GUERIDON / TROLLEY SERVICE

 GUERIDON SERVICE

Introduction/ History: 

The definition of the term, GUÉRIDON is a movable service/ trolley from which food can be carved or filtered or flambéed or prepared and served. In other words, a movable side board which has sufficient equipment for the immediate service; however it should also carry all the essential equipment for example crockery, cutlery, service gears etc. The Guéridon service itself come in various forms i.e. color gas trolley, specially made for the purpose, a plain trolley or even a small table.

The origin of Guéridon service is hard to trace. It includes mixing salads, pre- preparation of fresh fruit and so on. In this form of service, the cost of the dishes is priced individually and the average cost of the meal is therefore higher than a normal/ regular meal. Another reason for higher cost is that it demands highly skilled personnel who are trained/ specialised in such kind of service along with the cost of service equipments and the capital cost related to the space required to carry out the operation.

Flambé dishes first become popular in the Edwardian Era i.e. the first claimed flambé dish was Crêpes Suzette which was  invented by Henri Charpentier who worked as a Commis at Café de Paris in Monte Carlo in the year 1894 in the honour of the Prince of Wales’ girlfriend named Suzette.

Mis-en-place for Guéridon:

The top and under shelf of the Guéridon should be covered with a folded table cloth. This, depends pon the nature of Guéridon and its appearance for the convenience of working. The cutlery and flatware layout should be similar to that of the side board. This saves time and speeds up the service from right to left. Following are some of the suggested equipments to be planned while setting up a Guéridon:

·         Service spoon and forks.

·         Dessert spoon and forks.

·         Soup, tea and Coffee spoons.

·         Fish knife and fork, special equipment including a soup and sauce ladle.

·         Joint and side knife.

The hot plates/ table heaters are placed on the left hand side on the top of the Guéridon. This heater may use gas or methylated spirit for fuel or could be electrically operated. If it is a heater, the quarter saucer should be placed under the burners. On the top, there should be a carving board, knife for carving and filleting. A selection of basic accompaniments such as oil and vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, English and French mustard and castor sugar should be available.

Under the trolley, plates used for service and different platters, side plate and some joint plates should be stacked and a bin should be placed for collecting dirty tableware. When any Guéridon operation is being carried out, there should be ample silver-ware. Cutlery and  doilies are useful for a presentation of sauces and other accompaniments.

 SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

Flare Lamps:

These are essential piece of equipment for Guéridon service and are used in re-heating, cooking and flambéing dishes. The maintenance of the flare lamps is very important and should be carried out frequently, ensuring each part is assembled back correctly and is filled to the correct level with methylated spirit and  the wick should be of sufficient length to give adequate heat when in use.

The flare lamp should be cleaned regularly with the aid of plate powder or any other cleaning method deemed fit. Regular timing/ sizing of the wick is essential, to avoid methylated spirit fumes breaking out and spoiling the aroma of the food. The lamps are usually 20-25 cm high with a grid of diameter 15-20 cm. In a purpose the built is of the same working height as that of the trolley top. This way it is much safer for the waiter/ server, as he/she works since there will be less chances of an accident. The lamps generally use Calor gas or methylated spirit.

Chafing dish or Suzette pans:

True chafing dishes are rarely seen now a day. The chafing dish was deeper, had a lid and was made to fit into its own individual heating unit. The shallower pans which are used as of today are called Suzette pans. The Suzette pans resemble frying pans in shape and size and have a diameter of 23-30 cm with or without a lip. The lip is usually found on the left hand side. The Suzette pans are generally made of silver plated copper, as this results in an even distribution of heat.

Hot Plates:

The main function of Hot Plates is to keep food hot before it is served to the guest. The hot plates are always positioned on the side board and the Guéridon. The hot plates come in a vast range of sizes and may be heated by gas, electricity or methylated spirit. Majority of hotplates used these days are heated using electricity. The hot plates should be long enough for placing different sized platters/ plates required for the service.

