Eating Etiquette and Table Manners

Getting ready for that big, fancy do at a plush restaurant, but worried about your eating etiquette and table manners?  Don't know what to do with the mounds of cutlery in front of you on your table? Unless otherwise you are a food critic, or just been transported from the stone age, there is nothing to fear about eating etiquette and table manners it is so simple if you know some of the basic rules. Here are few tips to guide you through the fine dinning process.
 

         As soon as you are seated, remove the napkin from your place setting. Unfold it, and put it in your lap. The napkin rests on the lap till the end of the meal. That is the only job entrusted to your napkin. Don't clean the cutlery or wipe your face with the napkin.  Never use it to wipe your nose or your mouth. If you excuse yourself from the table, loosely fold the napkin and place it to the left side of the place setting. It should not be crumbled or twisted; nor should it be folded.

         When it comes to cutlery, the eating etiquette rules are actually pretty simple. Eat to your left, drink to your right. Any food dish to the left is yours, and any glass to the right is yours. Starting with the knife, fork or spoon that is farthest from your plate, work your way in, using one utensil for each course.

         The salad fork is on your outermost left, followed by your dinner fork. Your soup spoon is on your outermost right, followed by your beverage spoon, salad knife and dinner knife. Your dessert spoon and fork are above your plate or brought out with dessert. If you remember the rule to work from the outside in, you'll always running on the right track.

             If the food presented to you is not to your liking, it is polite to at least make some attempt to eat a small amount of it, or at the very least, cut it up a little and move it around the plate! if you wonder that's eating, of course not but that is eating etiquette. It is quite acceptable to leave some food to one side of your plate if you feel as though you have eaten enough. On the other hand, don't attempt to leave your plate so clean that it looks as though you haven't eaten in days.

            When it comes to desserts, you are free to use a spoon or fork depending on the style of the dessert. If it is a pastry style sweet, then use a fork  alone as the spoon might cause quite a mess. Alternatively, if the dessert served is pudding or custard, using a fork just doesn't make sense. Use commonsense when attempting your cutlery.

            To signal that you are done with the course, rest your fork, tines up, and knife blade in, with the handles resting at five o' clock and tips pointing to ten o' clock on your plate. Any used silverware is simply left on the table. 

            Table manners add a civilized  touch to the dining table, so do not read a book when eating, or keep your feet on an adjoining chair. Teach children to eat without slopping and dropping morsels on or under the table. Avoid making loud noises when chewing food or even belching luxuriously. Do remember that there are others at the table too.

            Follow these simple rules and you are sure to end your meal on a sweet note than a sweat  note.