Restaurant Equipment

Restaurant Equipment

The operating equipments used in hotels / restaurants play an important role in attracting customers. The restaurant operating equipments includes furniture & fixtures, cutlery, Crockery, Glassware and linen all of which squarely reflects the standard and style of the restaurant.

Since all pieces of equipment contribute to the overall ambience, these should be carefully selected and it must always be remembered that the efficiency of the food service staff depends on the equipment available to carry out the work.

Crockery

China is a term used for crockery whether bone china (expensive and fine), earthenware (opaque and cheaper) or vitrified (metallized). Most catering crockery used nowadays tends to be vitrified earthenware, which is very durable and haven been strengthened. Chinaware is made of silica, soda ash, and china clay, glazed to give a fine finish. Chinaware is more resistant to heat than glassware and can be found in different colors and designs which are always coated with glaze. There are many classification of catering china they are:

·        Bone china: Bone china is porcelain made of clay mixed with bone ash. This is very fine, hard china that is very expensive. The decorations are to be found under the glaze only. The price of bone china puts it out of reach of the majority of everyday caterers, and only a few of the top class hotels and restaurants would use it. The range of design, pattern and color is very wide and there is something to suit all occasions and situations.

·        Porcelain Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating selected and refined materials, which often includes clay of kaolinite clay, to high temperatures. The raw materials for porcelain, when mixed with water, form a plastic body that can be worked to a required shape before firing in a kiln at temperatures between 1200°C and 1400°C. The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass at high temperatures and the mineral malate within the fired body.

·        Earthenware Earthenware may sometimes be as thin as bone china and other porcelains, though it is not translucent and is more easily chipped. Earthenware is also less strong, less tough, and more porous than stoneware, but its low cost and easier working compensate for these deficiencies. Due to its higher porosity, earthenware must usually be glazed in order to be watertight.

·        Stoneware Stoneware is a hard pottery made from siliceous paste fired at high temperature to vitrify (make glassy) the body. Stoneware is heavier and more opaque than porcelain. The usual color of fired stoneware tends to be grayish, though there may be a wide range of colors, depending on the clay. It has been produced in China since ancient times and is the forerunner of Chinese porcelain.

Different types of crockery and their sizes

S.no	Name of Crockery	Size	Uses	Notes
1	Quarter Plate	6’’(15cm diameter	Used to keep bread, cheese or as an underliner	It is also known as B&B Plate (bread & butter, under plate, side Plate
2	Half Plate	8’’ (20 cm diameter)	Used to serve starters, pasta, dessert, fish etc	It is also known as dessert plate, fish plate
3	Full Plate	10’’ (25cm diameter)	Used to serve main course	It is also known as dinner plate, joint plate, meat plate.
4	Soup bowl	250ml	Used to serve soup, breakfast cereals
5	Soup cup	250ml	Used to serve thin soup	It is also known as consommé cup and has two handles.
6	Soup Plate	8’’ (20 cm diameter)	Used to serve both thick and thin soup	Half plate is used as an underliner. It is not in use nowadays.
7	Breakfast cup	240-300 ml (8-10 Fl oz)	Used to serve all Tea and coffee during breakfast
8	Tea Cup	200 ml (6 2/3Fl oz)	Used to serve tea during the day
9	Coffee cup	97-100 ml	Used to serve coffee after lunch or dinner	It is also known as demi-tasse.
Other china ware are
1	Salad cresent
2	Egg cup
3	Ashtray
4	Creamer
5	Coffee / tea pot
6	Sugar basin
7	Milk jug

Handling of Chinaware

Whatever quality of china or crockery is used, the most important thing to ensure is that it is washed, rinsed and dried correctly to ensure that no dirt, stains or streaks appear.

       1)     Chinaware has a high breakage rate and, therefore, needs careful handling.

       2)     They should be stored on shelves in piles or stakes of approximately two dozen each.              Any higher may result in their toppling down.

       3)   They should be stored at a convenient height for placing on, and removing from the                 shelves to avoid accidents.

       4)    Chinaware should be kept covered to prevent dust and germs settling on it.

       5)   Chipped and cracked items harbor germs and should, therefore, not be used and disposed of carefully.

Tableware

Tableware is a term used to denote flatware, cutlery and hollowware. It may be analyzed as follows:-

a) Flatware: - all forms of spoons and forks.

b) Cutlery – all knives and other cutting equipments.

c) Hollowware – any other item apart from flatware and cutlery eg: - teapots, milk creamers, entrée dishes etc.