Guéridon (Calor gas/LPG):

A Guéridon may use a gas burner connected to a Calor gas cylinder (CALOR is the brand name of the bottler of the cylinder). The service top is flat with upper casing. This makes the trolley much safe when working on dishes or carrying out any form of flambé work at the table. The top of the trolley is stainless steel which allows for easy cleaning. Other facilities are the control switch for the gas burner, drawer for the equipment used and cutting board to be used when cooking dishes at the table. The bracket on the lower tray used for holding bottles of spirit and liqueurs and the indentation/ niches on top of the trolley for holding various accompaniments.

Care and maintenance of equipment:

There are many reasons why all equipments should be cleaned and maintained on a daily basis. Primarily, it is because of hygiene and presentation that takes place in front of the guest and is also required under the legal statutes of the Food Hygiene Regulation, 1970; the Food Act 1984; the Food safety Act 1990, the Food and Drug act and FSSAI Act, 2006.

Work performance: Efficiency and performance is lost and possibly as a result loss of customer and therefore resulting in revenue loss.

Work safety: The legal aspects of the health and safety at work 1974 would apply here as well as applicable insurance acts.

To ensure the above takes place regularly, a daily inspection and cleaning rota should be scheduled and put in place. The work should then be carried out by the food service personnel during the regular mis-en-place period and under the supervision of a senior member of the team. 

CHECK-LIST

Gas lamps:

• Check that all moving parts move freely. 

• Ensure that both the jet and burner and free from soot and dirt. 

• Clean by appropriate method – silvo or plate powder or any other method deemed fit– but remember to never ever immerse in water. 

Gas bottles: 

• Ensure at all times there is no heated equipment or naked flames near the gas bottles. 

• Checks all taps are in the off position. 

• During storage, all gas bottles should be kept cool. 

Spirit lamps:

• Check the level of methylated spirit. 

• See that the air hole is free. 

• Trim the wick and check it for length. 

• Clean of any excessive dirt and spent matches. 

• Ensure all moving parts move freely. 

• Clean using the appropriate method – but remember to not to immerse in water. 

• Any discoloration of equipment should be checked carefully and if necessary cleaned using appropriate method. 

 GUÉRIDON SERVICE

Certain qualities and attributes are expected from a waiter in carrying out this form of service.

Taking the order:

It has to be remembered first and foremost that the waiter is a sales person. The waiter must sell the dishes, which will involve working at the table. Suggestions to the customer should be made concentrating on the items on the menu to be sold, thus focusing their attention on the desired dishes the waiter may wishes to sell. Use the carving trolley and sweet trolley as visual selling aid.

The waiter must always have a good knowledge of the menu so as to give good description of the dishes available to the guest. Recognition of the host is an important factor.

·         Stand to the left of the host

·         Do not position yourself too close to guest as this may cause embarrassment.

·      Size up your host and guest according to age’s dues and nature of the party. This should then give the waiter some indication as to the type of dishes on may suggest.

·     Take all order through the host. Try to ascertain the length of time available for the meal as this could determine the type of dishes to be sold. Warn the guest of the waiting times.

·        Take note as to whether the party is all male or female.

·        Always take the order as soon as possible.

Points to be kept in mind while doing Guéridon service:

·        Guéridon service is job of chef who also responsible for doing the service.

·        Always push the Guéridon trolley as it helps to avoid accident.

·        The Guéridon should be kept in one position for the service for the complete course.

·        The trolley should never be kept near the service door as it is may be an obstruction to the waiter.

·      When more covers are being served only the main dish should be served from the Guéridon. Potatoes, sauces and vegetables should be served in normal manner.

·       Service spoon and fork are not used as in the silver service, but hold with spoon in one hand and fork in the other.

·        The filleting/ carving should not be done on silver dish but on the carving board or hot joint plate.

·         Dirty plates should always be cleared from the Guéridon trolley.

Basic accompaniments:

·         Oil & vinegar

·         Worcestershire sauce

·         English & French mustard

·         Caster sugar

Carving:

Carving of a joint is a skilled task and can only be mastered by continuous practice. Following are the point kept in mind while carving:

·      Sharp knife is used to carve a joint because a blunt knife may damage certain important issue. Meat is carved across the grain with the exception of saddle of mutton which are sometime cut at right angel to the ribs. The carving fork must be holding the joint firmly as multiple pierced damages the mind.

o   Equipment is used in carving:

§  Carving knife should be 10-12 inch long and 2.5 cm wide.

