What you look for when eating a buffet is the portion, and everything is based on the principle of "cost-effectiveness". So how can we get back our money as much as possible? Here are several ways: First, the traditional way of eating: The method is to follow the order of dishes from cheap to expensive, so that the appetite gradually adapts from weak to strong. Before picking up the dishes, you should go through all the dishes, and then pick up a little bit of each dish to try the taste, and then decide which ones to focus on. And don't eat bread or soup first, especially soup with cream added first, even if you want to drink soup, it should be after salad. Salads are very effective in eliminating the greasiness of meat. However, you need to pay attention when choosing sauces. Lemon juice is best, and it is best not to choose Thousand Island dressing.
When eating meat and other staple foods, don’t ignore the role of mustard, pickles and olives. They can scrape away the greasiness in the stomach. Don't drink coffee immediately after eating dessert. You can drink some black tea with lemon. No matter how tempting the snack is, it must be eaten last. Drinking a small cup of tea can re-energize your fighting power and improve your performance. The second is the gentleman’s way of eating: this way of eating looks elegant, but is cost-effective. The trick is to take advantage of the trade-offs. Eating a buffet step by step is a kind of enjoyment, but for those ladies or gentlemen with small appetites, they are not willing to spoil their appetite by greedy for too much, or even spend money to lose weight in the future. Therefore, a gentleman's way of eating is to always separate hot and cold dishes when taking dishes. If you mix sashimi and hot dishes on the same plate, it will not only affect the taste, but also destroy the aesthetics. In fact, for many people, the fun of eating a buffet is not only to eat as much as they want, but also to enjoy the food on the plate. After understanding the characteristics of the food, the exquisite plate presentation is also a way to increase appetite.
Those who know how to make choices can still get their money back even if they don’t eat to the point of being suffocated. They value “quality” rather than “quantity”. Some people only want to try foods they are familiar with when eating at a buffet. In fact, it is more interesting to eat food that is not usually available. Overview
The etiquette of arranging a buffet refers to the standardized practices of the buffet organizer when preparing a buffet. Generally speaking, it also includes the meal preparation time, dining location, food preparation, and guests’ behavior. Four aspects including hospitality.
Meal preparation time
In business interactions, according to convention, buffets are mostly arranged after various formal business activities as one of its ancillary links, and rarely Stand alone and become an activity on its own. In other words, buffets in the business world are mostly used as one of the items to entertain guests after various formal activities, and should not be used as a formal form of business activities.
Because buffets are mostly held after formal business activities, the specific time they are held is limited by formal business activities. However, it is rarely held in the evening, and each meal should not last longer than an hour.
According to convention, buffet meal times do not need to be formally limited. As long as the host announces the start of the meal, everyone can start eating. During the entire meal, diners can eat as they please, and there is no need to wait until the host announces the start of the meal. When having a buffet, unlike a formal banquet, you must exit together and are not allowed to "give up halfway." As long as the diners feel they are done eating, they can leave at any time after greeting the host. Often, no one comes forward to officially announce the end of the buffet.
Generally speaking, if the organizer plans to entertain guests with a buffet, it is best to notify them in an appropriate way in advance. At the same time, care must be taken to treat everyone equally, that is, do not arrange for some guests to have a buffet and other guests to attend a formal banquet.
Dining location
When choosing a dining location for a buffet, you don’t have to be as serious as a banquet. The important thing is that it can accommodate all the diners and provide them with enough space for communication. Under normal circumstances, the buffet can be arranged indoors or outdoors. Usually, it is mostly held in large restaurants and open-air gardens owned by the organizer. Sometimes, venues similar to this can also be rented or loaned out.
