Gueridon service

In the restaurant industry, gueridon service or tableside service is the cooking or finishing of foods by a waiter (or maître d'hôtel) at the diner's table, typically from a special serving cart called a guéridon trolley.^[1][2] This type of service is implemented in fine dining restaurants where the average spending power is higher, and an a la carte menu is offered. Gueridon service offers a higher style of service to the guest.

It is similar to service à la russe, where every dish is portioned by a waiter tableside, but usually involves additional cooking steps.

Table side procedures include:

• Flambéing of dishes such as crêpes Suzette, bananas Foster, cherries Jubilee, or Chicago-style saganaki;
• Mixing or tossing salads such as Caesar salad;
• Quick pan-frying and preparation of a pan sauce, as with steak Diane;
• Boning and plating fish;
• Preparing guacamole in a molcajete;
• Carving meat or poultry - specifically, carving a whole Peking Duck into bite-size skin- and meat pieces before serving each guest at the table. Conclusively, the juices may be extracted in a designated press and served on the side.
• Final preparation of a pasta dish, as with fettuccine Alfredo;
• Preparing a compound butter, such as beurre maître d'hôtel.

Gueridon trolley

A gueridon trolley typically has a gas burner with a chafing dish for cooking or heating food and a cupboard for the necessary ingredients, which may include condiments, liquor, cream, butter, oil, and other ingredients; service equipment such as knives, spoons, platters, and so on.^[3]

Bibliography

• John Fuller, Guéridon and Lamp Cookery: A Complete Guide to Side-table and Flambé Service, Athens Book Company, 1964

Notes

1. S. Andrews, Food and Beverage Service Manual, 2001, ISBN 0070963584, p. 36
2. "Gueridon service". Cook's Info. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
3. Tracey Dalton, The Food and Beverage Handbook, 2004, ISBN 0702166391, p. 60-61