Smoked salmon | Champagne, Calif. sparkling wine, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc |
Grilled fish | Sauvignon Blanca, Pinot Blanc, Loire Valley whites, Riesling, champagne |
Pork | Pinot Noir, red Burgundy, Chianti, Dolcetto |
Lamb | Cabernet, Merlot, red Bordeaux red Rhinos, Barolo, Rioja Reservas |
Roast chicken | Pinot Noir, red Burgundy, Chianti, Zinfandel, Spanish reds |
Steak | Cabernet, Merlot, red Bordeaux, red Rhones, Chilean |
Salads | Sauvignon Blanc, Loire Valley whites |
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On Tasting Wine
"There are no standards of taste in wine, cigars, poetry, prose, etc. Each man's own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard." -Mark Twain, 1895
The following are the necessary steps for tasting wine. You may wish to follow them with a glass of wine in hand. Wine tasting can be broken down into five basic steps: Color, Swirl, Smell, Taste, and Savor.
Color
The best way to get an idea of the color of the wine is to get a white background and hold the glass of wine in front of it. The range of colors that you may see depends, of course, on whether you're tasting a white or red wine. Here are the colors for both, beginning with the youngest wine and moving to an older wine:
WHITE WINE : pale yellow-green, straw yellow, yellow-gold, old gold, yellow-brown, maderized, brown
RED WINE: purple, ruby, red, red brick, red-brown, brown
Color tells you a lot about the wine. There three main reasons why a wine may have more color:
It's older
Different grape varieties give different color. (For example, Chardonnay usually gives off a deeper color than does Riesling.)
The wine was aged in wood.
Swirl
Why do we swirl wine? To allow oxygen to get into the wine: Swirling releases the esters, ethers, and aldehydes that combine with oxygen to yield the bouquet of the wine. In other words, swirling aerates the wine and gives you a better smell.
Smell
This is the most important part of wine tasting. You can only perceive four tastes-sweet, sour, bitter, and salt-but the average person can smell over 2,000 different scents, and wine has over 200 of its own. Now that you've swirled the wine and released the bouquet, you should smell the wine at least three times. You will find that the third smell will give you more information than the first smell did. What does the wine smell like? What type of nose does it have? Smell is a very important step in the tasting process and most people simply don't spend enough time on it.
Pinpointing the nose of the wine helps you to identify certain characteristics. The best way to learn what your own preferences are for styles of wine is to "memorize" the smell of the individual grape varieties. For white, just try to memorize the three major grape varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. Keep smelling them, and smelling them, and smelling them until you can identify the differences, one from the other. For the reds it's a little more difficult, but you still can take three major grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Taste
To many people, tasting wine means taking a sip and swallowing immediately. This isn't tasting. Tasting is something you do with your taste buds. You have taste buds all over your mouth-on both sides of the tongue, underneath, on the tip, and extending to the back of your throat. If you do what many people do, you take a gulp of wine and bypass all of those important taste buds.
What should you think about when tasting wine?
Be aware of the most important sensations of taste and where they occur on your tongue and in your mouth. One can only perceive four tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and salt (but there's no salt in wine, so we're down to three). Bitterness in wine is usually created by high alcohol and high tannin. Sweetness only occurs in wines that have some residual sugar left over after fermentation. Sour (sometimes called "tart") indicates the acidity in wine.
Sweetness-Found on the tip of the tongue. If there's any sweetness in a wine whatsoever, you'll get it right away.
Fruit and Varietals Characteristics-Found in the middle of the tongue.
Acidity-Found at the sides of the tongue, the cheek area, and the back of the throat. White wines and some lighter-style red wines usually contain a higher degree of acidity.
Tannin-The sensation of tannin begins in the middle of the tongue.
Tannin frequently exists in red wines or wood-aged white wines. When the wines are too young, tannin dries the palate to excess. If there's a lot of tannin in the wine, the tannin can actually coat your whole mouth, blocking the fruit. Remember, tannin is not a taste. It is a tactile sensation.
