Glossary
Hospo words: L
39 terms you'll hear on shift.
- Labour model
- The planned staffing levels for each daypart and sales level, used to schedule the rota.
- Labour percentage
- Labour cost as a share of sales.
- Lager
- Beer fermented with bottom-fermenting yeast at cool temperatures and matured cold, giving a clean, crisp profile.
- Lamination
- Folding butter into dough repeatedly to create thin alternating layers, as in croissants and puff pastry.
- Lard (technique)
- Threading strips of fat through lean meat with a larding needle so it stays moist during long cooking.
- Last call
- Same as last orders.
- Last orders
- The final call for drinks before closing time.
- Last table
- The final table seated before close, often the one that keeps everyone late.
- Late checkout
- Allowing a guest to leave after standard checkout time, often free for loyalty members or charged.
- Late licence
- Permission to sell alcohol or provide entertainment late into the night.
- Late night levy
- An optional charge councils can impose on venues selling alcohol between midnight and 6am, funding policing.
- Late night refreshment
- Serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am, which is licensable in England and Wales.
- Latte art
- Patterns such as hearts, tulips and rosettas poured into a milk drink.
- Layover
- A stop between flights; crew layovers drive demand for airport hotels.
- Lees
- Dead yeast cells left after fermentation. Ageing on the lees adds texture and bready complexity.
- Legs
- The streaks running down the inside of a glass after swirling, linked to alcohol and sugar, not quality.
- Length of stay
- The number of nights in a booking. Hotels use minimum length of stay rules on busy nights.
- Levain
- A naturally fermented starter of flour and water used to leaven sourdough bread.
- Liaison
- A thickening mix of egg yolk and cream stirred into a sauce or soup at the end. It must not boil afterwards or the yolks scramble.
- Licence conditions
- The rules attached to a premises licence, such as CCTV, door staff or closing times, enforceable by law.
- Licence review
- Process to reconsider a licence after problems.
- Licensing Act 2003
- The main law governing the sale of alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment in England and Wales.
- Licensing objectives
- The four objectives under the Licensing Act 2003: prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm.
- Like-for-like
- Comparing sales at the same sites against the same period last year, excluding new openings.
- Line clean
- Cleaning beer lines to keep quality.
- Line-up
- Same as pre-shift.
- Linen
- Tablecloths, napkins and slip cloths, often rented from a laundry service and counted in and out each week.
- Linen par
- The number of complete sets of linen per bed in circulation, usually three to five, so rooms can be turned while laundry is processed.
- Liqueur
- A sweetened spirit flavoured with fruit, herbs, nuts or cream.
- Liquor cost
- The cost of drinks sold as a percentage of drinks sales, usually much lower than food cost.
- Listeria
- A bacterium that can grow at fridge temperatures, particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
- Load-in
- The period when suppliers, AV and staging arrive and set up, often with tight access times.
- Lock-in
- Staying open after hours behind closed doors; usually unlawful if alcohol is sold.
- London Dry
- A gin style defined by method rather than place: botanicals added by redistillation, with nothing added afterwards except water and a tiny amount of sugar.
- Loose leaf
- Tea served as whole or broken leaves rather than in bags, brewed in a pot with an infuser or strainer.
- Low and no
- Low-alcohol and alcohol-free drinks, a growing part of every serious bar list.
- Lowboy
- A low under-counter fridge.
- Loyalty app
- An app that rewards repeat visits, collecting guest data in return.
- Lungo
- A longer espresso pulled with more water, more bitter and less intense.
Hospodality