Laying the table
Table service
Laying the Table for Table Service
• For the number of customers a
restaurant will seat is referred to
as covers.
• Depending on which kind of meal
and service being offered there are
varieties of types of cover being
laid.
• A cover refers to all the necessary
cutlery, crockery, glassware and
linen required to lay a table.
Laying Tables
The type of laying depends on
the kind and the number of
served dishes.
Kinds of laying:
• Á la carte cover
• Table d´hôte cover
Direction of laying should be
clockwise.
Á la Carte Cover
• Cutlery is laid out just
before each course is
served.
Á la Carte Cover includes:
• Fish plate (centre of
cover)
• Fish knife
• Fish fork
• Side plate
• Side knife
• Napkin
• Water glass
• Wine glas
Laying the Table – Á la Carte
1. The first item should be
the fish plate at the centre
of each cover.
2. Then lay out the fish
knife and fish fork (Cutlery
should be laid 1.25 cm from the edge of
the table. Cutlery should be laid from
a service plate, from the inside to the
outside of the cover.)
Laying the Table – Á la Carte
3. Lay out the side plate and
side knife, as well as the
napkin
4. After polishing, the
glasses should be placed
at the top right-hand
corner of the cover
Table d´hôte Cover
• Cutlery for the whole meal
is laid out before the first
course is served.
Tradional cover includes:
• Joint knife •Side plate
• Fish knife •Side knife
• Soup spoon •Napking
• Joint fork •Water glass
• Fisk fork
•Wine glass
• Sweet fork
• Sweet spoon
Laying the Table – Table d´hôte
1. The first item should be
the side plate at the
centre of each cover.
2. Then lay out the joint
knife , fish knife, soup
spoon, joint fork, fish
fork, sweet fork and
sweet spoon(Cutlery should be
laid 1.25 cm frm the edge of the table.
Cutlery should be laid from a service
plate, from the inside to the outside of
the cover.)
Laying the Table – Table d´hôte
3. Move the side plate to the
left of the cover. Set out
the side knife on the side
plate as well as the
napkin in the centre of
the cover.
4. After polishing, the
glasses should be placed
at the top right-hand
corner of the cover
Arranging Glasses
The glassware is placed in group on the right-hand side,
i.e. above knives.
Different ways of placing the glass tableware:
1 – water, 2 – vodka, 3 – white wine, 4 – red wine