Glossary
Hospo words: D
57 terms you'll hear on shift.
- Daily specials
- Dishes offered for a single day, often using seasonal or surplus ingredients.
- Danger zone
- Temperature range where bacteria grow quickly.
- Dark kitchen
- Delivery-only kitchen.
- Dash
- A small splash of bitters or other liquid.
- Dashboard
- A screen showing key figures at a glance, such as sales and labour.
- Day delegate rate
- A per-person package price for a day conference covering room hire, refreshments and lunch.
- Day dot
- Coloured label marking prep dates.
- Daypart
- A section of the trading day, such as breakfast, lunch or late night, analysed for sales and staffing.
- Dead
- Very quiet.
- Decant
- Pouring wine into a decanter.
- Deck oven
- An oven with stone or steel decks for baking bread and pizza with strong bottom heat.
- Deep fat fryer
- A fryer for cooking in hot oil, with filtration to extend oil life.
- Deglaze
- Adding liquid such as wine or stock to a hot pan to dissolve the caramelised residue from searing, forming the base of a pan sauce.
- Demi chef de rang
- A server between commis and chef de rang in the classical dining room brigade.
- Demi-glace
- A rich brown sauce made by reducing veal stock and espagnole until glossy and concentrated. Labour-heavy, so many kitchens now use reduced stocks instead.
- Departure room
- A room whose guest checks out today, needing a full clean before resale.
- Deposit
- Money taken in advance to secure a booking.
- Destination management
- Coordinating a place's tourism offer, including marketing and visitor experience.
- Deuce
- A table for two.
- Dialling in
- Adjusting grind size, dose and time each morning so espresso tastes right as beans and humidity change.
- Digestif
- A drink served after a meal, such as brandy, amaro or a fortified wine.
- Digital key
- A phone-based room key replacing the key card in some hotels.
- Dilution
- Water added to a drink as ice melts during shaking or stirring. Essential to balance; a good bartender controls it.
- Dine and dash
- Leaving a restaurant without paying.
- Direct booking
- A reservation made with the hotel itself rather than through an agency, usually more profitable.
- Directeur de salle
- The dining room manager in the classical French brigade, in charge of all front of house service.
- Dirty
- A Martini with a splash of olive brine; also used for a drink poured with its shaking ice unstrained.
- Disciplinary procedure
- The formal process for handling misconduct, which should follow the Acas Code of Practice.
- Disgorgement
- Removing the frozen plug of yeast sediment from the neck of a traditional method sparkling wine before corking.
- Dish pit
- The washing-up area.
- Dispersal
- Managing customers leaving at closing time to reduce noise and conflict outside.
- DND
- Do Not Disturb. Hotels balance respecting the sign against welfare checks when a room has shown DND for a long time.
- Domestic tourism
- Residents travelling within their own country, such as staycations.
- Door policy
- The rules for who is admitted to a venue, such as dress code, age and guest list, ideally written down and applied consistently.
- Door split
- An agreement dividing door takings between promoter and venue.
- Door super
- A licensed door supervisor.
- Doppio
- A double espresso.
- Dosage
- Sugar and wine added after disgorging a sparkling wine, setting its sweetness from Brut Nature to Doux.
- Dose
- The weight of ground coffee used for a shot or brew.
- Double
- Working two shifts in one day.
- Double strain
- Straining through a fine sieve.
- Doubles
- Working both lunch and dinner services on the same day.
- Doubling up
- Seating two parties at a table at the same time on a shared table, or booking a table for two consecutive sittings.
- DPS
- Designated Premises Supervisor, the named personal licence holder responsible for a licensed venue.
- Drink cover
- A lid to prevent spiking.
- Drink spiking test kit
- Testing strips some venues keep to check a drink for common spiking substances. They are not a substitute for reporting to police.
- Drinking-up time
- Time after last orders to finish drinks.
- Drinks reception
- The welcome period before a sit-down meal, typically with fizz and canapés.
- Dropped bright
- Cask beer that has cleared and is ready to serve.
- Drowning
- Badly behind during service, beyond being in the weeds.
- Dry ageing
- Hanging beef in a chilled, humidity-controlled room for weeks so moisture evaporates and enzymes tenderise it, concentrating flavour. The dried crust is trimmed and lost as yield.
- Dry shake
- Shaking without ice, often to foam egg white.
- Dry stock
- Non-perishable food stock.
- Due diligence
- The legal defence of having taken all reasonable precautions to prevent a food safety offence, proven through records.
- Duty free
- Shopping at airports and ports without some taxes, a big part of travel retail.
- Dying on the pass
- Food left waiting under the lights too long, losing quality.
- Dynamic pricing
- Automatically changing prices based on demand, common for hotel rooms and increasingly tested in restaurants.
Hospodality