Silver service is a method of foodservice at the table, with waiter transferring food from a serving dish to the guest's plate, always from the left. It is performed by a waiter by using service forks and spoons from the diner's left. In France, it appears to be now known as service à l'anglaise, although historically that meant something else, with the hostess serving out the soup at one end of the table, and later the host carving a joint of meat at the other end, and diners serving themselves with other dishes. A modification of silver service is known as butler service.
Features
Silver service food is served from the left.
Meals are served to the diner from platters, not plated in the kitchen.
The guest to the host's right is served first, usually a female guest.
Service continues clockwise.
Plates are cleared from the right, glasses from the right; again by starting with the guest to the host's right.
Glasses are stacked in a diagonal to the right and away, with wine in order and then water glass in front.
At a wedding, the bride is served first, followed by the bride's mother, then the Bridegroom, then to the left of the "top table" with the bridal party, restarting again at the other side of the table with the best man first then any other member of the bridegroom's party.
Silver service, like all formal food service, is oriented for a right-handed waiter, left-handed waiters may use their right hand: to serve the food, the waiter stands behind the guest and to the guest's left, holds or supports the platter with their left hand and serves the food with their right hand. It is common for the waiter to hold the serving-fork above the serving-spoon both in the right hand, and use the fingers to manipulate the two as a pincer for picking up, holding and transferring the food. This technique or form requires much practice and dexterity.
In butler service, the diner helps himself from a serving plate held by the waiter. Traditionally, this type of service was used on Sunday evenings, when the waiting staff had the evening off and the butler helped out at dinner. In France, this kind of service is known as service à la francaise, again a very different meaning from the historical one.
