As a yacht stewardess, you need to be service savvy and understand a broad range of service styles. As a chief stew, you need to be able to identify when different service styles are required and adjust them to suit the guest’s needs. 

Remember most services onboard are bespoke so they are tailored to the boss or guest preferences. Some rules you may have learned in a fine dining restaurant may not apply onboard because the service is guest specific… for example. The boss may like his water glass on the left and his wine on the right… It’s always best to check with your chief stew if there are any preferences you need to know about and make a mental note of them. 

Now Silver Service is one of the most commonly misused terms when discussing service onboard yachts, often confused with what should be ‘high end’ or ‘formal dining.’  The term silver service is a serving style where the stewardess stands to the left of the guest and serves them with a silver spoon and fork in one hand kind of like a DIY tong  (hence the name) and then moves food from the platter to the guest’s plate. 

This serving style called silver service can often take a long time to serve guests if you have 12+ people at the table which means the food gets cold. It’s not the most common service style onboard but one you should know about if you are looking at becoming a service stew.

It is very clear after being in the industry for many years that the term ‘silver service’ on yachts can be in reference to much more than just this DIY tong serving style. It’s like an all-encompassing word for all types of food and beverage formal dining service. From setting the table for a four-course meal to synchronized service. Silver Service is a skill that requires education to know the rules and service styles and is supported by lots of hands-on practice.

So here’s is just a brief introduction to some principles of Silver service…

• Food is traditionally served from the left
• The guest to the host/ the principal’s right is served first. (This is typically the most prominent guest of the principal, usually the principal’s wife or partner)
• Service continues clockwise so you don’t bump into other stews 
• Plates and glasses are cleared from the right
• Glasses are placed in a diagonal to the right (by course). Starting with wine and then lastly water glasses in front. However can also be displayed in a triangle format starting with water to the left and white wine on the right and then the red wine glass sitting above to form a triangle shape
• For silver service when you’re serving guests you stand just slightly behind the guest, to their left side (as a general rule). Holding and supporting the silverware with food on it with your left hand. And then serve the food with your right hand (silver service style.
  

Rules of silver service to follow:

1. Blend into the background. Excellent service is quiet, effortless and unobtrusive.  
2. Your fingers shouldn’t be near the food except to hold the rim of the plate with just a touch of your thumb showing.
3. You shouldn’t carry more than two plates (check with your chief stew what she would like as some like you to carry three plates).
4. Never interrupt a guest when they are speaking.

Silver service also refers to an English style of service – So The English have a history steeped in social traditions, which still resonate in modern society. The English style service is also known as family-style service where traditionally, the meat is prepared in the galley and carved in front of the guests.
The side dishes are then served to the guests from the left transferring food from service platter to the guest’s plate using a serving spoon and fork in the right hand. After all the guests have been served the platter will either be put on the table in front of the guests or to the side at the buffet table. More than likely it’s the buffet table due to table decor being in the centre of the main table.

Both English style and the silver service technique can often take a long time to serve guests if you have 12+ people at the table which means the food gets cold. It’s not the most common service style onboard but one you should know about if you are looking at becoming a service stewardess. 

Inside The Seaworthy Yacht Stew course we go over in video modules (with downloadable cheatsheets for set up)
– The service roles (from pantry to runner to lead service)
– Your Mise-en-place set up
– The sequence of service
– Service styles you’ll find onboard yachts (including silver service, buffet, plated service (American) and synchronised service

If you want to learn more about Yacht Stewardess training – check out the online training course here.