First impressions are the most important emotions of your guests. The right combination of colors and serving.

There are many ways to serve and serve meals. Learn the basic rules of etiquette in a restaurant and presentation of a menu. But the most interesting thing is to use the original methods of presentation and win the love of visitors at first sight. Unusual appliances or an original serving of drinks - and now you have already impressed the guests. This article describes modern methods that you can use in the future to satisfy even the most sophisticated gourmets.

Basic rules for serving dishes in a restaurant

the plate should not be overloaded with food, but should not seem empty;
food should not be too close to the edges of the plate;
for a beautiful presentation, it is recommended to create a color contrast on a plate;
forget about symmetry, people like randomness;
combine light and dark colors, large and small objects, crispy with soft, etc .;
do not overdo it with sauces, it is better to file it separately.

If you need to serve chicken skewers, meatballs or shrimp, use an odd amount of ingredients to serve, and they will look more interesting on a plate.

There is also one old method of serving dishes that continues to be used in many establishments. Imagine a plate is a watch. Just arrange specific types of products according to the time of day.

Carbohydrates are suitable for 11 hours (pasta, rice, potatoes, put vegetables for 2 hours, and protein for 6 hours, the main meal (fish, meat, mushrooms). This old-fashioned way of serving dishes has its positive sides and allows you to determine the portion sizes This aspect is a very important part of the inventory, as well as for calculating the costs and its impact on the final profit of the restaurant.

Japanese style

The Japanese style of serving has had a big impact on the world of restaurant art. Minimalism is present in Japan everywhere, including cuisine and culinary art. This is a harmony of beauty and simplicity.

The Japanese never put the whole dish on one plate. Garnish and fish can be served in different small dishes. This feeding method greatly simplifies the process. You do not have to build large compositions of products on one plate. The main goal of Japanese cuisine is simple, separate food in small portions. This allows you to feel the taste of dishes as much as possible and have time to try all the positions.

Even if you have European cuisine or fast food in the restaurant and you think that this way of serving is hardly suitable for you, just look at how this serving of french fries looks)

Restaurant decoration items

Decoration is a very important aspect that should complete the serving of the dish. Fresh flowers have long been used to decorate dishes. There are many ways to decorate dishes, but it is recommended to use edible ingredients and spices, which will not only become a decorative element, but also emphasize the taste of the dish or become a competent addition to the main dish. For example, fish is traditionally served with lemon, and various desserts are watered with syrups.

Design Ideas for Kids Menu

Another target audience for your visitors is children. For them, the visual image is perhaps the most important factor in serving the dish. If you can arrange healthy food (for example, stewed vegetables) so that the child is happy, you will win the sympathy of the parents, and the next time they will come to you. Try to think through the children's menu of the restaurant so that the dishes look like the result of children's imagination. These can be characters of fairy tales, popular heroes, famous toys. Here are some ideas for decorating dishes for kids.

Organic Dishes

While world-famous chefs advise using only large white plates to present dishes, why don’t you go further and use dishes made of wood or stone. This will not only allow the original presentation of the dish, but will also have a certain impact on visitors. Organic dishes are safe, environmentally friendly and this will make a favorable impression. Pottery is great for serving soups. It perfectly retains heat, is practical and environmentally friendly.

Cooking and serving meals for guests

What can you cook directly with visitors:
Salads
Steak
Sushi
Fondue
Simple desserts

Flambe- cooking by burning is a great idea for the evening
Many people would like to see how cooks work, creating their culinary masterpieces. A popular restaurant chef can arrange a real show with elements of acrobatics.

There are institutions that specialize in any one dish and cook it directly with visitors - for example, raclette (a French analogue of fondue). The cooking process is simple, fast and very interesting. Choose what to cook with the audience according to the specifics of your restaurant, and you can definitely surprise your guests.

