[Sca-cooks] feast serving

[Mike Macchione]

> > If a kitchen can set up a staging area for the servers to pick up the
food,
> > then the servers are usually only away from the table for a minute or
so.
>
> How do they know when to come back to get the next course? What if
> each course is actually composed of half-a-dozen (or more) dishes
> that come out at seperate times?

Quick announcements made to call for servers  If you have multiple dishes,
you ask for two from a table, or ask the server to come back...... or as is
usually done, the course is split into two smaller courses.

> > On the other hand, since most feasts generally will not be able to find
one
> > server per table. I've seen longer disruptions by servers coming up to
> > tables and repeatedly asking if we received a particular dish.
>
> If the servers are assigned to the same tables for each course this
> shouldn't happen, whether they have one table or three, unless they are
> rather forgetful or disorganised.

Which is what usually happens, unless someone takes them aside before the
feast and explain how the feast is going to be run and which tables they
will be serving  When people take the time to train the servers, it usually
takes at least 15 minutes**

> You mean that most feasts can't find one server per table as volunteers
> and the only way it works is to be able to draft folks who then feel
> compelled to take on the job of server?

Suppose a feast has 150 attendees.  Around here tables usually contain 8
people. That would be roughly 20 servers.  Now add to that the kitchen
staff.... and that many of the local shires only have between 15 and 20
really active members.

> > And I find
> > the flip side to be more annoying to be the table that has to wait five
> > minutes or so for the servers to find that your table didn't get
something.
>
> Waiting five minutes doesn't seem that bad. I think that is usually lost
> in the usual commotion. I think a bigger problem is when something
> doesn't appear at all. And you don't know about it until you talk to
> folks later.

Exactly!!!!!

> > This method also has the added benefit of not having to worry about
feeding
> > the servers before or after the feast, deciding if they need to pay or
not,
> > or spending upwards of 15 minutes organizing and training servers so
that
> > the problems mentioned about are kept to a minimum.
>
> Why would you need to train general volunteer servers but not ones that
> come from a specific table? Either way, I think 15 minutes is well spent
> in this and could easily accept more, especially for volunteers from
> the general pool of workers rather than those drafted from the
> individual
> tables.

See ** above..... but when you have one server per table, they don't
generally require training.  They generally know where to take the food,
(their own table), they know when to appear at the kitchen (when they are
called)

> > As a feaster, I don't think i have ever seen anyone at a table that
really
> > minded it.   usually its people "fighting" over who would go up to get
the
> > next course.
>
> Then perhaps your area or the ones I've been to simply differ. I
> remember
> the Event Steward for the EK 12th Night (Puck) having to make at least
> two seperate appeals for servers during the feast.

Sounds like human nature....  If you ask for one server per table, people
know that they are specifically being asked to help.  If you just say, we
need help can someone volunteer, people will assume that someone else will
volunteer.

> If you have folks "fighting" over who should go up and get the next
> course, then it would seem that you would have plenty of dedicated
> servers available without conscripting folks.

yes, people usually don't mind going to get food. people are more willing to
volunteer to help their friends (who they are usually sitting with) than to
help unknown people at other tables.   At most of the feasts that I have
attended where people are asked to go up to serve themselves, usually the
first time they call for servers 3-4 people per table volunteer to go up
(hence my comment about "fighting")  and they usually the take turns going
up and getting the food.


Maybe its just me, but I have problems expecting one person for every 8
feasters to sit out of the feast, spend 2 hours or so working while others
are siting down, chatting with friends, and being served.  And then having
these servers being either rushed through dinner, served ahead (or after)
everyone else (possibly only being served an abbreviated version of the
feast because the foods haven't been finished cooking yet)

I guess it boils down to not expecting about 12% of the people around a
feast to _work_ as waiters when asking one per table means that everyone
gets to enjoy the feast   Putting menus and ingredient lists on the tables
does away with the need for servers to describe the dishes.

Your mileage may vary, but like I said, it generally seems to work better
than having a serving staff

Kael