Here is an example of how I have done this.
let restaurants = await strapi.entityService.findMany(
"api::restaurants.restaurant",
{
fields: ["ordinal", "feature_type", "width"],
populate: {
restaurant: {
fields: ["title"],
populate: ["lead_image"],
populate: {
tags: { fields: ["tag"] },
room_types: { fields: ["price", "start_date"] },
lead_image: {
fields: ["alternativeText", "width", "height", "formats"],
},
},
},
},
sort: ["feature_type", "ordinal"],
}
);