SC - A question on Servers

[WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com]

In a message dated 98-10-19 17:59:33 EDT, Micaylah wrote:

<< Is it normal practice in other kingdoms to have Servers serving your feast?
 
 If not, how do you get around to delivering the food to the tables?
 
 Has anyone tried the "a person sitting at table comes and gets it for the
 table" technique?
 
 Any input would be gratefully accepted at this point. >>

I have done feast service in several different ways.  I'll see if I can
enumerate & describe the reactions for you here.

"Family-style" service, being the bringing of big dishes of food to a table &
letting the feasters serve themselves:  Easy enough for the servers to
accomplish, but does not allow for any kind of portion control, so people on
the far end may not get enough or any of that particular dish, if their table
companions heap their plates.  

"Smorgasbord-type" buffet service:  Creates a free-for-all at the boards,
takes too much time, and there is no opportunity for portion control at all.
It also looks messy, and feasters get antsy waiting for their table's "turn"
to graze.

"Served-style" buffet service, with each dish being served by a person
standing behind the boards:  This one works okay for small feasts, say 60
feasters or less, and gives the kitchen steward moderate protion control
provided they have adequately informed the servers of what each portion should
be.  If it's done course by course, the number of servers needed is small,
everyone gets their portion of the food, and the time it takes is about the
same as it would be for sit-down service.

"Individual-server" type:  This is pretty much the standard service here in
Trimaris.  The Kitchen Steward will have, with luck, enough servers to send
out two teams, to work the hall from opposite ends (or sides), adequately
informed as to what each portion should be.  It is the responsibility of the
feasters themselves to pass their plates when the server reaches their table.
This is where things usually go wrong.  It's not the servers' fault, it's the
feasters.  I served a feast a few years ago where the feasters griped and
grumbled and shot dirty looks every time the servers showed up at their
tables.  They didn't want to pass their plates, they wanted the server to inch
their way between packed tables and plop food onto their plates where they
sat.  This is dangerous when a server has a huge flat tray of hot, juicy meat.
Even professional waiters would balk at this prospect, and most feast servers
are not professionals by any stretch of the imagination.  In this case, it
would behoove the Hall Steward to give a little instruction to the feasters as
to what is expected of them to afford the servers the most efficient service
possible.  

"Table-server" type, where each table sends someone to fetch the food for the
table:  This is okay for small feasts, but not particularly ideal.  It is, in
effect, family-style service, and does not allow for portion control.  It also
makes feasters grumble a lot about being on the end of the table and pressed
into service as the fetcher.  There's no way for the Kitchen Steward to know
if every table has been served every dish.  It makes their job a little
tougher than it really has to be.

I think it would be a good thing to prepare feasters for what is expected of
them at feast.  A little direction to the feasters would go a long way to
making the service of the feast more efficient and less stressful, if the
feasters were told what to do.  So many folk just don't know, and this creates
difficulties for everyone involved in getting the food to the tables.  One
nightmarish stint as a server usually "cures" the person of ever doing it
again, and this is one aspect of our recreation that can be dealt with, if
we'll just educate the populace as well as the servers.  

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother
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