When selecting and arranging the buffet dining location, the following three matters should be paid attention to. The first is to provide diners with a certain amount of space for activities. In addition to the area where dishes are placed, there should also be an obvious dining area designated at the buffet dining location. Don't make this area too small. Considering that the actual number of people dining is often flexible to a certain extent, the actual number of people is difficult to determine, so the area of ??the dining area would rather be larger. The second is to provide a sufficient number of dining tables and seats. Although a real buffet advocates that diners move around freely and stand rather than sit down. But in reality, many diners, especially the elderly and infirm, still hope to have a temporary resting place during their meal. Therefore, a certain number of tables and chairs should be arranged in advance at the dining location. Free for diners to use. When dining outdoors, it is often necessary to provide an appropriate amount of parasols. The third is to make diners feel that the environment of the dining place is pleasant. When selecting a dining location, you must not only pay attention to issues such as area and cost, but also take into account issues such as safety, hygiene, temperature and humidity. If the diners feel a strange smell, too cold or too hot, poor air flow, or overcrowding during the meal, it will obviously affect the other person's overall evaluation of the buffet.
Food preparation
At the buffet, the food provided to diners has both its uniqueness and its own personality. Its uniqueness is that in order to facilitate dining, cold food is mainly provided; in order to satisfy the different tastes of diners, the food should be as rich and colorful as possible; in order to facilitate diners to choose, the same type of food should be provided Food should be placed in one place.
Its personality lies in the fact that the food can focus on specific varieties at different times or when entertaining different guests. Sometimes, it is mainly cold dishes; sometimes, it is mainly desserts; sometimes, it is mainly refreshments; sometimes, it can also be mainly drinks. In addition, some seasonal dishes or special dishes can also be arranged as appropriate.
Generally speaking, the variety of food provided at the buffet should be as large as possible. Specifically, the dishes provided at a general buffet should roughly include cold dishes, soups, hot dishes, snacks, desserts, fruits and drinks. Usually, the common cold dishes include salad, puree, jelly, sausage, ham, beef, pork tongue, shrimp floss, fish roe, duck eggs, etc. Commonly served soups include red cabbage soup, oxtail soup, corn soup, hot and sour soup, three delicacies soup, etc. Frequently served hot dishes include fried chicken, fried fish, barbecue, roast pork, roast fish, potato chips, etc. Commonly served snacks include bread, vegetable buns, hot dogs, fried rice, cakes, cookies, cookies, sandwiches, hamburgers, pizza, etc. Desserts often served include pudding, fruit steak, ice cream, etc. Frequently served fruits include bananas, pineapples, watermelons, papayas, citrus, cherries, grapes, apples, etc. The drinks that are often served include milk, coffee, black tea, cola, juice, mineral water, and cocktails. When preparing food, it is important to take care to ensure supply. At the same time, attention must also be paid to food hygiene and the insulation of hot dishes and hot drinks.
Guest hospitality
It is the responsibility and obligation of the buffet organizer to entertain guests well. To achieve this, special attention must be paid to the following links.
The first is to take good care of the guest of honor. No matter what the situation, the guest of honor is the most important thing to be taken care of by the host. The buffet is no exception. The care provided by the host to the guest of honor at the buffet is mainly reflected in accompanying him to eat, having appropriate conversations with him, introducing other guests to him, etc. Just be careful to leave some time for the guest of honor to move freely, and don't always accompany him or her.
The second is to serve as an introducer. as a specific form of social activity. A buffet naturally requires its attendees to initiate a moderate amount of social interaction. During the buffet, the host must try his best to create as many opportunities for guests who do not know each other to get acquainted, and actively build bridges for them, acting as introducers, that is, introducers. It should be noted that when introducing others to each other, you must understand whether both parties have this wish, and do not make wishful thinking.
The third is to arrange service providers. In a small buffet, the host can often serve as both a server and a waiter. However, in a large-scale buffet, it is obvious that dedicated service is indispensable. At a buffet, it is mainly the waiters who have direct contact with the diners. As a rule, waiters at buffets must be healthy and agile men. Its main responsibility is to proactively provide some auxiliary services to guests so that they do not interfere with conversations with others due to frequent food intake. For example, pushing a dining cart with various types of food or holding a tray with a variety of drinks among the guests, allowing the guests to get what they want. Furthermore, he can also be responsible for replenishing food, drinks, tableware, etc. that are in short supply. Overview
The so-called etiquette of enjoying a buffet here mainly refers to the specific etiquette norms that need to be followed when participating in a buffet as a diner. Generally speaking, among the buffet etiquette, the etiquette of enjoying the buffet is often more important to most people. Usually, it mainly involves the following eight points.