§  For poultry on game since long knife is used.

§  For ham long, thick, flexible carving knife is used.

Method for carving:

Carving of all hot food must be performed quickly so that no heat is allowed to escape.

a)         Beef and Ham: Thin slices are cut.

b)         Lamb, Mutton, Pork and Veal tongue is carved in double the thickness of beef and ham.

c)         The slicing of Boiled Beef and Pressed Meat is thicker than roast.

d)         Saddle of lamb: Carved in long thick slices.

e)         Shoulder of Lamb: It is cut from top to bottom and again from bottom to top because the cut has a bone formation which has cooked meat tucked between the bones.

f)          Cold ham: Carved bones from to bottom in thin slices.

g)         Whole chicken: Carved in six portions.

h)         Duckling: Carved in six portions, two leg, two wing and 2 breast.

i)          Turkey: Four cuts, guest is supposed to order breast and supreme.

j)          Salmon: Fillet and then sliced into 1/4 inch slices.

Carving trolley function:

·         Function of carving trolley is to act a selling aid.

·         The chefs should act as salesman and suggest right joint to right guest.

·         The carving is visual treat hence great care should be taken while doing it.

·         Carving trolley is heated using Gas or Electricity.

·         Container on which the carving board rests, should contain hot water.

·         There are two shelves for keeping hot plates.

·         Bottom shelf is for keeping the carving equipment.

Presentation of Trolley:

Where in use, the carving trolley must be presented in between the customer and the chef, which ensures that the customer can see every operation being performed and appreciate the skills being exhibited. It should be positioned in such a way that the lid is drawn from trolley towards the waiter and the safety wall is positioned on the side away from the waiter.

Mis-en-place:

·         Following mis-en-place should be placed on the caving trolley.

·         Carving board.

·         Carving knife and fork.

·         Sauce ladles.

·         Service gears.

·         Joint plate for dirties.

·         Flat ware.

·         Spare serviette and serviette cloth.

Method of serving a dish at the table:

Present the dish to the customer and then return to the Guéridon/ trolley. Place the food for service on the side of the trolley on the hot plate. The food is then carved or filleted, if necessary and is served on the plate of the guest. Unlike silver service, where the spoon and fork are used together in one hand, Guéridon service requires that the spoon and fork are used one in each hand.

The vegetables and potatoes are then served on to the plate by the waiter while the plates are still on the Guéridon. The sauces are placed on to the plates by the waiter and plate is then placed in front of the guest.

It should be noted that, when there are more than two person at one table, the main dish is served as describe, but the vegetable and potato dishes are served as for normal silver service and will be kept hot ready for service on the hot plates on the waiter side board. During this operation it will be the commis debarrasseurs’ (trainee/ apprentice) duty to keep the Guéridon clear of dirty dishes and equipment.

Safety points:

·         Never place the lamp or the hot plate outside the four trolley legs.

·         Never move the trolley near to drapes.

·         The main course does not need to be placed on the hotplate if the service is quick.

·         Serve with a spoon in one hand and the fork in another hand.

Note: Only the potatoes and vegetables are served from the platters as in case of Silver Service.

Sequence of Service:

Presentation of all dishes for all courses is very important both before the actual service commences and in placing the meal upon the plate, especially when filleting and carving.

Hors d’oeuvres or substitutes: These are served in the normal way except for speciality dishes such as pâte de foie gras, which may have to be cut into slices.

Soup: Always served from the Guéridon whether in individual soup tureens or in larger soup tureens requiring a ladle. All accompaniments are passed in advance.

Fish: Filleted where necessary and served from the Guéridon.

Meat: Carved where necessary and served from the Guéridon.

Potatoes and vegetables: Served from Platters together with sauce and accompaniment.

Sweet: Served from the Guéridon in the form of a flambé or from the cold sweet trolley. All accompaniments are passed in advance.

Savoury: Served from Guéridon.  

Coffee: Normal silver service unless speciality coffees are required.

