The courses are served in turn, to match the pace at which people are eating. ... Up until then, the conventional way of serving food to guests had been to lay out many dishes all at once.
客が食べるペースに合わせて、ほどよいタイミングで一品一品出されます。(中略) それまでは、一度にたくさんの料理を並べることが、客への従来のもてなし方の主流でした。