Aftertaste-The overall taste and balance of the components of the wine that lingers in our mouth. How long does the balance last? Usually a sign of a high-quality wine is a long, pleasing aftertaste. The taste of many of the great wines lasts anywhere from one minute to three minutes, with all their components in harmony.
Savor
After you've had a chance to taste the wine, sit back for a few moments and savor it. Think about what you just experienced, and ask yourself the following questions to help focus your impressions. Was the wine:
Light, medium, or full-bodied? For a white wine: How was the acidity? Very little, just right, or too much? For a red wine: Is the tannin in the wine too strong or astringent? Is it pleasing? Or is it missing? What is the strongest component (residual sugar, fruit, acid, tannin)?
How do you know if a wine is good or not?
The definition of a good wine is one that you enjoy. Do not let others dictate taste to you!
The following are the necessary steps for tasting wine. You may wish to follow them with a glass of wine in hand. Wine tasting can be broken down into five basic steps: Color, Swirl, Smell, Taste, and Savor.
Color
The best way to get an idea of the color of the wine is to get a white background and hold the glass of wine in front of it. The range of colors that you may see depends, of course, on whether you're tasting a white or red wine. Here are the colors for both, beginning with the youngest wine and moving to an older wine:
WHITE WINE : pale yellow-green, straw yellow, yellow-gold, old gold, yellow-brown, maderized, brown
RED WINE: purple, ruby, red, red brick, red-brown, brown
Color tells you a lot about the wine. There three main reasons why a wine may have more color:
It's older
Different grape varieties give different color. (For example, Chardonnay usually gives off a deeper color than does Riesling.)
The wine was aged in wood.
Swirl
Why do we swirl wine? To allow oxygen to get into the wine: Swirling releases the esters, ethers, and aldehydes that combine with oxygen to yield the bouquet of the wine. In other words, swirling aerates the wine and gives you a better smell.
Smell
This is the most important part of wine tasting. You can only perceive four tastes-sweet, sour, bitter, and salt-but the average person can smell over 2,000 different scents, and wine has over 200 of its own. Now that you've swirled the wine and released the bouquet, you should smell the wine at least three times. You will find that the third smell will give you more information than the first smell did. What does the wine smell like? What type of nose does it have? Smell is a very important step in the tasting process and most people simply don't spend enough time on it.
Pinpointing the nose of the wine helps you to identify certain characteristics. The best way to learn what your own preferences are for styles of wine is to "memorize" the smell of the individual grape varieties. For white, just try to memorize the three major grape varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. Keep smelling them, and smelling them, and smelling them until you can identify the differences, one from the other. For the reds it's a little more difficult, but you still can take three major grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Taste
To many people, tasting wine means taking a sip and swallowing immediately. This isn't tasting. Tasting is something you do with your taste buds. You have taste buds all over your mouth-on both sides of the tongue, underneath, on the tip, and extending to the back of your throat. If you do what many people do, you take a gulp of wine and bypass all of those important taste buds.
What should you think about when tasting wine?
Be aware of the most important sensations of taste and where they occur on your tongue and in your mouth. One can only perceive four tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and salt (but there's no salt in wine, so we're down to three). Bitterness in wine is usually created by high alcohol and high tannin. Sweetness only occurs in wines that have some residual sugar left over after fermentation. Sour (sometimes called "tart") indicates the acidity in wine.
Sweetness-Found on the tip of the tongue. If there's any sweetness in a wine whatsoever, you'll get it right away.
Fruit and Varietals Characteristics-Found in the middle of the tongue.
Acidity-Found at the sides of the tongue, the cheek area, and the back of the throat. White wines and some lighter-style red wines usually contain a higher degree of acidity.
Tannin-The sensation of tannin begins in the middle of the tongue.
Tannin frequently exists in red wines or wood-aged white wines. When the wines are too young, tannin dries the palate to excess. If there's a lot of tannin in the wine, the tannin can actually coat your whole mouth, blocking the fruit. Remember, tannin is not a taste. It is a tactile sensation.
Aftertaste-The overall taste and balance of the components of the wine that lingers in our mouth. How long does the balance last? Usually a sign of a high-quality wine is a long, pleasing aftertaste. The taste of many of the great wines lasts anywhere from one minute to three minutes, with all their components in harmony.
