By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
Mastering these skills will help you provide excellent service while keeping the workplace safe and efficient—key to success in the food and beverage industry!
Specialized service in food and beverage contexts represents advanced techniques tailored to meet specific client needs or particular service environments. It goes beyond basic serving methods by incorporating unique presentation styles, equipment, and customer interactions to enhance the dining experience. In Kenya, professionals in diverse sectors such as county referral hospitals, universities, banks, and hotels apply specialized service to accommodate client expectations and cultural preferences effectively. Mastery of these techniques is critical for hospitality staff, catering teams, and service providers across industries aiming to deliver excellence and professionalism.
Specialised service, sometimes called service in situ, is food and beverage service delivered to guests in places not primarily designed for eating, such as guest rooms, hotel lounges, hospital wards, homes and offices, aircraft and trains, or at the table from a guéridon trolley. Each form has its own equipment, ordering system, timing and hygiene requirements, and the waiter often works alone, away from the support of the restaurant. Specialised service lets an establishment earn revenue outside the restaurant and meet the needs of guests who cannot or do not wish to come to a dining room. Example: a business hotel in Kakamega earns about a fifth of its food and beverage income from room service and lounge service to guests attending county meetings.
The specialised forms of service differ in where the guest is, how the food is carried and kept at the right temperature, and how the order and bill are handled. The waiter must know the standard procedure for each one so that the food arrives hot, safe and well presented.
Floor or room service is the service of food and drink to guests in their bedrooms or suites in a hotel. Orders are taken by telephone, email or a breakfast door-hanger card and prepared in the main kitchen or a floor pantry. Food is carried on a tray (for one or two items) or a room service trolley with a hot box underneath, and laid in the room on the trolley or a table. Breakfast is the busiest room service meal. The waiter knocks, announces "room service", serves, presents the bill for signature and returns later, or on request, to clear.
Lounge service is the service of drinks, light meals and snacks in a hotel lounge, foyer or reception area, where guests relax, wait or hold informal meetings. It may run all day: breakfast and morning coffee, light lunches, afternoon tea, pre-dinner drinks and after-dinner coffee and liqueurs. The lounge waiter takes orders at low tables, serves from a salver or tray, and charges to the room account or takes payment at once. Lounge staff must also keep the area tidy, with clean ashtrays where smoking is allowed, plumped cushions and newspapers in order.
Hospital tray service delivers individual meals on trays to patients in wards. Patients choose from a menu card in advance, usually the day before, and the dietitian's instructions decide special diets (diabetic, low salt, soft, fluid). Trays are assembled on a conveyor or in the ward kitchen, labelled with the patient's name, bed number and diet, and carried in heated or insulated trolleys so that hot food stays above 63 °C. The server checks the name before placing the tray, helps patients who cannot open packs, and records what is eaten where the ward requires it.
Home delivery is the delivery of meals ordered by phone, website or app to a guest's home or office. Food is packed in sealed, insulated containers and carried in insulated delivery boxes on motorcycles, bicycles or cars. Speed is critical: most outlets promise delivery within 30 to 45 minutes. The rider checks the order before leaving, handles payment (cash, mobile money or prepaid online), and follows hygiene rules for the delivery box. Pizza, chicken and chips, and local dishes such as pilau and chapati are the most common home-delivery foods.
Airline tray service provides meals and drinks to passengers on aircraft. Meals are prepared in flight kitchens on the ground, chilled, packed on trays and loaded in trolleys onto the aircraft, where cabin crew reheat hot items in ovens and serve them from trolleys in the aisle. Space and weight are strictly limited, so equipment is light and compact, and food safety controls are very strict. Special meals (vegetarian, halal, diabetic, child) are ordered in advance and served first.
Rail service provides food and beverages to passengers on trains. It may be full meal service in a dining car laid like a restaurant, buffet car service where passengers buy snacks and drinks from a counter, or trolley service through the carriages. Kitchens on trains are small and moving, so food is mostly pre-prepared and finished on board, and staff must serve safely while the train moves.
Guéridon service is the service of food from a side table or trolley (the guéridon) placed next to the guest's table, where the waiter carves, fillets, prepares or flambés a dish in front of the guest. Classic examples are carving a joint, filleting a fish, preparing a Caesar salad, flambéing steak Diane or crêpes Suzette, and preparing fresh fruit. It is the most skilful form of table service and is used in fine-dining restaurants. It needs a trained waiter, a well-equipped trolley with a réchaud (spirit or gas lamp), and enough space between tables. Guests enjoy the theatre of it, so prices are high.
Example: a guéridon trolley at the fine-dining room of a resort near Webuye Falls is used to flambé fresh pineapple for dessert, carried out by senior waiters only.
Create a free account to open more of this chapter.
Free: practical guides, quick cards, workplace scenarios and more.
Create a free accountThis chapter introduced the concept of specialized service in food and beverage operations, highlighting various forms that cater to specific customer needs and settings. It emphasized the importance of conserving resources to minimize waste and optimize operational efficiency during service. The process of taking orders in specialized service was explored, focusing on accuracy and customer interaction to enhance satisfaction. Attention was given to the specialized equipment and materials required for different service styles, ensuring proper use and maintenance. Preparation steps prior to service were discussed to guarantee smooth execution and high standards. Procedures for billing and handling payments were outlined with an emphasis on accuracy and professionalism. The chapter also covered the collection and use of guest feedback to improve service quality. Finally, post-service activities were examined to ensure cleanliness, organization, and readiness for subsequent service periods.
At the start of this chapter we promised you would be able to:
Tick each one you can genuinely do.
So, are you there yet?
You're competent when you can confidently do 50% or more of what this chapter promised.
Sign in to record how you're doing.