Table etiquette
- First rule of etiquette: be on time!
- You should turn off your mobile phone when at the table.
- If you wish to smoke, first ask your companion if he or she minds.
- Do not shake hands when sitting. You must be standing.
- When someone approaches the table, it is polite to stand up.
- Keep your elbows off the table and tight around yourself.
- Do not start eating until the host does or indicates you may start.
Napkin
- The first thing to do at the table: place the napkin on your lap. Do not open all the way, leave folded in half. Place the fold towards your body.
- Do not wipe your face with the napkin; use it to only wipe your mouth.
- If need to leave the table, say "excuse me", leave the napkin loosely folded to the left of your forks.
- Do not place your napkin in your empty plate.
Utensils
- With utensils a good rule is "work your way in from the outside in."
- Don't let a utensil you've used touch the table.
- Let go! - don't hold your utensils, after use place the knife and fork on plate. The knife with sharp edge facing in and the fork with tines down and placed so they will not fall off the plate.
- A used soup spoon is left in a large soup plate or on the plate under the soup bowl.
- A used coffee spoon is placed on the saucer beneath the handle of the cup.
- When you are finished, place the fork and knife parallel to each other, so they lie either horizontally across the center of the plate or are on the diagonal, with the handles pointing to the right.
- Dessert silverware: Place so the spoon can be picked up with the right hand and the fork so it can be picked up with the left hand.
Food
Removing inedible items from your mouth:
1. Olive pits: drop delicately into your palm before putting them onto your plate.
2. Chicken bone: use your fork to return it to the plate.
3. Fish bones: remove with your fingers.
4. Bigger pieces: bigger bones or food you don't appreciate you should surreptitiously spit into your serviette (napkin), so that you can keep it out of sight.
Foods you can remove from your mouth by hand:
1. Bread: break slices of bread, rolls and muffins in half or into small pieces by hand before buttering.
2. Bacon: if there's fat on it, eat it with a knife and fork. If it is crisp, crumble it with a fork and eat with your fingers.
3. Finger meals: Follow the cue of your host. If finger meals are offered on a platter, place them on your plate before putting them into your mouth.
4. Foods meant to be eaten by hand: corn on the cob, spareribs, lobster, clams and oysters on the half shell, chicken wings and bones (in informal situations), sandwiches, certain fruits, olives, celery, dry cakes and cookies.
- If you are eating bread with the meal, break off a small piece before buttering it.
- Do not place any bones or other garbage on the table.
- If there is a bone, place it on the side of the plate.
- If someone asks for salt or pepper, pass both.
- When eating soup or dessert that has liquid, it is acceptable to tip the bowl when necessary, but tip it away from you.
- An extremely fatty piece of meat that you simply can’t bring yourself to swallow, it will be necessary to surreptitiously spit it into your napkin, so that you can keep it out of sight.
- Remember what your parents told you. Don’t talk with your mouth full, finish chewing, swallow the food and then talk.
...oops
- If you spill food or drink on someone - Don't touch them (personal space) -- allow them to clean it up, apologize, and offer to pay for dry cleaning.
- If your napkin or cutlery falls on the floor during a formal meal, do not retrieve it. You should be able to signal a waiter that you need a fresh one.
If you're not sure what to do, watch the people around you - and hope that they know!!
Thanks to Northshore Dining