Savor
After you've had a chance to taste the wine, sit back for a few moments and savor it. Think about what you just experienced, and ask yourself the following questions to help focus your impressions. Was the wine:
Light, medium, or full-bodied? For a white wine: How was the acidity? Very little, just right, or too much? For a red wine: Is the tannin in the wine too strong or astringent? Is it pleasing? Or is it missing? What is the strongest component (residual sugar, fruit, acid, tannin)?
How do you know if a wine is good or not?
The definition of a good wine is one that you enjoy. Do not let others dictate taste to you!
How to Serve Wines
The proper etiquette of wine serving and drinking should be one of complete informality and ease. It does not require long planning and great care of execution, except, of course, in the case of great and old wines. Some general rules to follow would be:
Serving temperatures:
(a) Red table wines should be left standing in the dining room approximately 24 hours before the meal for allowing any sediment to settle, and then brought to room temperature.
(b) White and Rose wines are served slightly chilled (around 50'F.), and one hour on the shelf of a refrigerator will bring them to the right temperature.
(c) Champagnes and other sparkling wines take longer to chill and should be left in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Uncorking:
(a) Red wine is improved if the bottle is uncorked about one hour before the meal. Wine is a living body. It is dormant in the bottle, and, as soon as the bottle is uncorked, the wine is "awakened" and starts "breathing." It absorbs oxygen from the air, and this oxidation activates the development of the "bouquet" and the aroma. One hour or so of "breathing" gives depth and smoothness to red wine.
(b) White and Rose wines have a very delicate fragrance which would lose its freshness if it were exposed to air for too long a time. Therefore, the bottles are opened just before serving.
All experts agree that one type of wine glass is perfect for all wines, including Champagne. The perfect glass is long stemmed and tulip-shaped, with a bowl the size of an orange. It is clear and thin, without heavy ornamentation. As a matter of fact, any large glass or goblet is better than the small, so-called "wine glass" that is in use in many homes and restaurants. Serving wine in a water goblet is a good idea when no regular wine glass is available.
Serving:
Wine is poured as soon as food is brought to the table. It is the host, rather than the hostess, who serves the wine and sees to it that glasses are replenished all during the meal. The glasses are never filled. They are served only half-full.
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The term Fine Dining brings to mind all kinds of images, from crisp white table cloths to waiters in tuxedos. Fine dining, just as the name suggests, offers patrons the finest in food, service and atmosphere. It is also the highest priced type of restaurant you can operate. While you may bring in mucho bucks with a fine dining restaurant you will also pay out more money than if you were running a more casual restaurant, such as a diner or café.
There are three main areas of focus with a fine dining restaurant: the menu, service and atmosphere.
Fine Dining Menu
Many people choose fine dining restaurants for a special occasion, so the food must not disappoint- in either selection or quality. You don’t need to feature a huge menu, but it should be interesting, offering unique items that patrons wouldn’t find at any other restaurant. Many fine dining restaurants offer prix fixe menus or limited menus that change on a daily or weekly basis. A great benefit of a smaller, rotating menu allows you to buy seasonal items when they are at their peak of freshness. Your chef can also exercise his or her creativity when designing dishes.
Fine dining wine and liquor selections should be on the high end. No Allen’s Coffee Brandy or Bud Light needed. Instead, you should carry top shelf liquors and a wide selection of cognacs, brandies and other after-dinner drinks. Your wine list should compliment your menu. Each wine should be paired with individual dishes.
Fine Dining Customer Service
Customer service in a fine dining restaurant is much more attentative than in casual dining establishments. Fine dining service goes far beyond taking an order and delivering food. Many fine dining services include:
• Escorting patrons to the table, holding the chair for women
• Escorting patrons to the restrooms
• Crumbing the table in between courses
• Replacing linen napkins if a patron leaves the table
• Explaining menu items without notes
• Serving food directly on the plate at the table
All of the details that are expected of a fine dining server require that your staff be rigorously trained. They should be able to answer any and all questions customers may have about a menu or item or wine. They should also be ready to make menu recommendations, if asked. No detail is ever too small to pay attention to in fine dining.
