Guests help themselves and pass the food to one another. If there are eight guests, for example, you must put more than eight pieces of beef, chicken, or fish on the platter. In the most common form of French service, platters of food are assembled in the kitchen and servers take the platters to the table. Guests select food, and the waiter, using two large silver forks, places the items on the guests' plates. Each food item is separately served by the waiter from platters to individual plates.
Service is from the left.
French service is impressive, but requires ample space between tables, takes more time to complete, and needs more experienced personnel to implement. Food is fully prepared and precut in the kitchen. Tureens are used for soup, and salads are placed in special bowls. The server places the proper plate in front of each guest. After the plates are placed, the waiter returns with the tray of food and, going counter-clockwise around the table, serves the food from the guests' left with the right hand.