Queue to get food
Although the diner needs to take care of himself when enjoying the buffet, this does not mean that he can use any means necessary. In fact, when dining and sampling, since diners often come in groups, everyone must consciously maintain public order, pay attention to first come, first served, and queue up to select food. Crowding, grabbing, adding to queues, and not queuing are not allowed. Before picking up the food, prepare a food plate. When it is your turn to pick up food, you should put the food into your own plate using shared utensils, and then leave quickly. Don’t hesitate before a wide variety of foods. You should not make the people behind you wait for a long time, and you should not pick and choose when picking up the food, or even start directly or use your own tableware to pick up the food.
Taking dishes in order
At the buffet, if you want to be full and satisfied, then when picking up the specific dishes, you must first understand the reasonable order of picking up the dishes, and then proceed step by step . According to common sense, when participating in a general buffet, the standard order of taking dishes should be: cold dishes, soups, hot dishes, snacks, desserts and fruits. Therefore, when picking up food, it is best to walk around the whole place to understand the situation before picking up food. If you don't understand this reasonable order of taking dishes, and do your own thing when taking the dishes, and eat randomly, you will inevitably put the cart before the horse, and the salty and sweet will conflict with each other, making you eat neither smoothly nor happily. uncomfortable. For example, at a buffet, desserts and fruits should be the "finale" and eaten at the end.
But if you don’t abide by this rule and eat a lot of desserts and fruits first for the sake of freshness, you will be full immediately. If you wait until later to see the good things you want to eat, you will probably be overwhelmed. I had no choice but to "look at the ocean and sigh".
Act within your ability
When attending a buffet, if you come across something you like to eat, as long as it doesn’t overwhelm you, you can eat as much as you want. There is no limit to the quantity and the supply is guaranteed. In fact, this is what makes the buffet so popular. Therefore, when business people attend a buffet, they don't have to worry about others laughing at them. They can just eat whatever they like. However, it should be noted that when choosing food according to your own taste, you must act within your capabilities. Do not gorge yourself on food just to satisfy your cravings. As a result, you will be unable to do what you want, leading to a waste of food. Strictly speaking, when enjoying a buffet, eating more is allowed, but wasting food is absolutely not allowed. This is known as the "take less" principle when dining at a buffet. Sometimes, some people also call it the "take less every time" principle.
Pick up dishes multiple times
While adhering to the "take less" principle at the buffet, you must also abide by the "take more times" principle. The principle of "multiple times" is the abbreviation of the principle of "taking dishes multiple times". Its specific meaning is: the diner chooses a certain type of dish on the buffet and is allowed to pick it up again and again. You should only take a small amount at a time. After tasting it, if you feel it suits you, you can take it again until you feel satisfied. In other words, this principle actually means that when choosing a certain dish at the buffet, it doesn’t matter how many times you go to pick it up. Adding and adding is allowed. On the contrary, if you take too much at one time to save trouble and pretend to be too much, like the behavior of Miss Zhou Jin mentioned above, it is a discourteous move and will definitely make other people stunned. The principle of "taking more times" and the principle of "taking less" are actually two different sides of the same problem. "Multiple times" is to do what you can, and "take less" is also to avoid waste. Therefore, the two are often collectively referred to as the principle of "take more often and take less". Anyone who knows how to eat at a buffet knows that when choosing dishes, it is best to choose only one kind for yourself at a time. After eating, go and get other varieties. If you don't know how to do this, you will be messy when picking up dishes, and serve a variety of dishes together, resulting in mixed flavors and mutual flavors, which will inevitably lead to a waste of natural resources. Fifth, avoid takeout. All buffets, regardless of whether they are buffets hosted by the host to entertain guests or buffets operated in formal restaurants open to the public, have an unwritten rule, that is, buffets only allow diners to eat on their own at the dining site. Enjoy it, and never allow the other party to take it home after the meal. Business people must keep this in mind when attending a buffet. It doesn't matter how much you eat during a meal, but don't secretly put some of your "favorites" into your pockets or purses, and don't ask the waiter to "pack" them for you. Such a performance will definitely make others laugh.
Return the tableware
At the buffet, since it is emphasized that diners mainly serve themselves, diners must keep this in mind throughout the meal. And take action seriously. The buffet emphasizes self-service, which not only requires diners to focus on self-service when taking dishes, but also requires them to start and finish well, and consciously deliver the tableware to the designated place after the meal. Under normal circumstances, buffets require diners to put the tableware together after finishing the meal and before leaving the dining site, and then return them to the designated location. This is especially true when enjoying a buffet in a courtyard or garden. It is not allowed to throw the tableware around or even damage the tableware at will. When you sit down for a meal in a restaurant, you can sometimes leave the tableware on the table when you leave, and the waiter will take care of it. Even so, it is best to sort it out a little before leaving. Don't leave the dishes on your dining table messy and unsightly. It is advisable to finish the food you take for yourself. If there is a little food left, do not throw, dump or hide it in private, but put it in an appropriate place.
Take care of others
When business people attend a buffet, in addition to strictly restraining their own behavior during meals, they must also live in harmony with others and take more care of them. You need to pay special attention to your companions. If they are not familiar with the buffet, you may wish to give them a brief introduction. If the other party is willing, you can also make some specific suggestions on the selection of dishes. You should also be considerate of acquaintances you meet at a buffet. However, you are not allowed to directly take food for the other person on your own initiative, and you are not allowed to "process" food that you don't like or can't eat for the other person. During the meal, you should treat other strangers with courtesy. When queuing, picking up food, finding a table, and moving around, be proactive and courteous to other diners, and do not be arrogant or rude.
Active communication
Generally speaking, when participating in a buffet, business people must understand that eating is often a secondary matter, and appropriate social activities with other people are their priority. The most important task. This is especially true when attending a buffet hosted by a business unit.
Therefore, one should not use the excuse of being unsociable to hide in a secluded place and focus on eating, or eat and leave as soon as you come, without any form of direct contact with other people present. When attending a buffet, you must actively look for opportunities and actively engage in social activities. First of all, you should find an opportunity to chat with your host, and secondly, you should have a good chat with your old friends. Finally, you should also strive to make a few new friends.
At a buffet, the main form of communication is that several people get together to talk. In order to expand your social circle, you might as well change a few similar social circles during this period. It's just that in every social circle, you have to stay for a while. You can't just stay for a minute or two and then leave immediately, just like a dragonfly touching water. There are generally three ways to intervene in unfamiliar social circles. One is to ask the owner or someone in the circle for an introduction. The second is to look for opportunities and take advantage of them to join. Third, it is self-recommendation.
Subtle differences between buffet and buffet
Buffet: suitable for all seasons. The style of dishes is mainly cold dishes, including both meat and vegetables. The proportions of hot dishes can be adjusted according to seasonal changes and guest requirements. These dishes are beautiful in appearance, hygienic and refreshing, with various flavors and textures, and you can taste snacks and unique local flavors.
Buffets are generally suitable for group get-togethers and elegant receptions. They are a good place to exchange feelings and exchange opinions. Guests can freely mix and move around and choose their favorite food.
Banquet: The format of the buffet is basically the same as that of the buffet. The buffet basically features elegant and unique cold dishes, drinks, and low-alcohol wine. It is not the main purpose of dining. It is usually suitable for receptions, press conferences, etc.
Set meal: The set meal is based on the dining standards of each guest and the combination of dishes according to the banquet specifications. It is not limited to the number of people, and each person has one set. Therefore, the set meal is also called a meal-sharing system. In the set menu, guests can choose a combination set meal that suits their taste according to their own consumption standards. This eating method is both convenient and hygienic. The principle of combination of set meals is to formulate dishes of different specifications, different tastes and different textures according to the guests' dining standards to meet the guests' dining requirements.