These terms were used in olden days, nowadays Flatware and cutlery are commonly known as cutlery.

Majority of the food service area uses either silverplated or stainless steel equipments. One should keep the following points while purchasing tableaware:

        i.            Type of menu and service offered

     ii.            Maximum and average seating capacity

   iii.            Washing facility

   iv.            Cost factor

Different types of Tableware

S.no	Cutlery	Uses	Storage area
1	Soup spoon	Used for thick soup	Sideboard
2	Dessert spoon	Used for thin soup	Sideboard
3	Service gear (service spoon & fork)	Used to serve food from entre dish to plate	Sideboard
4	Tea spoon	Used with tea cup or with glass bowl	Sideboard
5	Coffee spoon	Used with demi-tasse cup	Sideboard
6	Side knife	Used for cutting bread, roll etc during soup	Sideboard
7	Fish knife and fish fork	Used for all fish dishes expect when fish is served as main course	Sideboard
8	Large knife and large fork	Used with main course	Sideboard
9	Dessert spoon and fork	Used for dessert course	Sideboard

Hollow-ware
1	Water jug	Used to serve water	Sideboard
2	Coffee pot	Used to serve coffee	Still room
3	Tea pot	Used to serve tea	Still room
4	Sugar bowl with tong	Used to hold sugar cubes or granulated sugar	Still room
5	Entrée dish	Used to serve food on the guest plate	Hot plate

Special equipments
1	Asparagus holder	Used to hold asparagus spear while eating	Pantry
2	Oyster fork
3	Caviar knife	Used with caviar, can be substituted with fish knife	Pantry
4	Oyster fork	Used to open oyster shells	Pantry
5	Grape scissor	Used to cut and hold bunch of grapes	Pantry
6	Corn on the cob holder	Used to hold cob by piercing it into the cob	Pantry
7	Nut cracker	Used to crack almonds, walnut etc	Pantry
8	Lobster cracker	Used to crack lobster claws	Pantry
9	Lobster pick	Used to pick lobster flesh	Pantry
10	Ramekin bowl	Used to serve soufflé, custard etc	Pantry
11	Sauce boat with sauce ladle	Used to serve accompanying sauces	Pantry
12	Snail dish	Used to hold snail ( round dish with two handles)	Pantry
13	Snail fork	A two prong fork used to pick flesh from shells	Pantry
14	Butter dish with butter knife	Used to serve butter cut in cubes	Pantry/ still room
15	Bread basket	Used for holding bread rolls or Indian breads	Still room
16	Cheese knife	Used to cut and pick cheese	Pantry
17	Cozy	Used to cover tea and coffee pot to retain heat	Pantry
18	Finger bowl	Used to present warm water with lemon slice over an underliner	Pantry
19	Straw holder	Used to hold straw for juices and aerated drinks	Sideboard
20	tooth pick holder	Used to hold tooth pick	Sideboard
21	Sundae spoon	Used with ice-cream/ shakes when served in a tall glass	Pantry
22	Ice-cream spoon	Used when ice-cream is served in a coupe	Pantry

Handling of Tableware

        i.            Storage of cutlery and flatware is very important. Each item has to be stored in the boxes or drawers lined with baize to prevent the items being scratched

     ii.            They should be stored in cupboard or room which can be locked.

   iii.            Cutlery and flatware may be stored in cutlery trollies.

Glassware

F&B service outlet uses variety of glasses for different types of drinks. It is the most delicate and expensive of all equipments hence should be treated accordingly. Glasses are made using glass and other substances which are heated at a very high temperature to form molten mass, which is either then blown or molded into different shapes.

Types of Glasses

S.no	Name of the Glass	Size (1fl oz = 28.4 ml)	Uses
1	Cocktail glass	4-12 fl oz	Used for all kind of cocktails
2	Pony tumbler/ juice glass	4 fl oz	Used to serve all kind of juices
3	High ball glass	8-10 fl oz	Used to serve water
4	Beer mug	10-12 fl oz	Used to serve beer
5	Beer goblet	10-12 fl oz	Used to serve beer
6	Brandy balloon / snifter	8-10 fl oz	Used to serve brandy or liqueurs
7	Champagne (saucer/ flute/ tulip)	6-8 fl oz	Used to serve champagne or sparkling wine
8	Water goblet	8-10 fl oz	Used to serve water
9	Pilsner	10-14 fl oz	Used to serve cocktail, juices and beer
10	Sherry capita	1.75fl oz	Used to serve sherry or other sweet wine
11	Old fashion glass	8 fl oz	Used mainly to serve whisky
12	Red wine glass	8-14 fl oz	Used to serve red wine
13	White wine glass	8-14 fl oz	Used to serve white wine
14	Tequila shot glass	1 fl oz	Used to serve tequila
15	Vodka shot glass	1 fl oz	Used to serve vodka
16	Margarita	5-6 fl oz	Used to serve cocktails

Furniture

Furniture must be chosen according to the need of the establishment. The type of operation will determine ones specific needs as far as the dinning arrangements are concerned.