Equipment for the presentation of dishes

If you want to achieve excellence in the original presentation of your products, you should find a store and purchase the appropriate kitchen attributes to optimize the process. Here are some tools you will need:

Kitchen scissors
Culinary tweezers of various sizes
Various knives and scalpels for carving fruits and vegetables
Shredders for fruits and vegetables
Molds and rings
Spoons, tongs, needles
Spatulas and brushes for decoration.

After reading our article, you can choose what you need. Connect your imagination and you can arrange your dishes in accordance with the concept of your institution. The correct serving of dishes is not only a reflection of your creative nature, but also a concern for visitors. We are sure that they will definitely appreciate it.

More interesting recipes.

Modern people are becoming demanding: they want to be surprised. Therefore, catering establishments go to different tricks in order to attract the client with an original serving of dishes.

At the time of a huge number of catering establishments, many of them, to stand out among others, use an unusual serving of dishes. This adds a twist and serves as some kind of entertainment. We will go through an express tour of various restaurants and see how they surprise customers.

1. Paradise for the sweet tooth

Recently, it seems that the owners of restaurants and pastry shops are competing who can create the largest milkshake. It is decorated with berries, pastry powder is used, candies, cookies and even whole pieces of cake are inserted. In general, the more the better - the perfect scenario.

2. Shoes instead of plates

Many restaurants use the principle of home cooking. This is not only expressed in dishes, but also in the ways of serving them. For example, in one institution, bread is not brought in a basket, but in slippers, strange, isn't it?

Just think how unusual it is to serve a fish dish? It is unlikely that the idea to do this on a brick will come to mind. Interestingly, one of the visitors to this institution said that construction is being carried out near him. Maybe the “dishes" just from there?

4. The pyramid of tables

So where do people get their inspiration from when they come up with such weird ways to serve meals? The client will certainly be surprised when they put another table on the table with benches on which sandwiches, cakes, drinks and other snacks will be placed. The whole picnic turns out.

5. A piece of oasis on the table

Traditionally, olives in the restaurant are served in bowls, but it is so banal and uninteresting. Just imagine, you make an order, and the waiter brings a pot with a small olive tree, where there are silver spoons with olives. Very nice presentation.

6. Miniature Lady Gaga

Millions of people were shocked by the appearance of the famous singer Lady Gaga in a dress of raw meat at the 2010 MTV ceremony. A cook from Beijing decided to pick up the idea and designed a dish of marbled beef, copying the image of the singer. As a result, visitors began to serve Barbie doll dressed in a meat dress. The dish has become very popular.

7. A glass not only for drinks

The menu of almost all restaurants has salads and to increase the number of sales and to please customers, chefs come up with different tricks. The last trend was the supply of salads in a glass, and it is in an inverted state. Some establishments serve first courses in the same way.

8. Plates - unnecessary waste

Another trickster who decided not to spend money on the purchase of dishes. Yes, and then you have to wash it ... In general, some worries. This place serves food on napkins folded in several layers. Very practical: washed - and done.

9. Here is a cocktail!

You can find “Bloody Mary” in the cocktail list of many bars, but usually this drink is served only with pickled cucumbers. There is a unique presentation, which, to put it mildly, looks strange - a whole bunch of different snacks is inserted into the cocktail. For example, here you can see all the same cucumbers, a sandwich, onion rings and - just imagine - a whole pizza.

10. Gastronomic attraction

Fast food has already become so familiar in people's lives, and little can be surprising. In one of the English restaurants, they began to use the original serving of a traditional dish - Fish "n" chips. Imagine that you are brought to the table a small Ferris wheel that can be rotated? This is a great solution for the whole company.

11. This is very nasty

The Chinese are known for their unconventional thinking, but this place is shocking for tourists. Affordable food service is stylized as a toilet. Food is served ... in toilets, drinks in urinals, and bread is baked in the form of feces. What a nightmare! Can it really cause an appetite?

12. Village idea

It is impossible not to be surprised to come to the cafe for breakfast and get it on a regular shovel. Strange, unusual, but memorable.

13. Sports to the masses

Serving food on trays is so boring and familiar. This is exactly what the owners of this restaurant thought and decided that the waiters would bring food on tennis rackets. Everything fits on them: appetizer, sandwiches, drinks and so on. This is truly original.

