The key to successful buffet entertaining is to serve a one-dish meal that requires one utensil to eat, namely a fork. However, for a large group, as a gesture of hospitality two main courses are served, such as turkey and ham.
Here are some tips for successful buffet service.
- Allow enough room beside each dish for guests to rest their dinner plate while they help themselves to food that requires two utensils to serve, for example, a tossed salad.
- Provide space to lay the serving utensils by the serve ware they are meant to accompany, along with the lids of covered serving bowls.
- Arrange the flow of the tableware and the serving dishes in logical order, a sequence that proceeds from left to right.
- Stack dinner plates in groups of eight. A stack of plates higher than eight resembles a cafeteria or the service station in a restaurant.
- Arrange food in groups of related temperatures, such as hot foods together.
- Place salads near a cheese board (if one is provided).
- Set sauces and condiments next to the dishes they accompany.
- Place a basket of pre-buttered rolls or sliced bread near the salt and pepper shakers.
- Because a pepper mill requires both hands to manipulate, it is not placed on a buffet table.
- At the exit end of the table, lay the flatware in a row on the table, if space permits. When flatware is placed in a stacked position, the top utensil is difficult to remove.
- Place napkins last. To conserve space, present napkins overlapped, beneath each plate, wrapped around the flatware, or on each tray.
- Station a side table to hold beverages and glassware. To avoid trying to balance a plate while lifting a heavy water pitcher, lighten the load and partially fill several pitchers or carafes with water.
- Place coffee and dessert on a side table, along with the cups, saucers, dessert plates, and flatware.
Guests serve themselves in the order in which they arrive at the buffet, and eat seated wherever they are comfortable: on chairs, floor, or stairs. When possible, supply a small folding table for each chair, and provide lap trays for guests who sit on stairs. To make room for used dinner plates, clear end tables of unneeded accessories. Protect the furniture and flooring with strategically placed coasters and ashtrays.B