Fine Dining Atmosphere
Fine dining used to be synonymous with snooty French waiters and restaurants with names like “Le Fancy-Smancy” (or something of that ilk). Today fine dining can be in any type of setting and feature a wide variety of cuisine, from ethnic to organic, local fare. Standards you should always include in fine dining are fine china, glassware and flatware (absolutely no paper, plastic, or Styrofoam). While tablecloths are hard to escape in fine dining, the rest of the atmosphere is up to you. You can take the traditional route, with silver candelabras and rose centerpieces, or go for hip and trendy with a bold color scheme and modern furnishings. Music playing subtly in the background should reflect your theme, such as classical for a traditional fine dining restaurant or jazz tunes for something modern. Lighting should also be subtle, leaning toward dim (romantic).
Fine dining requires a lot of attention to detail, but it can pay off in the end when you have reservations months in advance, waiting to eat at your restaurant.
The Formal Place Setting
There is general agreement among etiquette experts and writers of etiquette manuals that far too many people are not sure they can choose the proper flatware for the appropriate course of the meal. As all published text tells you, use the outermost flatware as necessary, one set for each course, and you will not make a mistake unless the table has been improperly set to start with.
For a formal place setting, you will receive exactly the flatware you will need, arranged in the correct order. Good etiquette requires you to assume that the host has correctly designated each piece of flatware to its task. As each course is finished, the corresponding flatware (used and unused) will be removed with the dish, leaving you ready for the next course to arrive. If the meal is to have more than three or four courses, common sense and aesthetics tell you not to place a slew of forks and knives at the sides of the charger/service plate, so on these occasions the proper new flatware will be brought to you with each course after all of the original settings have been used.
A service plate, also known as a charger plate is never eaten from. It will either be removed when the first course is brought, or the different courses will be set on top of it. A set table may contain any or all of the flatware below.
Oyster Fork
There is a small fork provided for eating oysters. It will be to your right. They say every rule has an exception and this is the one exception to the rule of placing forks to the left of the plate.
Soup Spoon
The soup spoon will be located to the right of the plate. It is usually the only spoon provided with the initial place setting.
Salad Fork and Knife
The salad fork may have a thicker tine at the left of the fork. For right handed people, which are the majority, this strengthens the fork for use in cutting large greens without having to use the salad knife.
Fish Fork and Knife
Both a special fork and a knife should be provided for fish. In the old days, the fish knife often had a silver blade, because fish, which is often served with lemon, reacts with the steel in old knife blades, causing an unpleasant taste. The invention of stainless steel in the 1920s took care of this problem. The fish fork is usually shorter than the meat fork.
Meat Fork and Knife
In the western hemisphere, the innermost fork and knife are provided for the meat course of the meal. In some countries where they eat the salad after the main course, the innermost fork and knife are for the salad and are always smaller than the meat fork and knife.
Dessert Spoon and Fork
The dessert spoon and/or fork may be set when you arrive, or may be brought in with the dessert. If they are part of the initial place setting, they would be placed horizontally north of the plate, parallel to each other, with the fork closest to the plate and the tines of the fork pointing right. The bowl of the spoon should point to the left.
Teaspoon
When coffee and tea are served, a teaspoon will be provided and it is brought in on the saucer next to the cup.
Butter Knife
If a bread plate is provided, as in the photo to the left, a butter knife will also be provided. Remember this is only for the butter as bread is never cut with that or any knife, but simply ripped apart.
Chopsticks
In today's eclectic cuisine, your dinner may include one or several oriental courses. If so, chopsticks may be provided for your convenience, such as with nigiri sushi or rolls. Chopsticks may be used for more than one course.