14. Original tea party

In order not to force the table with numerous plates with different snacks, in one of the restaurants they came up with an original trick - to use a small bookshelf in which various treats are arranged.

15. Incompatible compatible

What is really strange is the idea of \u200b\u200bserving coffee not in ordinary cups, but in carrots. Yes, it didn’t seem to you, they make small cups of root vegetables that serve visitors.

16. Glass in custody

How else can you surprise and amuse people in a cafe? Here is one unusual idea - serving a cocktail closed in a cage. Beautiful, original and immediately I want to take a photo for memory.

17. This, perhaps, will remain without comment.

Get ready. Now it will be worse than a Chinese restaurant-toilet. The next presentation is not for the faint of heart, and it’s even hard to imagine who it does not cause disgust. Wow! Berry jelly is brought to the client not in cups, but on sanitary pads.

18. Ice-cold lettuce

They thought that they would never have to, is out of hand? So, you were wrong. The cook of one restaurant decided that he would originally serve a salad in his hand made of ice. They make it very simple, using a medical glove, which is filled with water and frozen.

19. Real eco style

In one of the restaurants, mushroom lovers have to collect them themselves (this is not a joke). Visitors receive a deep box, stylized as a forest glade, where mushrooms “grow”.

20. Awarding the egg is strange, isn't it?

A popular dish in many restaurants, served as an appetizer is a Scottish egg. Cooks try to come up with an original presentation. For example, in one institution it is served (attention!) In the cup. By the way, useful information: an egg wrapped in minced meat and deep-fried is a dish of British rather than Scottish cuisine.

21. This is a restaurant, not a prison.

In the restaurant, Rachel Hichinson, it was decided to surprise visitors with oatmeal for breakfast. They bring it not in a plate, but in an aluminum pot, as in a prison. Strange presentation, but it is very popular.

22. Tourist's breakfast

People are used to the fact that food in cans is not very tasty, but the cook decided to prove the opposite. The customer receives a plate on which the contents are dumped out of the can. It is clear that this is a staged composition, but associations with a camping trip still arise.

23. Unexpectedly, but very beautiful

This is what people who ordered fruit platter do not expect is to get it strung on a comb. To complete the composition, on top of the fruit is decorated with cotton candy.

24. Back to the past

Old Russian cuisine is popular, and unusual methods are used for serving: familiar pancakes are served in an old iron. Well, how can one not be surprised?

25. Back to the Middle Ages

Are you sure you’ve already seen everything and there’s nothing more to surprise you with? Then here is another strange way of serving dishes, which at the same time makes you laugh and really surprises. In Austria, you can order a simple dish for a company - meat and potatoes, but they only serve it unusually - on a sword.

26. Non-waste production

Wine is the most popular drink ordered at catering establishments. However, there remains a large number of bottles that can be used, for example, to serve salads and other dishes.

27. Heading “Do it yourself”

When ordering orange juice, few people expect to get a juicer and slices of orange. The slogan is: if you want juice, squeeze it yourself! Insolence, but still original.

28. Cheap and cheerful

In one American restaurant a very popular dish is served (now you will certainly smile) in a bowl for dog food. For lovers of our smaller brothers, this is it.

29. Habitual becomes original

Who can surprise a salad “herring under a fur coat”? Chefs try to come up with different ways of serving. Just see how you can use a small wooden box instead of a plate.

30. Do you want land?

A popular dessert is Tiramisu, and everyone is familiar with its original presentation. Visitors to one establishment were very surprised to order such a dessert. At first, the waiter spread a newspaper on the table, then put a garden glove and a small shovel with earth nearby. This is shocking, but in fact - this is a dessert, and very tasty.

Various establishments offering a quick bite to eat, dine slowly in a comfortable setting or have a romantic dinner, a great variety, you can choose a place for every taste. And in order to visit the restaurant was pleasant and without ridiculous consequences, you need to know a few simple rules of etiquette.