Wood is the most commonly used material for dining room furniture although metal in form of aluminum and steel are also used. Marble is a popular material India for dinning table tops. Plastic or Formica coated tabletops may be found in many cafeterias, staff dining rooms etc.

When buying tables and chairs keep the following points in mind

        i.They should be easy to stack

      ii.They should match the décor of the restaurant

    iii.They should be fire proof, waterproof, and durable.

    iv.They should be within the budget of the establishments

      v.Keep in mind the style of service

Tables

Tables can come in three main shapes: - round, Rectangular, Square. An establishment may have a mixture of these or all of one shape depending on the shape of the room and the style of service being offered.

The tables can be for 2 pax, 4 pax, 8 pax and so on. When deciding on the number of tables required, one should consider- size & shape of the area, space for passage & sideboard, and table sizes.

The tables are usually covered with a baize cloth which is heat resistant. This covering will also deaden the sound of the cutlery, crockery and glassware when being kept on the table.

Sizes of tables

Square Table             For    2    pax – 76 cm sq or 30 Inches

                                    For   4    pax– 1mtr or 36 inches

Round                        For 4 pax – 1 meter or 36 inches in diameter

For 8 pax – 1.52 meters or 60 inches in diameter

Rectangular               For 4 pax – 30 x 48 inches or 4 ft 6” x 2ft 6”

Chairs

A chair come in various shapes and sizes, designs, materials and colours to suite all situations and occasions. Because of the wide range of styles, the chairs vary in height, width but as a guide, a chair seat is 18’' inches from the ground, the height from the ground to the top of the back of the seat 39’’ and the depth from the front edge of the seat to the back of the chair is 18 inches.

Sideboard

The side station is also called the dummy waiter or service console. This is a very important piece of furniture in a restaurant. It is used by the service staff for keeping all the service equipment at one place. It is also used as a landing table for the dishes picked up from the kitchen enroute to the table and the dirty dishes from the guest's table to the wash-up area. For the convenience of the service staff, the side station should be strategically located in a restaurant. One sideboard may be assigned to 6-8 tables or 30 covers. The side station should be kept clean and presentable as it can be seen by the guests.

Some of the points to be kept in mind while stacking a sideboard

1)     When the restaurant cleaning has been completed all equipment necessary for the service must be collected, cleaned, checked and set out.

2)     Sideboards being the central point for the waiters to work on, it must be kept spotlessly clean at all times.

3)     The stacking of the sideboards must be done with proper planning. One must ensure that sufficient covers for relaying a station i.e. extra linen, crockery, cutlery, glassware, ashtrays etc must be kept in a condition whereby they can be used immediately when required.

4)     Prior to mise-en-place cutleries, crockery’s, and glassware should be brought from the wash-up area to the sideboard. It is from this point that the waiter commences his mise-en-place.

5)     All the sauce bottles should be refilled & the bottle neck should be wiped before the start of the operations. The salvers should also be wiped and kept clean before and after the operations.

Linen

Restaurant linen is a expensive commodity is usually made of cotton. Table linen has to be changed every meal and often during a meal. Because of the high cost of laundering, a table cloth which is a little dirty would not be changed but a slip cloth would be placed over it for the succeeding service. Slip cloth is not as expensive to have re – laundered as would be a table cloth.

Linen should be stored on paper linned shelves, the correct sizes together and with the inverted folds facing outwards, which will facilitate counting and control. The type of linen used would depend on the class of the restaurant, the type of customers, the cost involved, the style of the menu and the service to be offered.

Types of linen

1)     Table cloths

            For 30’’ table—54in x 54 in

            For 36’’ table—72in x 72 in

2)     Slip Cloths ( used to cover slightly soiled table cloth)

            1m x 1m or 40in x 40 in

3)     Napkins or Serviettes

   18-20 inches

4)     Buffet cloths

            2m x4 m or 78in x 157in (this is the minimum size used; longer cloth is used for longer tables)

5)     Wiping Cloths/ waiters cloth