SILVER ROOM / PLATE ROOM

The silver room holds the stock of silver required for the
service of meals. The various types of silver are kept here on labeled
shelves, with all the service plates of one size stacked together.
Cutlery, flatware, hollowware and other smaller items are usually
stored in drawers lined with baize, as this helps to reduce noise,
slipping and scratching.
In very large establishments, the silver and the plate room
may be two separate units, but in the majority of places they are
combined and in some cases, are a part of wash-up.

STILL ROOM

The still room is looked after by a still room supervisor, who is
responsible for the staffing, ordering of supplies from the main store
and effective control of these items when issued to various
departments. In most of the restaurants, the stillroom remains open
for long hours. For the efficient running, the staffs normally work on a
straight rotating shift basis, doing an early shift one week and a late
shift the next. The stillroom staffs are also responsible for the
washing up of all their equipments.


Provisions Obtainable from the Stillroom:

The list below gives the provisions that can be obtained from
the stillroom:
· Beverages: coffee, tea, chocolate, horlicks, ovaltine and
other food drinks.
· Fruit juices: apple, orange, pineapple, grapefruit and
other assorted fruit juices.
· Pastries, gateaux and sandwiches
· Rolls, brioche and crossant
· Toast: breakfast toast, melba toast
· Milk, cream and butter
· Toasted scones and teacakes
· Sugar: coffee powder, tea dust, demerara etc.
· Breakfast cereals: cornflakes, weetabixm shredded
wheat, rice crispies, muesli etc.
· Preserves: jams, jelly, marmalade, cherry, plum,
raspberry, strawberry, apricot and honey.
· Cleaning detergents and scrubbers.


Stillroom Equipments:

A wide range of food items are offered from a stillroom and
therefore, to ensure the correct storage, preparation and
presentation a considerable amount of equipment is used. The
equipment that may be found includes:
· Coffee brewing machine
· Coffee bean grinding machine
· Tea dispenser
· Bread slicing machine
· Salamander
· Hot cupboard
· Steamer and hotwater boiler
· Refrigertors
· Work table and cutting board
· General storage space, shelves and cupboards
· Sinks, washing machines and dish washers.

ANCILLARY DEPARTMENTS

The ancillary department of the restaurant area includes
important units in the make-up of a catering establishement, acting
as the link between kitchen or food preparation units and the
restaurant or food service units. The service areas behind the scener
can also be termed as ‘back-of-house’.
The service areas are stocked with appropriate equipment,
depending on the style of operation. The service areas themselves
are some of the busiest units of a catering establishment, especially
during the service periods. In general, especially in large hotels, five
main service areas can be distinguished:



1) Stillroom
2) Silver or plate room
3) Wash-up
4) Hotplate
5) Spare linen store
A well-structured layout of these areas is most important to
ensure even flow of work by the various members of staff. However,
the layout itself may vary with different catering establishments
according to their own needs.

EQUIPMENT HANDLING

Sanitation Standards in Handling Service Equipment


1. Use clean and sanitized glasses, flatware, chinaware and
other equipment for service.
2. All service equipment must be wiped dry with clean cloths
to avoid watermarks. The cloths used for this purpose
must be segregated from other wiping cloths.
3. Bowls should be underlined with appropriate underliner
and never to be served with the finger touching the rim.
4. When serving straw serve them with their wrappers or in
their respective dispensers.
5. When serving additional utensils or napkin, place them in
a small plate to avoid direct contact with hand.
6. The thumb should be kept away from the plate to avoid
touching the sauce, meat or dish.
7. When setting up flatware and glasses, avoid leaving
finger marks; carry them in trays or with a cloth napkin.
8. Never serve food using cutleries that have fallen on the
floor.
9. To avoid contamination, food must be covered when it is
not served immediately.
Never serve utensils, cups, glasses or plates that are oily,
wet or with fingermarks, spots or lipstick mark.

EQUIPMENT HANDLING

Do's and Dont's of Equipment Handling


1. Dump ice out of the glass; preheat the glass before
pouring hot water. Don't pour hot drinks in chilled or cold
glasses.
2. Stack dishes according to size and kind. Never stack too
high.
3. Handle stemmed glasses by the stem and tumblers by
the base. Never handle glasses in bouquet.
4. Remove glass / china from buspan one at a time. Don't
unload china, glasses at random.
5. Use ice scooper for scooping ice. Never use the glass for
scooping ice.
6. Never put cutlery into glasses, put them in appropriate
containers.
7. Make sure of an adequate back-up supply of glassware
for rush periods.
8. Always be on the lookout for cracked or chipped
glassware and remove them.
9. Never allow glass-to-glass contact on overhead racks,
keep distant from each other.
10. Never overload the tray / buspan. Load only what it can
conveniently accommodate.

11. Never buss glasses in the sink. Buss them directly onto
divider racks.
12. Never stack glasses. Use trays and avoid over crowding
them to prevent breakage.

EQUIPMENT HANDLING

Measures to Avoid Breakages


• Use trays when serving and bussing.
• Proper system should be followed in stacking and storing
equipment.
• Use appropriate door for entry and exit. A separate door
for entering and eiting should be installed to prevent
collision.
• Use appropriate glass racks. Make sure that the glasses
are conviniently, but not tightly inserted in each rack.
• Buss out glasses separately from chinaware.
• Avoid overloading trays and buspans.

EQUIPMENT HANDLING

Management invests substantial amount in supplies and
equipment. Service staffs are, therefore, expected that these
equipment are handled gently and carefully. Staff should be
sanitation and safety conscious. Equipment should be handled in the
right spot stemmed glass by the stem, tumblers by the base, flatware
by the handle. Bowls should never be held by the rim, use
appropriate underliners. The thumb should never show on the plate.
When setting up cutleries, as well as glasswares, avoid leaving
finger marks by using trays or by securing them inside a cloth
napkin.
To prevent breakage, be conscious of the rules of
equipment handling. Breakages are usually caused by the following
factors:
1. Mechanical Impact -- results from object-to-object
collision. This is induced by stacking of glasswares and
chinawares, picking of glasses in bouquet, overloading of
buspans and trays, putting cutleries inside glasses.
2. Thermal Shock -- result of sudden change of
temperature. This happens when hot water is placed
inside a chilled / cold glass and vice versa, abrupt use of
glasswares after coming of the dishwashing machines,
heating chilled bowl in a microwave.

3. Improper Handling and Misuse of Equipment -- using
the equipment for a purpose it was not intended for such
as using a glass to scoop ice, using knives for opening
cans, etc.
4. Inattentiveness or Absent-mindedness -- accidents
often occur when service personnel are absent-minded or
are inattentive in executing services especially when they
are carrying breakable equipment.
5. Environmental Factors – greasy / wet floor, slippery
floor, broken tiles, blind doors.