Professional covering in service

Every service and specialist staff member in the catering and hotel industry should know how to set a table correctly. HOGASTJOB presents the basics of table setting and shows what prospective service staff or career changers should pay attention to.

The table should be set differently depending on the meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner, for example). To give two examples that are immediately obvious to everyone: At breakfast, the wine glass is dispensed with, while no coffee cup is set out in the evening.

The napkin or place setting forms the center of the cutlery set. It is placed directly in front of the guest's chair. The distance between the cutlery is based on the largest plate that will be used during the course of the meal. The rule of thumb is 28 to 30 centimetres.

Place plates and most of the cutlery should be placed along the baseline. This is one to two centimetres from the edge of the table.

HOGASTJOB bonus knowledge: The basic rule is to maintain absolute hygiene! This is why cutlery is always carried in a hand napkin or on a separate plate and never in the hand. Wearing gloves is also an advantage. If none are available, make sure that you do not touch the surfaces of the cutlery that the guest puts in their mouth.

The primary cutlery (knives, forks and spoons) should be placed one to two centimeters away from the edge of the table, just like the place setting. Note: Always set the table from the inside to the outside! This means that the cutlery for the main course is placed directly on the place setting. The knife and fork are a finger's width away from the plate.

All components must be placed at the same distance from each other. Remember: It should still be possible to pass a money card between the individual items.

A maximum of four items of cutlery may be placed on the right-hand side of the plate. In addition to the main course knife, these are: the fish knife, the center knife and the soup spoon - and that's it. All cutlery items must be aligned with the base line.

A maximum of three cutlery components may be placed on the left-hand side of the plate. Important: The second fork - next to the fork of the main course - is pushed slightly upwards and is not on the base line.

HOGASTJOB tip: The ends of the tines of the second fork should be level with the tips of the tines of the first fork. The third fork should be aligned with the base line again.

The cutlery for dessert or cheese is always placed above the plate - never to the left or right of it. As a rule, spoons and forks must always be placed on the plate. However, if you know exactly which dessert or finish you are serving, you can also hand out the appropriate cutlery directly.

Remember: "Spoon beats fork!" The spoon is always placed above the fork. The distance is the same as for the other pieces of cutlery. If no spoon is required and therefore only the knife and fork are served, the knife is always under the fork.

Once you have set the cutlery, you can start setting the glasses. There is a maximum of four glasses per person at the table. To avoid marks, you should touch the glasses as little as possible.

The starting point is always the so-called serving glass, which is used for the main course. Depending on the menu, this can be a red wine or white wine glass. The guide glass should be placed at right angles to the main course knife and dessert cutlery. And all other glasses are aligned with it.

The number of glasses depends on the number of courses - or is limited by the size of the table. If there is not enough space, four glasses cannot be set.

With four glasses, it is advisable to line up the glasses in a row. The champagne glass should be placed to the left of the guide glass, the white wine glass to the right and the water glass next to it.

The white wine glass is on the right above the straightening glass. Below it, cover the water glass - and that's it.

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