Foods That Are Proper To Eat With Your Fingers
Artichoke
The artichoke is actually the leaf-enclosed flower bud of a plant that is in the thistle family. It is usually served steamed with a dipping sauce. To eat it, pull a leaf off, dip it, scrape the flesh from the base of the leaf with your top teeth, and discard the leaf on the plate provided for that purpose. You may encounter a special plate made with a central niche for the artichoke, a niche for a small bowl of sauce, and a sort of moat all around on which the leaves are to be discarded. Continue eating the leaves until the prickly "choke" is revealed. This is the point when it is clear you have a species of thistle in front of you. Switch to fork and knife, first to remove the choke, then to eat the heart and base.
Asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus may be eaten with the fingers as long as it is not covered with sauce or otherwise prepared so it is too mushy to pick up easily. Of course, it is also just fine to use a fork and knife to eat asparagus, even when it is perfectly al dente and sauce-free. But you might appreciate getting to act like a rebel without breaking any rules.
Bacon
Bacon
When bacon is cooked until it is very crisp, and there is no danger of getting the fingers wet with grease, it is okay to pick it up to eat it. This is an instance of practicality winning out over decorum, since trying to cut a crisp piece of bacon usually results in crushing it into shards that are quite difficult to round up onto a fork.
Bread
Bread
Bread must always be broken, never cut with a knife. Tear off a piece that is no bigger than a couple of bites worth and eat that before tearing off another. If butter is provided, and at formal events it customarily is not, butter the small piece just before eating it. There is an exception to this rule: if you are served a hot roll, it is permissible to tear, never cut, the whole roll lengthwise down the middle and place a pat of butter inside to melt.
Cookies
Cookies
It is never necessary to try to eat the cookie that comes as a garnish to your dessert with a spoon. Unless it has fallen so far into the chocolate sauce that there isn't a clean corner by which to pick it up.
Corn on the Cob
Corn on the Cob
It is unlikely that it will be served at a formal event, but if you encounter corn on the cob, it may be picked up and eaten. The approved method of doing so is to butter one or two rows at a time and to eat across the cob cleanly.
Chips, French Fries, Fried Chicken, and Hamburgers
Chips, French Fries, Fried Chicken, and Hamburgers
All these items, which could also probably be classified as "fast foods", simply will not be served in a formal setting. Most are intended to be eaten with the hands, although a particularly messy hamburger could be approached with fork and knife, and steak fries, the thick-cut, less crispy variety, may be best eaten with a fork.
Hors d'Oeuvre, Canapés, Crudités
Hors d'Oeuvre, Canapés, Crudités
Almost everything that is served at a cocktail party or during a pre-meal cocktail hour is intended to be eaten with the fingers. Some of these foods make appearances at regular meals as well, although not often at very formal ones. When they do, it is still permissible to use the fingers to eat them. This includes olives, pickles, nuts, deviled eggs, and chips.
Sandwiches
Sandwiches
The straightforward sandwich, that is, any sandwich that is not open-faced, not too tall to fit in the mouth, not saturated with dripping sauces or loaded with mushy fillings, is intended to be picked up and eaten. Otherwise use fork and knife.
Small Fruits and Berries on the Stem
If you are served strawberries with the hulls on, cherries with stems, or grapes in bunches, then it is okay to eat them with your fingers. Otherwise, as with all berries, the utensil of choice is a spoon. In the case of grapes, you may encounter a special scissors, to be used to cut off a small cluster from the bunch. If not, tear a portion from the whole, rather than plucking off single grapes, which leaves a cluster of unattractive bare stems on the serving platter.
Small Fruits and Berries on the Stem
If you are served strawberries with the hulls on, cherries with stems, or grapes in bunches, then it is okay to eat them with your fingers. Otherwise, as with all berries, the utensil of choice is a spoon. In the case of grapes, you may encounter a special scissors, to be used to cut off a small cluster from the bunch. If not, tear a portion from the whole, rather than plucking off single grapes, which leaves a cluster of unattractive bare stems on the serving platter.
Proper Use of a Napkin
Using the napkin at formal occasions, as with much else associated with etiquette, should be a delicate affair. It is meant only to be dabbed at the lips and should not get dirty in the process. It might seem that the napkin is provided precisely so that it can help the diner clean up any mess that might occur during the course of the meal. Of course, this was its original use, (once the tablecloth itself ceased to be used as a napkin), and at an informal occasion such as a barbeque, it still performs this service. The more formal the event, the more ceremonial the presence of the napkin, because the purpose of nearly every aspect of table manners is to preserve cleanliness and proper appearance. If all other elements of the meal are going well, there will be no danger of smudging the linen.
