Keeping Hot Food Hot and Cold Food Cold

At a time when increased competition in the restaurant industry is putting greater emphasis on guest retention, minding all the small details of a restaurant has become a big part of the day. With all the small parts that make up the daily sweat, making sure hot food is served hot and cold food is served cold is often overlooked.

Serving food at its correct temperature is vital to a quality dining experience. Whether it's a piping hot bowl of soup, a crisp green salad or a steak grilled to medium, each one has different needs for proper service.

The first service standard is plate temperature. The adage, "hot food on hot plates, cold food on cold plates" rings true still. One of the most basic functions in any professional kitchen is making sure that plates are properly heated, chilled, or at room temperature. The degree to which a plate is heated or chilled is also important. Overheated plates will ruin a sauce, especially delicate butter sauces like buerre blanc or hollandaise. An overheated plate will also quickly wilt small salads or fine herbs that accompany hot items. Plates can also get too cold. Dressing can congeal or sensitive seasonal greens can "burn." Therefore, ensuring that the kitchen has ample storage for storing plates at a proper serving temperature is vital for the food served on them. (For more information, see "Kitchen Design.")

Keeping plates chilled for service is easy if stations are correctly designed with space for plates. Often though, that's not the case. Plates end up sharing space with mixed greens, extra dressings, crème anglaise and tart tartins. Plates become an annoyance, getting spotted and dirty along the way.