Table Manners Serving Etiquette

Table Manners Serving Etiquette Formal Meals Food is brought to each diner at the table; The server presents the platter or bowl on the diner's left, (Alternatively, plates are prepared in the kitchen and then brought to the table and set before the diners.) Casual Meals the host will dish food onto guests' plates to pass around the table; or the diners help themselves to the food and pass...

How to Eat Tricky Vegetables

How to Eat Tricky Vegetables ASPARAGUS Hot asparagus is usually served with melted butter or hollandaise, cold asparagus with vinaigrette. Unless asparagus is a vegetable accompaniment to a dish, or covered in sauce, it should be eaten with the fingers. The asparagus spear should be picked up towards the end of the stem, dipped in any accompanying sauce and lowered into the mouth, bite by bite....

Table Manners Bread and Butter Etiquette

Table Manners Bread and Butter Etiquette Bread is most often placed on the table in a basket that everyone shares. If the bread is placed in front of you, feel free to pick up the basket and offer it to the person on your right. If the loaf is not cut, cut a few pieces, offer them to the person to your left, and then pass the basket to your right. Do not touch the loaf with your fingers, instead...

Table Manners Passing Food

Table Manners Passing Food Food should be passed to the right - but the point is for the food to be moving in only one direction. One diner either holds the dish as the next diner takes some food, or he hands it to the person, who then serves herself. Any heavy or awkward dishes are put on the table with each pass. Cream pitchers and other dishes with handles should be passed with the handle toward...

Table Manners Napkin Etiquette

Table Manners Napkin Etiquette Placing the Napkin in Your Lap. Wait for the host or hostess to take his or her napkin off the table and place it in his or her lap. (An exception to this rule is buffet-style meals, where you should unfold your napkin when you start eating) Unfolding the Napkin. Unfold your napkin in one smooth motion without "snapping" or "shaking" it open. The size determines...

How to Use Chopsticks

How to Use Chopsticks If your chopstick technique is unreliable and you find yourself asking for a fork when in a restaurant it would be a good idea to practise at home. Hold the chopsticks parallel in one hand. Your thumb and forefinger hold and manipulate the top stick. Your middle finger rests between the sticks, keeping the bottom stick held still. The top stick is manoeuvred by the thumb...

How to Use Cutlery

How to Use Cutlery A knife should be held firmly in your right hand, with the handle tucked into your palm, your thumb down one side of the handle and your index finger along the top (but never touching the top of the blade). It should never be eaten off or held like a pencil. When used with a knife or spoon, the fork should be held in the left hand, in much the same way as the knife, with the...