Starting
As soon as you are seated, remove the napkin from your place setting, unfold it, and put it in your lap. At some very formal restaurants, the waiter may do this for the diners, but it is not inappropriate to place your own napkin in your lap, even when this is the case. If your napkin falls on the floor during a very formal event, do not retrieve it. You should be able to signal a member of the serving staff that you need a fresh one.
Finishing
Finishing
When you leave the table at the end of the meal, place your napkin loosely next to your plate. It should not be crumpled or twisted, which would reveal untidiness or nervousness, respectively; nor should it be folded, which might be seen as an implication that you think your hosts might reuse it without washing. The napkin must also not be left on the chair. There is a European superstition that a diner who leaves the napkin on his chair will never sit at that table again, but other, less supernatural, reasons are often cited for this, such as, it might seem as if you have an inappropriately dirty napkin to hide, or even that you are trying to run off with the table linens.
Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon
The rules that specify how knife, fork, and spoon must be used have evolved along with the forms of the utensils themselves. In general, these rules are explicitly intended to prevent the utensils from appearing threatening. Consequently, flatware is held delicately, carefully balanced on the prescribed fingers and guided by the fingertips. To hold any utensil in a fist, or to manipulate it in such a way that is pointed at anyone would hint at potential danger, as would even setting it down in an inappropriate way.
How To Hold Eating Utensils
In general use, both spoon and fork are held horizontally by balancing them between the first knuckle of the middle finger and the tip of the index finger while the thumb steadies the handle. The knife is used with the tip of the index finger gently pressing out over the top of the blade to guide as you cut.
American Style (also known as the zig-zag style)
By American custom, which was brought about partly by the late introduction of the fork into the culture, all three utensils are intended for use primarily with the right hand, which is the more capable hand for most people. This leads to some complicated maneuvering when foods, such as meat, require the use of knife and fork to obtain a bite of manageable size. When this is the case, the fork is held in the left hand, turned so that the tines point downward, the better to hold the meat in place while the right hand operates the knife. After a bite-sized piece has been cut, the diner sets the knife down on the plate and transfers the fork to the right hand, so that it can be used to carry the newly cut morsel to the mouth. Emily Post calls this the "zig-zag" style.
Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon
The European, or "Continental," style of using knife and fork is somewhat more efficient, and its practice is also slightly used in the United States, where left-handed children are no longer forced to learn to wield a fork with their right hands. According to this method, the fork is held continuously in the left hand and used for eating. When food must be cut, the fork is used exactly as in the American style, except that once the bite has been separated from the whole, it is conveyed directly to the mouth on the downward-facing fork.
Regardless of which style is used to operate fork and knife, it is important never to cut more than one or two bites at one time.
Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon
Another significant difference between the American and the European styles of using knife and fork is the American insistence that even the most awkward foods (peas being a great example) must be captured by the unaided fork. In Europe it is permitted to use the knife or a small piece of bread to ease an item onto the fork.
Used Flatware
Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon
The European, or "Continental," style of using knife and fork is somewhat more efficient, and its practice is also slightly used in the United States, where left-handed children are no longer forced to learn to wield a fork with their right hands. According to this method, the fork is held continuously in the left hand and used for eating. When food must be cut, the fork is used exactly as in the American style, except that once the bite has been separated from the whole, it is conveyed directly to the mouth on the downward-facing fork.
Regardless of which style is used to operate fork and knife, it is important never to cut more than one or two bites at one time.
Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon
Another significant difference between the American and the European styles of using knife and fork is the American insistence that even the most awkward foods (peas being a great example) must be captured by the unaided fork. In Europe it is permitted to use the knife or a small piece of bread to ease an item onto the fork.
Used Flatware
There are numerous rules and prohibitions regarding the proper placement of flatware once they have been used. