Service à la russe

Service à la russe (French: [sɛʁvis a la ʁys]; 'service in the Russian style', Russian: русская сервировка) is a style of serving food in which dishes are brought to the table sequentially and served separately to each guest. Service à la russe was developed in France in the 19th century by adapting traditional Russian table service to existing French gastronomic principles. The new service slowly displaced the older service à la française ('service in the French style'), in which a variety of dishes are placed on the table in an impressive display of tureens, platters, and other serving dishes.

In service à la russe, each dish is arranged in the kitchen and immediately brought to the table, where guests choose what they want from each platter as it is presented to them. In service à la française, many platters are placed together on the table, where the dishes often grow cold and lose their freshness before the guests can eat them; and in practice, guests can choose from only a few of the dishes on the table. Service à la russe, which includes only flowers and cold dishes on the table, is less magnificent than service à la française, with its elaborate display of many dishes. Service à la russe also reduces the time spent at the table.