Start
It is better to call the restaurant in advance: find out the price level, get an idea of \u200b\u200bthe cuisine and dishes from the menu. Book a table, too, will not be amiss.
Clothing should correspond to the level of the institution. Some restaurants have a strict dress code, so dress according to the type of establishment.
The first woman to enter the restaurant premises, the man must gallantly open the door. But about halfway around the man should get ahead of her and lead her to a free table. Usually restaurants have a dressing room, clothes and bulk bags should be left there. If the table is not booked in advance, it is better to use the service of the head waiter. The most convenient places are usually considered: against the wall - facing the hall, in the middle of the hall - facing the entrance, overlooking the landscape outside the window, at the musicians, with a good view of the hall. The man accompanying the lady should give the latter a more convenient place at the table. You need to sit down at the table after the lady has sat down. If you met friends in a restaurant, then you should not sit at their table if they do not invite you.

Order food
According to the rules of etiquette, a man chooses a menu. At the same time, he should offer his companion the choice of a particular dish indicated in the menu.
According to modern rules, a woman can make an order herself or give this right to a man.
The restaurant decided to order at least three dishes. Start with a cold appetizer or salad. Then soup or main course. The choice of dessert should be made only after the main dish is eaten.
If you are at a loss with the choice, you can ask the waiter for advice. He can recommend a "dish of the day", tell in more detail about the dishes from the menu. Sommelier will help with wines.
It goes without saying that the restaurant starts eating when all guests are served meals. Ladies are usually served first. An indicator of good service is the simultaneous serving of dishes to all guests.

Napkin
Often the napkin causes suspicion. So what should you do with her? The answer is simple - unfold it, fold it in half and lay it on your knees. The purpose of the napkin is to save clothes from accidental splashes, drops of fat, crumbs. Fingers accidentally stained with food also wipe the upper half of the napkin without removing it from its knees. If the napkin accidentally falls to the floor, do not lift it and put it back, ask the waiter for a clean one. At the end of the meal, you do not need to fold the napkin, just carefully place it to the right of your plate. Never fill the collar with a napkin. Removing her lipstick is considered bad form.

Devices
A few forks and knives next to the plate should not cause panic. Here the rule is the simplest: they start with the appliances farthest from the plate, and with each change of dishes they take the knives and forks that are closer to it. Normal serving involves no more than three forks and as many knives. Closest to the plate is a knife for a meat dish. Snack knives and forks are smaller in size. Often, dessert utensils and a bread knife are placed on top of a plate. In the pauses between meals, the knife and fork are placed on the dish as they were held: the knife with the handle to the right, the fork with the handle to the left. If you fold the fork and knife in parallel (so that their handles protrude slightly beyond the edge of the plate), it will be familiar to the waiter that you have finished the dish.

