CHAPTER – 4

4.0 Suggested action point for Food & Beverage services in banquet

4.1 How to improve food and beverage services in banquet department?

Overseeing menus for banquets and functions in 80,000 square feet of event space
at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta, Executive Chef Russell Sleight believes
he’s found the right method to deliver impressive a la carte food and cooked-to-
order presentations—allowing the hotel to attract higher-price-point clients. Guest
expectations in banquets, Sleight observes, require moving in this direction. “You
should be able to give the customer as high a quality food in a banquet as you do in
a restaurant,” he says. “To do this, it takes a little more coordination with your
FOH staff and a little more flexibility with your culinary team. If you can get those
two to hit on all cylinders, it’s a very easy task. There are so many times hotels
will have the bad reputation of having banquet chicken that’s rubbery or has been
sitting in a hot box too long. I try to get that restaurant feel in my banquet arena by
doing this. A lot of it has to do with menu choice—giving the guest a menu choice
that doesn’t particularly take an execution time that’s going to be too long a wait
between courses

4.2 Control of food waste in banquet department in hotels?

Food and beverage sales for events and banquets can be an important part of a full-
service hotel’s business. Since providing clients with memorable and abundant
meals is paramount, the biggest fear is running out of food. As a result, multiple
participants along the food value chain add their own “insurance policy” to avoid
that scenario. The client will generally provide a guest count – for example 2,500 –
that the meeting planner will interpret based on the makeup of their group, say as,
“2,500 mostly male heavy eaters.” The event manager will add a 3% overset rate
and send all of this information to the chef who preps a little extra as backup. The
day of the event, the banquet manager sets the 2,500 plus the extra prepared by the
kitchen to make sure the buffet looks abundant; the guest takes a heaping plate
because they fear the food will be gone if they decide they want seconds. These
insurance measures throughout the process result in the production of tons of
excess food. For example, an 800-person event audit performed by WWF showed
the kitchen produced roughly 2 pounds of food per person for lunch when an
average person only consumes about one pound per sitting9. That’s approximately
800 pounds of excess food for one meal! This excess, which should ideally be
prevented with improved menu design, must be repurposed within the hotel,
donated to community partners if it cannot be repurposed, diverted to compost if it
cannot be donated, or worst case (though most common) sent to a landfill. While
85% of hotels admit to adding some level of insurance, only 32% have some form
of a donation program in place to handle this food, however many have internal
reuse policies to manage a portion of this overproduction.

4.3 How this menu planning helps to increase the revenue?

The gross profit margin percentage refers to the money you have left over after
covering your business expenses. To maintain healthy profit margins, you'll want
to divide each dollar you make into three main areas: food and beverages, salaries
and wages, and occupancy costs like rent, insurance, and taxes. This roughly
breaks down to 30% food and beverage costs, 30% labor costs, and 20%
occupancy costs, which leave 20% pure profit.

How to Calculate Gross Profit Margins

Follow these easy steps to calculate your gross profit margins on a particular dish:

1. Subtract the unit cost (ingredients + overhead) from the menu price.

2. Then, divide the resulting number by the menu price. This is your gross profit
margin percentage.

Example: Say that the menu cost of fish and chips is $16, while the unit cost is
$10. So, you'd subtract $10 from $16, which is $6. Then, you'd divide $6 by $16,
which is a gross profit margin of 37.5%. Maintaining positive gross profit margins
gives you the money you need to cover the costs associated with making and
selling your restaurant's meals. Determining reasonable and accurate gross profit
margins up front will save you trouble in the long run and will also help keep your
costs under control.

4.4 RECOMMEDATION

4.5 GUEST INTRACTION

Usually in hotel the guest interaction is a main marketing strategy for attract the
guest and make them to visit again and again to the property but what I felt in my
three month internship period the prepare guest interaction was not happening the
reason I found the taj yeshwanthpur the banquet staff are casual staff whom
working in contracted base

So the mostly people are not good with other language and lack of confidence to
communicate with the guest my suggestion is train them in a prepare way and brief
them and improve their skills
4.6 Proper coordination with KST department

In banquet department should maintain a good coordination with the KST

department .It’s a main component of running a hotel in proper way but in taj
yeswanthpure I can’t see any coordination during my internship period

I find the reason for why it happened like this no one is there to guide the staff and
brief them in proper way sometime the mizapla should late when the setup time of
events happening in banquet department . My suggestion is make good
coordination with KST and informed them about event and the number of flows.

4.7 BANQUET CHECK LIST

 Call and confirm reservations starting the week prior to the event.
 Confirm the party size.
 Inform party of timing
 For example, Reception in the foyer from 6:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M.
 Seating for dinner will begin promptly at 6:30 P.M.
 Inform the party of the menu for the evening
 Inquire as to special needs:
 Dietary restrictions?
 Disabled dinners?
 Children?
 Special equipment (microphone, podium, flag, projectors, screens, etc.)

 Make sure all linen needed has been ordered through purchasing agent
 The tables for the event are usually 6-tops or 8-tops (72 x 72 and 90 x 90)
  Some reception tables require 54 x 120 linen.
 Are special napkin colors required?
 Develop mise en place (MEP) information for service:
 Table set-up for the foyer and dining room
 Glassware needs to be polished for the reception and dinner service
 Bread plates to be polished
 Silverware needed
 Bread napkin needs
 Butter plate to be prepared
 Coffee cup needs

 If there is a reception beginning at 6:00 P.M., the reception area needs to be set up
by 5:30 p.m.
 Will there be a registration table?
 Table size
 Skirting
 Number of chairs
 Supplies (diagram, name tags, pens, cash box, credit card processing, etc.)
 Do we schedule people for the table (cashier, host)?
 Guest list showing party size, name, and whether they've paid or need to
pay at the door
 Some type of card given to the guest to designate the seating arrangements?
 Possible considerations for a reception:
 Skirted serpentine tables for beverage service.
 Beverages to be served at the reception (wine, beer, soda, iced tea, water,
 etc).
 Ice, napkins, wine openers, trash receptacle, side stand for “empties”
 At least two people scheduled at the bar table
 One person walking around picking up empty glasses
 People serving appetizers?
 Self-serve appetizer table?
 Plan for a maximum of two glasses of wine per guest during the reception

 The dining room manager holds a meeting as soon as the class separates to
discuss the banquet:
 What is the event?
 How many guests are attending?
 The menu?
 The wine?
 Sequence of service?
 Other essential information for the staff
 Who are the servers?
 Who are the runners?
 Who's working the bar table?
 Who's working the registration table?
 What time each person needs to be at their designated stations when we
open
 Each server, host, bartender and cashier will need to be assigned by the
DM, a list of duties and a time that it will take to complete each task.
 The wines served during the banquet are a white wine and a red wine.
 The white wine will need to be placed in the dessert walk-in the day prior
 to the event.
 See the FOH instructor for the number of bottles that need to be opened for
service.
 Both wines should be opened before service begins.
 The dining room needs to be set-up and detailed by 5:00 p.m.
 Remember to assign sections early on so that each server is aware of their tables.
 The servers may need to assist the host when the time comes to seat the guest.
 All tables need to have table numbers visible when it comes time to seat the guest.
 If place cards are used, they are set out and checked by 5:30 P.M.
 Dining Room Manager checks all set-ups, MEP, breezeway, ashtrays, trashcans,
restrooms, etc.
 Window screens open, dividers up, music on, lights on, microphone ready, doors
unlocked, etc.

The sequence of service:

 Seat the guest
 Pour the first course wine (Servers and runners)
 Runners go to kitchen after first course wine is poured
 Serve appetizers. Have someone start brewing coffee.
 After apps are served, servers should check on water, wine, and bread refills.
 Runners bring oval trays out so that the servers can start to clear. Runners take
full trays back to the kitchen and give to the dishwasher. Continue until all of
the dining room is clear.
 Serve salads the same way the appetizer course was delivered.
 Servers are to check on water, wine, and bread refills.
 Salads are cleared the same way that apps were cleared.
  Everyone pours Red wine.
 Entrees are served using the same method of service as before.
 Servers check on water, bread, wine refills.
 Clear entrees
 Serve dessert
 Pour coffee
 Clear dessert.

4.8 IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER

 Make sure water is made and placed at the table before guests are seated.
 The wine is poured before each course begins.
 The same wine is poured for the salad course that is used for the appetizer course.
 Each server is responsible for serving a table completely before starting another
table.
 Serve food from the left. Serve ladies first and the host of the party last (regardless
of gender).
 Serve the head table first if requested (speaking format, time-bound dignitary,
etc.).
 Do not start clearing the plates unless everyone at the table has finished eating.
 When clearing, remove from the right and remove the silverware that is no longer
needed for the course.
 While clearing the entree plate, remove all empty wine glasses, all silverware that
is no longer needed, bread and butter plates, bread plates, salt and pepper shakers,
and anything else that’s remaining from prior courses. Additionally, bring the
 dessert fork and spoon down to the left and right of the guest respectively.
 Dessert is served before coffee service.
 Someone needs to start brewing the coffee during the appetizer course and keep it
held in coffee cambros.

4.9 BANQUET CHECK LIST FORM

Fig 4.1 banquet check list