Ancilliary Departments

[1st Semester F&B Service | UNIT 3.2 BHM112 | IHM Notes]

PANTRY

Still Room or a Pantry is a spacious area at the back of a restaurant which fulfils the need of storage space for enormous pots of coffee, tea, milk and sugar mostly EPNS (electro plated nickel silver) and Pearl China. It always provides space for dirty-dish landing table for cups and saucers along with an automatic dish washing machine.

There is another separate dish landing table provided for dirty plates and cutlery with a separate dish washing machine.

Still room also includes racks for keeping tea pots, coffee pots, creamer, sugar pots and dispensers like espresso machines, coffee brewing machine, tea dispenser, cona coffee apparatus, milk warmer etc.

Equipments such as emulsifier, liquidiser, blender, deep freezer, ice shaver and crusher, ice cube maker etc. can also be found in Pantry.

FOOD PICKUP AREA

Food Pickup Area is the area that connects the Kitchen to the Restaurant from the back-side. This area is an inter link between the Kitchen staff and Service staff and requires proper management for smoothly functioning of the Restaurant

A Chef often referred to as ‘Barker’ is responsible for shouting the orders that are prepared and ready to be picked so as to inform the servers about it.

It is called a Food Pick up area or Pass counter as the servers pick up the food items ordered by the guests at their table from here.

The area is also used for keeping KOTs so as to tally pending orders and track orders that have been picked up by the servers.

This area also requires a F&B Staff who can reassure that there are no pending orders, the food is delivered on time by the kitchen and the servers pick up the right order for their tables.

STORES

Stores are an integral part of any food and beverage service areas. Therefore, no matter how efficient an organization operation maybe, bad storage condition and procedures would have an adverse effect on standard of food or drink sold. Eventually this would result in organizations to failing to achieve their required cost and profit targets. The purpose of efficient store is to maintain materials or commodities in the condition in which they are purchased and for them to be safe until they are issued for the use or sale to the customer.

The ideal location of a store is near if not immediately adjacent to the receiving station and the kitchen. If not possible, then additional equipment and manpower would be required or alternative is use of conveyor belt for carrying the load.

It is imperative that the store be well ventilated and not overheated. Hot water and steam pipes are a menace and should be heavily insulated. High temps play havoc with canned food. The floor should be of a material that can take heavy trucking without breaking with a slant towards a drain. Strict sanitation methods to be used to keep food free from vermin. Shelving made of stainless steel with adjustable shelves depth –18 inch. Items used frequently should be placed near the exit door.

The size of the store depends upon its location. There is a definite relationship between inventories and usage. The layout and design of the store must also incorporate security; goods should come into the store through a separate entrance direct from loading bay. A counter should be provided for issuing goods and to keep unauthorized personnel onto the store to minimize any risk of pilferage. Door should have heavy secure locks and windows bared as a preventive measure against burglary. Liquor stores wine cellars will need extra physical security systems due to high value of liquor stocks. Some large establishments used closed circuit television surveillance techniques for this purpose.

Large scale (weighing machine), small scale, stout ladder, trolleys, skids, cabinet, heavy work tables are some basic store equipment.

In large establishments where specific stores personnel are employed it is possible for the stores to be open most of the day. All staff should be informed about the opening hours and be made aware that issues are made only at these times. Emergency procedure must also exist for the issuing of stores. Keys to the stores should never leave the premises and staff who are responsible should be require to sign for keys each time they are issued in an official key log book.

LINEN ROOM

Most hotels do not have a separate Linen room for Restaurant. The main Centralized Linen Room, controlled by Housekeeping Department is responsible for providing clean linen to Restaurants time to time.

The linen from Restaurants comprises of dinner napkins, cocktail napkins, table clothes, table runners etc.

The dirty linen is collected in a dirty linen bag until it reaches a threshold frequency. The F & B staff then takes the dirty linen bag to Laundry where it is counted by the Laundry staff. The receipt of the same is given to the F & B Staff detailing the type and number of dirty linens received from the particular F & B Outlet.

The F & B Staff can now show the same receipt to the Linen Room in-charge and collect the fresh linen against it.

KITCHEN STEWARDING

Kitchen stewarding is the backbone of any restaurant. A kitchen steward would be responsible for cleaning and organizing dishes, taking stock of inventory, maintaining hygiene and quality in the kitchen and restaurant, keeping a tab on breakage and replacements of various cutlery, crockery and equipments.

Kitchen stewarding operations:

• Gathers all dirty dishware from tubs brought to the still room, rinses and stacks in dish racks, always clearing dishes of leftovers and trash in order to prepare for automated washing.

• Unloads clean dishes from racks after being processed through dish machine, inspects for cleanliness and carefully stacks in specified carts and shelves for the easy use by restaurant and kitchen staff.

• Manually scrubs pots, pans and other kitchen equipment that cannot be washed automatically, using detergents, scourers, and special solutions as required. Inspects for cleanliness, manually dries with hand towels, and puts away in correct places.

• Manually polishes all silver, stainless steel and pewter used in food service, using standard polishing cloth and products, in order to present clean and attractive equipment to diners.

• Maintains the automatic dish washing equipment in good condition and working order in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions in order to prolong the life of the equipment, prevent breakdowns and to meet mandated health compliance regulations.

• Keeps the still room in clean and orderly condition at all times by sweeping, mopping, emptying trash, wiping counters and equipment and organizing shelves in order to maintain a sanitary work station and to meet mandated health compliance requirements.

• Mops floors as requested and at end of each shift, cleans all kitchen work surfaces as regularly scheduled by manager including walls, ceilings, hoods, vents and ovens.

• Gathers all trash cans from work areas at end of each shift and empties into outside trash compactor.

• Sweeps loading dock and kitchen entrance areas, clearing litter and debris to trash bins, for the safety of employees and purveyors.

• Performs other duties as assigned, requested or deemed necessary by management.

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