TYPES OF TROLLEYS

There are many types of trolleys used in the restaurants practicing Guéridon service. The design, equipment required, and layout of the trolley depends on its function. The design of a flambe' trolley is different from liqueur trolley. A wide range of trolleys is available with different quality of structural material and design to suit the need and pocket of the proprietor. The various types of trolleys are

• Hors d'oeuvre varies trolley      • Carving trolley             • Cheese trolley             • Salad trolley     

• Flambé trolley                         • Liqueur trolley              • Food preparation trolley • Sweet trolley

Hors d'oeuvre Varies Trolley:

It displays 10 to 12 varieties of appetizers. The containers holding appetizers are placed over ice. The trolley is designed in such a way that it has provision for holding ice and containers. It has adequate cold half plates, necessary service gear to transfer the hors d'oeuvre selected by the guest on the cold half plate, and the appropriate accompanying sauces. The plated food is served to the guest from his/her right-hand side.

HORS D' OEUVRE TROLLEY

Salad Trolley:

It has half plates and bowls, under plates, containers with prepared ingredients, salad dressings, and seasonings that are required to prepare the salads. Salad dressings may either be prepared on the trolley in the presence of guests or in the kitchen. Most restaurants make the dressings in the kitchen and the dressing of salads is carried out on the trolley in the restaurant.

Food Preparation/ Carving/ Flambé Trolleys:

These have a gas burner or flare lamp which is fixed on the trolley to the level of the top surface. Carving trolley has carving board which is placed next to the chafing dish during carving to retain the heat of the meat. A trolley may have single or double burner. Double burner trolley is necessary when the pastry finished food is to be held hot during the preparation. One burner is used for keeping the food hot while the other is used for cooking.

FLAMBÉ TROLLEY

Cheese Trolley:

It has a variety of cheeses, cheese board, and cheese knife for cutting the cheese along with appropriate accompaniments for cheese. Surface of the trolley is normally made of marble and has transparent dome to cover the top. Cheese selected by the guest is portioned and plated on the Guéridon trolley and then served to the guest from his/her right.

CHEESE TROLLEY

Liqueur Trolley

It has assorted glasses, measure, ice bucket, spirit and liqueur bottles, carafes, etc. It may also have cigars, cigar cutter and a lighter. A restaurant normally has one or two to three types of trolleys, mainly food preparation, Flambéing and/ or liqueur trolleys.

LIQUEUR TROLLEY

FOOD PREPARATION TECHNIQUES

Tossing/ Mixing:

It is the process of combining main ingredients with the appropriate salad dressings, sauces, cream or liqueur in a mixing bowl or plate. The sauces or dressings may be prepared in the kitchen and brought to the trolley or made in front of the guests. Generally sauces, such as mayonnaise and hollandaise are prepared in the kitchen and their derivatives such as tartare (mayonnaise), mousseline (hollandaise) etc. are made on the trolley.

If the salad dressing is made on the trolley, it should be made first. Some hotels take the guests preference for dressing for their salads and prepare accordingly. The finished dressing is then added to the main ingredients and tossed.

Prepared/ cooked sea foods are tossed with mayonnaise, if served cold or with hollandaise, if served warm. Other variations of sauces are also possible according to the hotel's recipe or according to the guests’ preferences. Cut fruits are tossed with custard sauce, sweetened/ flavoured cream, liqueur or both.

Ingredients used for dressings:

The ingredients required must be brought in clean containers.

• Olive oil/ Salad oil        • Pepper (powdered/ whole)        • Vinegar          • Mustard (powder, paste)

• Salt                            • Sugar (optional)

• Other ingredients such as chopped herbs, grated cheese, gherkins, capers, Worcestershire sauce etc. are also stored if required for the preparation of dressings depending on the variations on offer

The proportion of oil to vinegar to be used depends on what type of dressing being prepared. Following is a ready reckoner for the proportion of OIL TO VINEGAR for the preparation of various salad dressings..

·         French salad dressing:                      3:1

·         Vinaigrette salad dressing:                   2:1

·         English salad dressing:                      1:2

    American salad dressing:                    1:1

Cooking:

Sautéing is the ideal type of cooking for Guéridon. In sautéing, dishes are cooked in small amount of hot oil/ butter for a very short period of time. Sirloin, tournedos, minute steaks, lamb chops, escalope, noisettes, chicken breast, fillet of fish, vegetables etc. are ideal for sautéing at the table side. During sautéing, the flavour and fumes that emanate may be enjoyable for the guests for whom it is being prepared, but others might not enjoy the experience.