Food
  You need to eat in a certain order: vegetables - fish delicacies - meat gastronomy. If there are fish and meat on the table, then you need to start with fish.
Soup.  We draw a spoon from ourselves. We don’t put it on the table either during or after a meal - it rests in a plate all the time. Even if the soup is very tasty, restrain yourself, do not tilt the plate to eat the last drops.
Broths.  They are served in cups - bouillon cups. From a soup bowl with one handle, the contents can be drunk like tea, and from a cup with two handles you should eat with a spoon.
A fish. A special knife resembling a spatula is served to the fish. Slices of fillet are separated and pushed to them, and bones are also selected. If, however, the bone fell into the mouth, it can be pushed out with the tongue onto the fork or gracefully with your fingers and put on a special plate (if one is served) or on your edge. To defeat a whole filed fish, the following sequence of actions is necessary: \u200b\u200bif the skin is inedible or scales remain on it, carefully remove it from the tail to the head, then eat the fillet from the upper side, then the back, and finally, turning the carcass over, proceed to the second sideways.
An exception to the general rule - pickled or salted herring, hot or cold smoked fish, eel - they are eaten with a knife and fork snack bars.
Game.  Many are embarrassed to order chicken or other game, as they do not know how to eat it according to etiquette. It's not that complicated. The meat, as far as possible, is cut with a knife, after which the bones can be taken by hand and gnawed. The waiter should bring a plate of acidified water to wash his hands.
Meat.  Gently cut a piece of meat from the meat, holding the fork in his left hand, and the knife in his right. The "American" option is also possible, when the whole piece is immediately cut into many small ones, then the knife is laid aside, the fork is put into the right hand, and they start eating. But it is believed that with this option, the meat cools faster, and you can not fully enjoy and feel its taste.
Vegetables.  Vegetables are eaten with a fork, helping themselves with a knife. Peas and corn are picked up in the notch of the fork. You can take olives and pitted olives with your hands if there is no special spoon. Spit gracefully on a fork and place it on a plate. To take with their hands is not forbidden asparagus and artichokes, large cherry tomatoes. Dishes served in pots are not laid out on plates.
Spaghetti.  Hold the spoon in your left hand. Lower the edge of the spoon into a plate, wrap spaghetti on a fork, rotating it in the deepening of the spoon. Cut off the excess with a spoon. It is possible to do without a spoon. Then immerse the teeth of the fork in pasta and wind the desired portion. We pull the hanging part into the mouth, trying to make it as quiet as possible.
Bread.  Plates for bread and butter are always placed to the left of your main plate. Take the bread with your hands, and not with a fork - and break off a small piece with food. A whole chunk in the hand should not be held. If there is a common oiler on the table, take the right amount from it onto your bread plate and spread on a broken piece of bread.

The drinks
While you are waiting for an order, you can order an aperitif. Depending on what you drink, the waiter will offer you the drinks they have. If it is wine, then in some restaurants you may be brought an unopened bottle of wine so that you can evaluate it and make a choice. The visitor carefully examines the label, then the waiter pours a small amount of wine into the glass, the customer takes a sip to taste the wine. Only after receiving a seal of approval for the quality of wine or other alcoholic drinks does the employee of the restaurant fill the glasses. It is worth noting that this ritual is conditional. Therefore, it is considered not quite respectable to refuse the ordered alcohol, except for the cases of the provision of low-quality goods. A reason for refusing the ordered wine can also be a poorly chilled drink. In the event that the drink is served in tall glasses and with a straw, then there is no need to drink it to the end. The gurgling sound made at the same time can only interfere with a pleasant conversation.

Service
  In upscale restaurants, visitors are served by a waiter. He transfers the dishes from the common dish to the plate of everyone sitting at the table and pours the wine. In a good institution, it is considered bad form to pour yourself wine on your own. The waiters themselves will fill the empty glass. Empty plates should be placed on the right side of the table. On the left side, it is customary to serve dishes. Alcohol is also poured on the right side. Using the service of the waiter, every time you need to thank him. In restaurant etiquette, it is customary to observe temporary pauses between dishes. Usually it is 10-15 minutes. Therefore, if you brought meat before you ate soup, you can safely ask to send this dish to the kitchen.
Appeal to the waiter "girl", "garson", "waiter" are unacceptable. Therefore, if for any reason the waiter did not introduce himself (although he should do it), do not hesitate to ask his name yourself. The work of the waiter is difficult physically and mentally. You can not humiliate the waiter, or be indignant without an obvious reason - his work is not sugar anyway. It is also possible that it was not his fault that the order had to wait a long time.

