seat, hail their server, and ask, “Please, may WE have salad course): two proteins, a starch, and a vegetable,
some more tenderloin?” while handing over an empty in the usual configuration. Along with the salad, those
platter. The guest will be asking for the entire table, two proteins, one starch, and one vegetable certainly
not for his or her self alone, and isn’t at all inhibited are enough selection for guests to be quite satisfied.
about doing so.
Family Style is also the fastest way to serve a large
Family Style iS a wonderFully convivial
group, by far. A single server is able to deliver all the
way to eat, and helpS Serve aS an
food for a table on one large tray (or, if hand service
ice-breaker at many tableS, where
is being used, two servers are able to deliver every-
gueStS may not all know one another.
thing in one trip). Indeed, the kitchen has to pace
itself carefully, so as not to get too far ahead of the
it alSo allowS gueStS to eat aS much aS
servers, a predicament that caterers only dream about
they’d like— and they will
with Plated Dinners. Two hundred guests can be fed
in less than nine minutes—the time it takes a server to
tray up the food, walk to the table, serve it, and return, Of course, there are clever ways to combine foods—
three times (assuming that 3-table stations have been shrimp served atop grits, fish fillets perched on rice,
assigned to the servers, which is recommended). Nei- pork on polenta—so that the platter or bowl actually
ther Plated Dinners nor Buffets will ever approach this holds two items. In the end, the finite space available
efficiency. In a sense, Family Style service is a hybrid of for Family Style service isn’t a problem, just a parameter.
a Plated dinner and a Buffet. It brings the food to the
guest, rather than the guest having to go to the food— One also has to be judicious with tabletop décor.
a tremendous advantage over Buffets. And it allows Centerpieces need to be more vertical than horizon-
guests to eat all they want—a tremendous advantage tal; dessert forks, coffee spoons, or guest favors may
over Plated Dinners. need to be provided somewhere else other than above
plates; glassware is best limited to one water and one
However, Family Style does have some limitations. Fi- wine glass; bread baskets and even salt and pepper
nite space in the middle of the table means that one shakers should be as small as possible. One solu-
cannot have too many different dishes in play at one tion that will sometimes be available to brides is to
time. Practically speaking, that usually means limiting increase the table size itself—rather than using the
the main course menu to four items (in addition to the usual 5’ rounds, consider the next size up, 5½’ rounds
elegance with an edge
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