The meat used for cooking at the table side should be trimmed, fat removed, and shaped in the kitchen and sent to the restaurant for finishing/ cooking. For all dishes to be prepared on the Guéridon, kitchen staff must extend good support to the service staff and provide freshly prepared ingredients. Following points should be considered while sautéing on the Guéridon:

·      Use appropriate cooking medium, which is normally a mixture of butter and oil or only butter. Oil prevents butter from browning too quickly.

·     Sear the ingredients quickly at high temperature to obtain the desired colour and to retain the juice of the meat by sealing its surface.

·       Cooking time for the preparation should be observed.

·       Deglaze the pan with the addition of liqueur or brandy and flambé (optional).

·       Reduce the sauce and coat the portioned dish.

Flambéing:

Flambéing is setting alight the liquor/ spirit that is added to the dish either during or at the end of the preparation. The liquor added mostly is brandy or liqueurs. This glamorous work is done mainly to entertain the guests at the table and to impart the flavour of the flaming liquor to the food. Though the flambé work is simple and can be done by anyone who can strike matches, the element of risk involved is very high. Following are the commonly used spirits and liqueurs used for Flambéing:

Spirits Liqueurs:

•Rum                • Curacao                      • Kirsch             • Kahlua            •Brandy             •Cointreau

•Calvados         • Tia Maria                    • Grand Marnier • Chartreuse      • Aurum           

Flambéing is very simple, as it does not require elaborate ingredients and cooking the dishes to be flambéed are already prepared in the kitchen and are only heated on the trolley in a flambé pan. The only ingredient required to flambé the dish is liquor. 

The most important point one should keep in mind is that while flambéing, it is that all ingredients for the flambé dish should be heated and liquor should be warmed in the pan before igniting it. During flambéing, if any one of the ingredients in the preparation is cold, the flame will be weak and die out soon. In such cases, the dish will not look attractive. There are two ways of flambéing dish which depend on the method of preparation and presentation.

·       Add liquor, already set alight to the dish which is held hot just before serving.

·      Add liquor to dish during the preparation at a predetermined stage. The dish is heated and set alight by gently tilting the pan. The pan with flame should be lifted slightly and moved carefully in circular motion so as to make the flame move around the pan making it look attractive.

Flambéing can be used with all kinds of dishes to make it attractive during the preparation. Sweet dishes are often flambéed. Following is the procedure for flambéing:

·      Light the cooking lamp.

·     Pour the required quantity of chosen liquor into the pan. Place the bottle of liquor well away from the flame.

·      Heat liquor on the pan and make sure all the ingredients are heated up.

·     Tilt the pan until the liquor just comes in contact with the flame and ignites.

·     As soon as the liquor is a light, lift the pan slightly and move it gently in a circular motion so that the flames move around the pan.

·    When igniting the liquor, do not bend your head and shoulders over the pan as the flames can catch you unexpectedly.

Note: Make sure, you are doing this at a safe distance from the guests’ table and the flaming liquor does not spill over the table or the trolley.

ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATION OF GUERIDON SERVICE

Advantages of Guéridon Service are as follows:

·         Highly personalized service. The service staff prepares or carves the dish and serves the guest.

·         High level of customer satisfaction. The dishes are prepared, carved, or flambéed in front of the guest.

·         Good merchandising tool. Guest will be tempted to order for dishes that are served from the trolley.

·     The Service staff can exhibit their culinary, carving, and service skills The staff has an opportunity to impress the guests by demonstrating its cooking, flambéing, carving skills to them. It also gives them good job satisfaction to serve from the trolley.

·      High average spending power (high revenue/cover). The revenue generated will be more as the dishes served from the trolley are always expensive.

Limitations of Guéridon Service are as follows:

·       Slow service: the time taken to extend the service from the trolley is more.

·      Low seat turnover: number of times a seat is sold during the operation hours will be low as the service takes more time.

·       Expensive style of service: as it requires more service area and highly skilled staff.

·       Chances of accidents are more.

·       Cooking in the service area may leave odour.