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Food and Beverage Sector
Food and Beverage Operations in a Hotel
FOOD & BEVERAGE is a term the hospitality industry uses to refer to all food and beverage needs for an event, dining experience or general catering. The food and beverage department within a hotel consists of many areas and personnel that cater to internal or external guests.
* Divisions
* Kitchens
*Restaurants
* Catering, internal and external
* Banqueting, internal and external
* Room service (In-room dining)
* Minibars
* Lounge bars
* Stewarding
* Food and beverage operation
Kitchens
A kitchen is a place for the storage and preparation of food for consumption. In some hotels, there may be a variety of kitchen catering to differentneeds from breakfast, lunch and dinner to events such as gala dinners and conferences. The number of guests being catered for varies depending on the size of the dining facilities and kitchen, the number of staff employed and the equipment being used.
The purpose of a kitchen is to produce the right quality of food of the highest standard for the required number of people, on time, by the mosteffective use of staff, equipment and materials.
A kitchen can be divided into separate areas:
* Production kitchen
* Banqueting kitchen
* À la carte kitchen
* Grill room
* Pastry kitchen
* Food preparation area
Production kitchen
The correct design and layout of food preparation and production areas can make a major contribution to good food hygiene.Staff responds better under good working conditions by taking more pride in their work, themselves and their environment. Adequate working space must be provided for each process in the kitchen and the separation of raw and cooked, clean and dirty must be followed to reduce the risks of food contamination.
Production kitchens produce foods for separate service areas in the hotel. The amount offood produced can be as large as in the production for airlines or functions centre dealing with several hundred people, or as in the food production for a counter area where smaller numbers of customers are catered for.
Features of a good production kitchen:
* Designed so that it can be easily managed.
* Management must have easy access to the areas under their control andhave good visibility in the areas which have to be supervised.
* Products – raw materials to finished product must have an easy flow
* Personnel – how people work and move in the kitchen must have a good work flow, therefore good time management.
* Containers/Equipment/Utensils – equipment should, where possible, be separated into specific process areas to increase efficiency,hygiene and work flow.
* Storage areas should be kept clean and tidy, with temperatures monitored where necessary, and be close to the production areas for improved time management.
Factors that influence the design of a kitchen
Kitchens are designed for easier management. The market that the business is catering for and the style of food operation, which includes the menu structure, areall needed to be considered. Other important factors include:
Properly planned layouts, with adequate equipments, tools, materials and work space, are essential if practical work is to be carried out efficiently.
* The movement, storage and handling of foods.
* Working methods of staff employed.
* Size of dining area if applicable.
* Number of staff employed and theirskill levels.
* Type of operation, e.g. breakfast, lunch and dinner.
* Storage areas for chemicals and equipments, perishable and non-perishable foods.

ACTIVITY 1
There are many factors that can influence the design of a kitchen. Take your kitchen at home as an example. Can you think of some factors that have influenced its design? Look at its size and shape. How have these two...