Dining Room Service

The last class in this semester's rotation is Dining Room Service. Four days a week, our class will act as waitstaff for the school's restaurant, American Harvest. The point of this class (besides free labor for the school again) is to become acquainted with front of the house duties.

I have never waited on tables in my life, so this class proves to be entertaining. We still have to wear uniforms, but now it's black pants, white blouse, a black tie (I chose to wear a bow tie), and an apron. No dorky chef hat. Whoo hoo!

Each shift, we all have "side work" prior to service. My task is to make sure that we are stocked with butter, lemons, canned/bottled beverages, takeout containers, doilies, and linens. The menu changes each day so at 11:30 AM we line up and listen to the chef describe that day's menu. The pastry class makes desserts each day and we have to familiarize ourselves with those as well. A second year culinary class makes the food and we serve it.

So many details...serve from the left, retrieve from the right...garnish the soup correctly (today's soup was puree of corn with rock shrimp, garnished with cracked black pepper, lobster oil, and cilantro)...place the dessert plate properly (the point of the dessert (cake, pie, etc.) should point to the guest (always say guest, never customer)...

And no, we don't get to keep the tips. They go to a scholarship fund.