A man pays for the lady who invited for the invitee. In the presence of a lady, it is indecent to discuss a bill or argue. The only thing is that you can fix a random error.
Tipping has become a good old tradition in restaurants around the world. All over the world they are treated calmly. However, "give or not give," the client must decide only for himself. The waiter is obliged to give him an invoice and count the change, and the client already takes it or, conversely, makes it clear that it leaves money. Unlike Europe, we do not always adhere to the tradition of tiping at a rate of 10% of the bill, most often the amount is simply rounded up. They do not tip if the guest was dissatisfied with the restaurant, if he does not want to spoil his mood and get into a scandal, this is a good way to correctly show his dissatisfaction to the restaurant.
By the way, the expression "give for tea" is originally Russian. Across the whole of Great Russia, it became a custom to ask, at every opportunity, “for tea, for seagulls”, and there were few places where, as usual, they asked for “vodka”. The expression “for vodka” was replaced by a more delicate request “for tea”, and there was a saying “now the drunkard does not ask for vodka, but all for tea”. Most likely, the request for tea spread among the coachmen, and then already passed on to other working strata of Russian society.
Giving tea to coachmen was the duty of the traveler and was, as it were, one of the links in Russian customary law, so ingrained that for people traveling for official needs and not paying runs, it was even established by law to give an increase to coachmen. The denial of this was recognized as something unnatural and unbelievable.
After the coachmen, tea tea became a habit among the servants of hotels, restaurants, taverns, etc., and then moved to other lower strata of the population. For tea, they also received all those hired for any services as a usual increase to the agreed wage, as well as people providing fleeting services, such as porters, footmen, messengers, porters, etc. The term "give for tea" has become common to all of Russia.
  In others, the etymology of "give for tea" is completely different. For example, tips in French are called "purbuir" (pourboire - literally: "to drink"). In Greek, tips are called “philodorim”, in translation - “friendly gift”. In eastern countries, "bakshish".

The woman gives a sign to the beginning of the meal, and she finishes it, rising from the table. Leaving the restaurant, the man goes first to the door, but not allowing the lady to catch up with him. He goes, turning slightly towards the lady, opens the door in front of her and lets her go forward (the cavalier always passes first through the revolving door, waiting for the lady at the exit); in the wardrobe, the man first helps the lady get dressed, and only after that puts on her coat.

  - This is a very topical issue, since you can sit from several minutes to an hour waiting for an order.

Time is too valuable a resource to spend on waiting for dishes in a restaurant, so you can go to tablepin.ru in advance and find out the rating of the restaurant where you plan to go. You can also book a table there, so that the institution was ready for guests in advance, this can also reduce the waiting time for dishes.

The waiting time for an order depends on the types and quantity of dishes that are included in it. Drinks are usually served within the first 5-7 minutes, as they can be quickly prepared and taken out to the hall. It is considered bad form to serve drinks along with the first course. You can wait for the salad for 10 to 20 minutes, as it takes time to prepare its ingredients, and there may be several such orders.

The situation is completely different with hot dishes, here the norm is from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the complexity and duration of their preparation. You need to be prepared to wait for the barbecue for half an hour, and not be indignant at the same time.

Waiting for an order at a restaurant that was booked on tablepin .ru for an hour - this is not included in the rules for serving and preparing meals. However, this is common, especially in the evenings. What are the reasons for such delays?

• A large flow of customers with which the staff in the available quantity can not cope.
• Wrong selection of personnel from the very beginning - in some workshop there is an excess of them, and in some - a lack.
• The technological map of dishes is so complex that it takes a lot of time to implement it.

Dishes should be presented to guests immediately after the end of the cooking process, so that the cold does not start, and the hot does not cool.

Separately, the waiting time for breakfast in the restaurant, which is 10-15 minutes, stands out. Breakfast in the restaurant is an opportunity to eat quickly before you run away on business, so here the emphasis is placed on speed (due to the simplicity of cooking).

There are restaurants that, after placing an order, put an hourglass on a customer’s table. Most often they are designed for 15-20 minutes. If the dishes do not have time to serve in the allotted time, then they go to the guest completely free. Such a policy, on the one hand, encourages the staff of the institution to do everything faster, and on the other hand, fueling excitement in the eyes of the guests “will bring it or not.

Is it worth keeping track of the time during which the restaurant waiter submits an order? Definitely yes. Few people want to wait more than half an hour, and it should not be like that. Guest comments should be seen as an incentive to move for the better and work on their own mistakes. It is necessary to value time, and the restaurant reservation service tablepin.ru will help with this.