Food Runner
A food runner carries finished plates from the pass to the table. Seats at a table are numbered, and the ticket records which number ordered what, so the runner can land each dish in front of the right guest without asking. The role is the last leg of the relay between the kitchen and the dining room.
Running food is a position in some restaurants and a shared duty in others. Fine dining rooms staff dedicated runners. Most restaurants have servers and bussers run food between their own tables, and the pass calls whoever is closest.
Getting plates to the right seats without asking is the visible part of the job. Auctioning food, meaning standing over a table asking who had the salmon, reads as sloppy in any room and is disqualifying in an expensive one. The runner is also the last person to see a plate before the guest does, so the position doubles as the final check on whether what left the pass is what was ordered, including a dish modified for an allergy.
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