• Warmly welcome guests as they arrive at the establishment, before checking their reservation details
• Attend to guests with special needs
• Show the guests to their tables (and assist with coats and other belongings)
• Once all guests are seated, introduce yourself and hand out the beverage menu
• Allow for the opening of serviettes on each guest’s lap (if this is the restaurant’s policy)
• Enquire about taking the beverage order there and then, or offer to return to the table when the guests are ready to do so
• After taking the beverage order, pass food menus around the table
• Deliver the order of drinks to the table, serving ladies first and host last
• Communicate any specials to the menu and offer to take the guests’ food orders there and then
• Deliver the food, serving ladies first and host last
• Once all guests have completed the course, clear used dishes, crockery, cutlery and any other items that won’t be necessary for the subsequent course
• Crumb down the table (i.e. use a hand and a serviette to brush crumbs onto a plate that is held close to the edge of the table, catching the crumbs as they are brushed)
• Serve the next course, and so on, until the last course or coffee has been cleared away
• Once all is done, and the guest has indicated that they do not need any further service, it is time to prepare and serve their bill

A table d’hôte menu charges a set price for a specified number of dishes, usually three – the starters (or hors-d’oeuvres), the main course and the dessert. Around 2 or 3 menu items are offered as a choice for each course.

Plated service is the most preferred type of service for table d’hôte menus. Waiters carry food from the kitchen to the tables, most often by means of the two-plate carrying technique where no more than 2 plates are held in the waiter’s left hand.

Females are served first (followed by the males) in a clock-wise direction, starting with the guest seated to the right hand side of the host.

Plates are served and cleared from the right hand side of each guest (except in the case of Gueridon service). Waiters should place the plates in a position that sees the protein part of the meal closest to the guest’s chest and any special plate décor or establishment logos furthest away (i.e. at the top).