proper way to set up room
• Set tables farthest from kitchen first
– Work back toward the kitchen
•If for some reason room is NOT
completely set up when guests arrive,
staff can continue setting up without
carrying items through the guests to the
farthest part of the room
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Serving the Party
•Four styles of service used in American
banquet
– Station Method
– Follow-up Method
– Combination Method
– Sweep Method
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Serving the Party (continued)
•Station Method
–
service person is assigned two tables
of either 8 or 10 guests—16 to 20 guests
total
• Solely responsible for the service at those
tables
– Best used with large staff of temporary
workers
•See Figure 13-9
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Serving the Party (continued)
•Station Method
– Advantage
• Manager knows who is responsible for service at all
tables
– Disadvantages
• Slowest type of American banquet service
• Guests’ tables may not be served in proper order
– Potential problem
• Service staff setting ONLY their tables
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Follow-up Method
– One of the most efficient methods
– Quickest service if staff can master the system
– Takes planning, cooperation, and leadership
– Staff divide into two teams, each responsible for
one half of the room
•See Figure 13-10
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Follow-up Method
– When time to clear dirty dishes, all team
members work together removing the dishes
• Work from head table backwards toward kitchen
– Advantages
• Fast service and guests served in proper order
– Disadvantage
• Difficult to teach to temporary help
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Combination Method
– Combines best features of the Follow-up
and Station Methods
• Food is served by the team system
– Clearing dirty dishes and serving beverages
– Service person responsible for a station
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Combination Method
– Advantages
• Can be taught to permanent or temporary
staff
– Only key people are head service people
• Tables are served in proper order
• Confusion of service staff eliminated
– Disadvantage
• Slower than Follow-up Method
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Sweep Method
– Best used when one entrée is offered
– Utilizes speed and organization
– Room is divided into sections
• Each section has
– A Banquet supervisor
– Service persons to serve beverages
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Sweep Method
– Most service staff divided into teams
• Luggers —Carry food from kitchen, dirty
dishes to dish room
– Look for banquet supervisor—delivers tray by them
• Servers —Serve the food and clear dirty dishes
– Takes plates off trays—serves the guests
• When table is completely served, banquet
supervisor moves to next table with the
traystand
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Sweep Method
– Once all guests have been served
• Method differs from other methods
– Team returns to front section to start removing
finished plates of guests who were served first
– Staff DOES NOT wait until all guests are finished
eating to remove the dirty plates
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Serving the Party (continued)
•The Sweep Method
– Speeds up service of the banquet
– As soon as all plates are cleared, luggers
carry out the next course
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Serving the Party (continued)
•Banquet manager should decide which
system to use based upon
– Capabilities of the staff
– Organizational qualities of the manager
•Whichever method is used, the banquet
manager MUST be in the room at all times
when
– Food is being served
– Dishes are being cleared
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Proper Order of Serving the Party
•MUST know the correct order in which
to serve the guests
•Head table is always served first
– Next are tables in front of the head table
• Service follows a logical manner, going from
head table to the back of the room
• See Figure 13-11
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Serving Cocktail Parties
•Guests obtain first impression of service
at the cocktail reception
– Bar manager—responsible for bartenders
– Chef—responsible for cooks
•Food being served should be ample
enough to provide the guests with
appetizers before the meal, BUT not so
ample that it spoils their appetite
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Serving Cocktail Parties (continued)
• Passed hors d’oeuvres
– Called “Butler Style”
• Food carried on trays with cocktail napkins, which are
offered to the guests when hors d’oeuvre is taken
• Staff HAS to be
– Knowledgeable about ALL items on tray
– Able to explain items to the guests
– Staff circulates throughout the room, offering
food, picking up dirty plates and glasses
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Serving Cocktail Parties (continued)
•Tips about cocktail parties
– Always position bars away from
• Entrances to the room
• Food tables
– Stagger service of hors d’oeuvres
– Combine butler style with hot and cold
stations, most elegant type of service
– Plan about 5 pieces of food per person at
a cocktail party before a meal
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Serving Cocktail Parties (continued)
•Tips about cocktail parties
–
• Controversial issue —check policy of establishment
– Ending the cocktail reception must have a
method that does NOT offend the client
• Involves tact and diplomacy
• Bars need to shut down —finish serving drinks
– Inform guests bar is closed
– Walk away from the bar
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Running the Banquet Party
•When doors are unlocked, the room is
completely set to receive guests
– Main responsibility of the banquet
manager is to get all the guests seated
and the meal served
• Easy if seating assignments are made
• More difficult if no seating assignments are
made
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Running the Banquet Party
(continued)
•Serving and clearing the meal
– Once all guests are seated and
introductions, blessings, or toasts have
been given, staff can serve the meal
– Communication between the banquet
manager and chef is a MUST for a
successful banquet
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Running the Banquet Party
(continued)
•Giving the number to the chef
– Inform the chef about the progress of the
party
– Give verified number of guests to the chef
to make adjustments on the food
– When late guests arrive, inform the chef
immediately
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Running the Banquet Party
(continued)
•Obtain guest preference for main
course
– When more than one entrée is offered,
use color tickets at the place setting
• Each color represents a particular entrée
– Service staff collects and records who gets what
