[Sca-cooks] A question of serving

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

This is what I, as head server, feel the job entails:

coordinate with head cook about setup of feast hall
set up feast hall
figure out serving paraphenalia, plating order, etc.
instruct servers
liaison between the hall and the kitchen

The cook should be done at this point, unless the kitchen staff is helping
plate things. We have a volunteer coordinator as a staff position for our
events, so that there's one main point of contact for volunteers--in the
past, I'd be handling that part of it too.

In this specific case I ended up coordinating the toasts, but only because
I got proactive about it.

So how do other people/places handle it?

Margaret FitzWilliam


Excerpts from "The Feast Planner's Handbook" by Christine Seelye-King
(Mistress Christianna MacGrain)

Organizing the Service Plan

	There are several options available for organizing your service plan.
Consider the size of the dining hall, it’s location and traffic flow from
the kitchen, number of diners and placement of tables, theme of the event
and meal.
Options include:

Ø	Buffet - Setting up tables for the food to be placed on.  Diners line up
and serve themselves from the buffet line.  This works well for meals that
are served over a longer period of time, such as brunches, day boards, or
other ‘eat when you are ready’ scenarios.  At meals where everyone sits down
to eat at the same time, there is a vast difference in the dining times of
the first and last people through the line, not to mention getting the dregs
of the dishes!  Two or more serving lines can help alleviate this problem.
This style works better for smaller groups (40 or below) if everyone is
eating at once.

Ø	Tableside - Servers bring food on platters or other serving vessels to the
table and serve each diner individually.  Soups are often served this way.
If there is something that needs to be done to a dish at the moment of
service (as in lighting a flambé, cutting meat, adding a sauce) training
servers to do this tableside can create a very memorable experience for the
diners.

Ø	Family Style - Platters delivered to the table containing the entire
portion of food for every diner there.  Serving utensils are added and
diners serve themselves.

Ø	“One server from every table...” - a method of serving Family Style
service.  A designated server or individuals in rotation get up from each
table and collect the foods portioned out for them.  Ensures that every
table gets served, but cuts down on the amount of server education you can
do.  A Feast Menu on the table helps in this situation.

Ø	Covered Trencher - An SCA-ism for a pot-luck dinner, where members all
bring a dish to serve at least 6 people.  Very effective for one-day events
and socials.  Themes and recipes can be distributed in advance so that cooks
can try new dishes and share them with the group.  Divisions can be along
the lines of “English personas bring the meats, French personas bring the
breads,  Middle Eastern personas bring the desserts...” or some other such
method.  This can be combined with a partial feast, such as the group’s
Feast Planner cooks the main meat course and provides the beverages, and the
diners bring everything else.

Ø	Kitchen and dining area are separated by a large distance - this adds
difficulty to the job, but nothing a good plan can’t handle.  Arrange for
hot food to be kept in larger pots until served at the dining area, or even
inside coolers to retain heat (or cold).  Arrange for carts or dollies, or
even trucks to transport the food.  Create fragile presentations at the
dining area, don’t try to transport anything but the individual components
if possible.


Servers

The people who get your great food to the tables at seated feasts.  You will
need about 1 server for every 8-12 diners to really take care of your
guests. You may choose a service style that asks for one server from every
table, or select individuals ahead of time.
With enough advance time, you might consider livery for your servers.
Simple tabards, arm bands, or even hats could identify them, and with enough
time and resources they could all be clothed alike!
 It is the Peer’s prerogative to serve High Table.  Consider asking local
Peers or those from your pre-reservations if they would like to serve.
Whether using Peers or not, try to arrange at least one server in advance
for the High Table so they know what special things will be going on and
will be able to help make things go more smoothly.

Children enjoy serving at feast, and can be utilized for items like
beverages or bread, things that are not too heavy or spill-able.

Depending on the formality of your service style, you may choose to feed the
servers at a separate dinner ahead of the main feast.  This gives them a
chance to familiarize themselves with the food, as well as taking care of
their hunger so they aren’t starving while everyone else eats in front of
them!

It is very important to educate the servers on the food they are serving.
Months of research, preparation, trials, sweat and effort can be wiped out
in an instant if, when a server is asked :    “What is that?”,    they say:

“I don’t know”,

or worse -

“Uh, some kind of green stuff?”


		!!!





Hall Steward

	An effective Hall Steward will be an individual that is organized, has good
communication skills, has the ability to delegate and is successful at
drafting help, and has an understanding of SCA feasting.  They should also
be someone that is calm and level-headed under pressure, and hopefully has a
good sense of humor.
	The Hall Steward will work as a liaison between the Feastcrat and the
Autocrat.
The Hall Steward will need to have an understanding of the facility,
including the basic set-up of the hall (and if there is a standard way the
hall is to be set up when the group is done leaving it), and the number of
tables and chairs available vs. those needed (this number may need to take
into account other daytime event needs such as classes, gosling activities,
kitchen prep needs).   Set-up may include two or three changes, for Friday
night and Saturday daytime activities, Court, Feast, and Revel.    They will
need to determine whether the set-up is ‘traditional’ or something
inventive.  Light, air, and sound may need to be taken into account, as well
as pathways, kitchen and exit access, Royalty requirements, garbage and
clean-up preparations.
Their job may start as early as Friday night, with an inventory of tables,
chairs, and other fixtures you may be using in the hall.  Then, set up for
Merchants, gaming, conversation, etc. can take place.  Sign-up lists for
volunteer help may be set up in the hall or at the Troll.  If there is a
Friday night Traveler’s Fare served, the Cooks in charge of that meal will
need to coordinate with the Hall Steward for their needs.  Saturday morning
breakfast Cooks may also interact here.  Once the basic plan for the event
is laid out, the Hall Steward will work in the hall to ensure that
everything happens when it is supposed to, just as the Feastcrat works in
the Kitchen to make sure that dinner is served on time, in the right order,
and at the right temperatures.   The Hall Steward and the Feastcrat will
work together to coordinate the rhythm of the meal, the length of breaks,
and the overall presentation of the meal.
As a safety note, the Hall Steward must be well versed as to where to find a
mop or towels in case of spills, and he or she must be mindful of a place to
have guests store their feast baskets.
The Hall Steward may or may not be in charge of Servers.  If there is
someone else in charge of Servers, they will work under the Hall Steward.
The Hall Steward will need to have an understanding of the menu and the
service needs.  You may choose to have a dinner for Servers first, to
familiarize them with the foods, and assure that they have the opportunity
to sit and eat before they start working at serving everyone else their
dinner. There may also be a separate meal for children, which may need
planning as well.
The Hall Steward will also work together with the Entertainers on theatrics,
special events or games, and with the Royalty in the event They wish to open
a dinner Court.

First time Foibles: Many hall stewards don’t leave enough space for walking
between tables.  They forget that when people are sitting in a chair at a
the dinner table, the back of the chair is between 18” and 24” from the edge
of the table.  If dinners are sitting back to back, there needs to be at
least 4 feet between tables for the diners to sit with comfort as well as to
be able to get into and out of their seats.
	Also, be mindful of our disabled friends, who will need to have even wider
isles.