I guess it has to do with my Food & Beverage Management years, but as I now spend a great deal of my time teaching international students, I have a frequent need to go out of the classroom and bring students “on the floor” (Food and Beverage or Hotel operations, for my non hotelier readers!), and experience what happens in real hotel or restaurant life.

One of my favorite topic is “Arts de la Table”, a vast subject which includes a variety of topics such as :

– origins of Arts de la Table and gastronomy

– restaurant sequence of service

– service protocol

– table etiquette

– tableware classification

– wine and beverage service

– banquets and special events

– table setting up, “mise en place”

– flambage, carving

…. and, most importantly, great attention to details.

As you can guess from the list above, which is far from being exhaustive, many aspects of the course can only be taught using professional tableware, equipment and facilities. Some hospitality schools have their own restaurants, sometimes accessible to outside guests, which makes it very convenient to conduct regular training sessions for the students.

Schools that are more “hotel management” oriented, or too small to accommodate such facilities and store the required equipment (Paris is a perfect example, given the sq. m price!), will not have the space for Food & Beverage operations. Furthermore, investing in professional quality tableware and equipment requires consequent financing.

To overcome this problem, at biyahi.com, and in partnership with various hotel schools in Paris, we have developed a network of restaurateurs and hoteliers, who kindly provide access to their facilities to groups of students, so they can put in practice what they have learned in class, with or without guests…. the initial fear of students at the idea of serving real guests – and inevitably making mistakes! –  usually fades after they start realizing that the beautiful art of service is truly about communication and attitude, rather than learnt and applied skills.

Some examples, in pictures….

Here at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, where the classroom was often acrobatically converted in a restaurant, serving flambéed crêpes Suzette, and carved beef Wellington…. (the other half of the class was cooking in the nearby kitchen!)

In Riga Hotel School, Latvia, where the first floor was recently converted into a restaurant dining room (kitchen facilities are currently being designed)

At Le Percolateur in Paris (food critic available shortly on the review page of the blog), a warm thank you to the Madamour brothers, the owners of this great “Bistronomic” restaurant in the 8th Arrondissement for hosting our students!

You own and/or manage a hospitality school, and want to increase your students’ exposure to practical operational aspects? Let’s talk today! biyahi@pm.me , or PM here

Phone / whatsapp at +33 783474621

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