– All guests at one table are served at
approximately the same time
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Controlling the Function
•Clients pay their bill based upon the
number of meal tickets collected
– Person in kitchen collects tickets from
service staff
– At a buffet—Person stationed at the front
of the buffet line collects tickets
– If there is a discrepancy, count the
number of guests with the client
• Use the confirmed count
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Buffets
•Manager is responsible for having
buffet set up and ready for the guests
at the scheduled time
•A few basic principles
– Serve hot food hot, cold food cold
– Arrange buffet lines so guests don’t wait
– Keep buffets looking neat
• See Figure 13-12
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Buffets (continued)
•Use of buffets
– Great for clients who want guests to have
choices
– When function rooms are limited, food is
served in same room
– Buffet tables on wheels can be rolled into
a room when guests are ready to eat
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Buffets (continued)
•Flow and layout of the buffet
– Have separate islands for different parts
of the meal
– One buffet line for every 100 guests
– All condiments are placed in front of or
next to the food they accompany
• Proper utensils for use of condiments are
placed nearby
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The Setup of the Buffet
•First item in line: Clean plates
– Check top and bottom of plates for
cleanliness
•Usually arranged in the same manner
as a meal is served
•See Figure 13-13 and Figure 13-14
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The Setup of the Buffet (continued)
•Service staff jobs at a buffet
– Depends on the style of buffet
– Service person positioned behind line
• Assisting guests by portioning out the food
• Answer questions about the food
• Clean up any spills
• Keep buffet line moving
• Replenish food
• Keep buffet line neat and clean
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The Setup of the Buffet (continued)
•Service staff jobs at a buffet
– Service person instructed to replenish
food when there is between 1/3 to 1/4
remaining in tray or pan
– Runner obtains the food from the kitchen
• Switches trays in chafing dish
– NOT mixing food from the line to the new tray
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The Setup of the Buffet (continued)
•Controlling the traffic flow
– Guests proceed to the buffet line in an
organized fashion
– Banquet manager announces
• Which table may proceed to the buffet
– Host’s table is invited first to proceed to the buffet
– If client requested quick buffet service
• More than one buffet needs to be set up
• Double-sided buffet line
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The Setup of the Buffet (continued)
•Chafing dishes
– Used to keep hot food hot
– Act like a portable steam table
– Use canned heat—Sternos
• To heat water in an underliner pan
– Steam created keeps food hot
• MUST check Sternos during service
– Replace if empty
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The Setup of the Buffet (continued)
•Carvers
– Stationed at a food station
– Carve hot items like
•
•
•
– Fee for a carver should be clearly stated
in the policy sheet
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Final Tip on Buffet Setups
•Should look appetizing
– Display food with imagination
• Use height for trays
• Use trays with pedestals
– Stand back and look at the buffet
• Make adjustments as necessary
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Final Tip on Buffet Setups (continued)
•Keeping food hot
– In addition to chafing dishes
• Hot boxes used to keep food hot
– Either electrically or using Sternos
– Food stored and wheeled to the location of the
event
• Food is served on warm plates
– Cold plates lead to cold food
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The Sequence of Service
for a Sit-Down Meal
•Use the Lockwood wedding as a guide
– Refer to pages 382–383
– Eleven steps used
• Banquet manager MUST be flexible when
serving a meal
– Make adjustments to satisfy the needs of the guests
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Problems with Latecomers and
Early-Leavers
•If guests are late, serve them the
course they desire as quickly as
possible
•If guests need to leave early, possibly
serve main course while guests eat the
salad
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Banquet Checkbacks
•Imperative to check satisfaction of ALL
guest tables after main course has
been served to determine whether the
meal and service were satisfactory
– Done by observing the guest’s plates
•A fact to remember
– Influencing one guest at a banquet has
the potential to sell an additional
banquet for many guests
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Banquet Checkbacks (continued)
•It is easier to obtain business from
people who have experienced your
operation than to create a whole new
market
•Throughout the event, the manager
should be constantly communicating
with the client
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Managing the Meeting Room
Business
•Knowing the correct way to manage
the meeting room business is important
for repeat business
•Make sure that all items are in place
and the room is set up correctly before
the guests arrive
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Managing the Meeting Room
Business (continued)
•Timing is critical for breaks
– During the break, the banquet manager
should have a staff member service the
room
• Replenish the water
• Freshen up the room
– Replenish snacks
– Take out garbage
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Presenting the Bill to the Host and
Rebooking the Party
•Banquet manager’s last jobs of the day
– Presenting and explaining the bill
• Payment should be obtained and CLIENT
should be THANKED
– If the event is an annual event, ask the
client whether he or she wants to rebook
for the following year
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Breakdown of the Function
•Once guests have departed, there is
still work to be done
•Banquet manager needs a system for
cleaning up the dining room
– Dirty dishes and equipment must be
brought into the kitchen in an organized
fashion
•Once cleaned to your satisfaction,
thank and dismiss the employees
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Lawsuits and the Restaurant
•Food service industry has been sued
increasingly by guests who claim
personal injury/harm
– See pages 389–391 for examples
•Many, if not most, lawsuits can be
prevented through good management
practices
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A Final Tip
•Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment
(TRAC) requires employers to take an
active role in educating and
reeducating their employees, quarterly,
about their tip reporting requirements
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