Table Settings and Table manners – A Guideline

Table settings depends on the menu and the number of courses but the basic setting is a fork and two knives. Add a pudding spoon – and for dessert pastries you'll need a fork too. If the main course is meat or steak you may want to lay a serrated knife. For fish meals, the more traditional fish knives and forks have now been largely dropped from modem place settings. For pudding, the spoon and fork can go above the place setting with the fork underneath and its handle to the left and the spoon on top with its handle to the right. The soup spoon goes on the outside right-hand side. The butter knife should be laid either on the place setting or directly on the side plate. In more formal place settings, as our mums told us, always work from the outside in. In that case, the bread knife will be on the outside. Don't get too fussed about table settings, but at least try to have a fork and two knives.

With table settings, the water glass is normally laid closest to the knife tip, then the white wine glass, then the red wine glass either in a triangle or a line. If there is a whole line of glasses, you know you're in for a good night!

Break bread rolls rather than cutting them. Tilt the bowl away from you when eating soup from an old-fashioned, shallow soup plate. Leaving your fork and knife crossed in the centre of your plate indicates that you haven't finished - when placed together in the centre of the plate this indicates you've finished. Don't pick up your potato on a fork and peel it obviously; do this discreetly. Once upon a time, instead of being allowed to ask for salt and pepper, one had to offer it to one's neighbour and hopefully the penny would drop that you actually needed it yourself. And then of course there are afternoon tea manners but that's more for history books. Always try to be considerate and anticipate your neighbours' needs.

Serve a finger bowl with foods that need to be eaten with the fingers, such as sweet corn, quail, whole prawns or globe artichokes. Fill a small bowl with warm water and add a slice of lemon, and rose petals if you want. When you have finished nibbling the delicious morsels, dip your fingers into the bowl and dry discreetly on your napkin. And of course don't speak with your mouth full. Many sophisticated elegantly dressed person lets themselves down with bad manners. And don't put your elbows on the table until you're an auntie! Be restrained and don't pile one food on top of another - it's an insult to the cook to be overly greedy and then leave food on the plate.

Don't clear the table until everyone's finished eating. Clear discreetly and from the left (serve from the right). Hold the plate on your hand resting on the three middle fingers, secured by the thumb and little finger; place the fork upside down and slide the knife underneath. Place the next plate on your wrist where palm meets arm, and stack plates there. Clear debris discreetly to the lower plate. Stack up to three or four plates.

Always remember that the table settings described above are only guidelines - there are no rules cast in stone and the traditional table settings are regarded by some as old fashioned and snobish.

Table settings from Amazon

	Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business List Price: $14.99 Sale Price: $8.43
	Description Book DescriptionIn October 1985, at age 27, Danny Meyer, with a good idea and scant experience, opened what would become one of New York City's most revered restaurants--Union Square Cafe. Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes 11 unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game...

	Setting the Table Low Price CD List Price: $14.95 Sale Price: $8.49
	Description Danny Meyer started Union Square Cafe when he was 27, with a good idea and scant experience. He is now the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations that includes eleven unique dining establishments—and each is at the top of its game...

Elements of the Table: A Simple Guide for Hosts and Guests List Price: $16.95 Sale Price: $8.00

Description Elegance is the art of not astonishing, said Jean Cocteau, but often the idea of a formal dinner party is intimidating to both hosts and guests for one reason: the table setting. Why is there a spoon above my plate? Do I really need five different glasses? Where do I put my napkin when I leave the table? Lynn Rosen comes to the rescue with this practical, charming, and informative guide to all things tabletop...

	Table Setting & Manners Placemat Sale Price: $7.75
	Description Our Early Learning & the Arts mats engage young children to learn about shapes, colors, the alphabet, and other basic life skills through lively depictions and areas for practice. These BrainyMats help children gain interest in thinking and learning.

	Southern Lady: Gracious Tables: The Perfect Setting for Any Occasion List Price: $39.95 Sale Price: $25.07
	Description Entertaining doyenne Phyllis Hoffman shows how to prepare a stunning table for any occasion. So many of the events of our lives, from the formal to the informal, are celebrated by gathering around a table...

	Setting the Table for Julia Child: Gourmet Dining in America, 1934-1961 List Price: $45.00 Sale Price: $23.82
	Description Before Julia Child’s warbling voice and towering figure burst into America’s homes, a gourmet food movement was already sweeping the nation. Setting the Table for Julia Child considers how the tastes and techniques cultivated at dining clubs and in the pages of Gourmet magazine helped prepare many affluent Americans for Child’s lessons in French cooking...

	Table Style: 101 Creative Ideas for Elegant and Affordable Entertaining List Price: $24.95 Sale Price: $9.98
	Description A beautifully decorated table can be the making of a meal, whether it's a family supper or a dinner party. However, modern entertaining doesn't require you to polish the silver spoons, starch the napkins or roll out the red carpet...

	Alberto Pinto: Table Settings List Price: $60.00 Sale Price: $48.63
	Description France’s foremost interior designer showcases his signature table settings designed to brighten any occasion. Internationally acclaimed interior designer Alberto Pinto sets the paradigm for creating the perfect setting for entertaining, from large events to intimate, informal ones...

	Setting the Table List Price: $12.99
	Description In October 1985, at age twenty-seven, Danny Meyer, with a good idea and scant experience, opened what would become one of New York City's most revered restaurants—Union Square Cafe. Little more than twenty years later, Danny is the CEO of one of the world's most dynamic restaurant organizations, which includes eleven unique dining establishments, each at the top of its game...

	Gourmet Settings "Hotel" 20-Piece 18-0 Stainless Steel Flatware Set, Service for 4 List Price: $40.00 Sale Price: $31.95
	Description Our Hotel flatware sets are a strictly 5-star affair. Its modern flatware matte finish, elegant clean lines, and distinctly angular knife design add an industrial edge to the Hotel line of stainless steel flatware...

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