Food and Beverage department
The primary function of the food and beverage department is to provide food and drink to a hotel’s guests. In earlier times, when an inn had a
single dining room that could hold a limited number of guests, this was a
fairly simple task. Today, however, providing food and drink is much more
complicated. A large hotel might well have a coffee shop, a gourmet restaurant,
a poolside snack bar, room service, two banquet halls, and ten function rooms
where food and beverages are served. It might also have a lounge, a nightclub,
and a lobby bar. On a busy day (or night), it’s quite likely that functions
will be booked in many outlets at the same time. In addition, some outlets may
have multiple events scheduled for a single day. As you can see, there is great
diversity in the types of activities performed by a food and beverage
department, requiring a significant variety of skills on the part of its
workers.
Because of the diversity of services provided, the food and beverage
department is typically split into subunits. The executive chef, a
person of considerable importance and authority in any full-service
hotel, runs the food production, or kitchen, department. A variety of culinary specialists
who are responsible for different aspects of food preparation report to the
executive chef. The actual serving of food in a large hotel’s restaurants is
usually the responsibility of a separate department, headed by the assistant food
and beverage director. The food service department is composed of the
individual restaurant and outlet managers, maitre d’s, waiters, waitresses, and
bus help.
Because of their special duties and concerns, many large hotels
have a separate subunit that is responsible only for room service.
Because of the high value and profit margins associated with the sale of alcoholic
beverages, some hotels have a separate department that assumes responsibility
for all outlets where alcoholic beverages are sold. The person responsible for
this department is the beverage manager. Most full-service hotels also do a
considerable convention and catering business. The typical convention uses
small function rooms for meetings and larger rooms for general sessions, trade
shows, exhibits, and banquets. As a hotel or lodging business increases the use
of its facilities for conventions and meetings, it may form a separate convention
services department. The convention services department and its personnel are
introduced to the client, a meeting planner, or an association executive by the
marketing and sales department. The convention services department then handles
all of the client’s meeting and catering requirements. Individually catered
events include parties, wedding receptions, business meetings, and other
functions held by groups. To provide for the unique needs of these types of
customers, hotels often organize separate catering and convention departments. Depending
on the size of the hotel, the job of cleaning the food and beverage outlets
themselves as well as of washing pots and pans, dishes, glasses, and utensils
is often delegated to a subunit known as the stewarding department. It is only
through continuous cooperation and coordination that a hotel’s food service
function can be carried out effectively. A guest who is dining in a hotel
restaurant requires the joint efforts of the kitchen, food service, beverage,
and stewarding departments. A convention banquet cannot be held without the
efforts of the convention and catering department along with the food
production, beverage, and stewarding departments. The sequence of events and
cooperaation required among the food and beverage staff is even more important
than in the rooms department, thus increasing the importance of communication between
managers and employees alike. Another challenge faced by management is the
diversity of the employees in the food and beverage department; the dishwasher
in the stewarding department is at a dramatically
different level than the sous chef in the kitchen
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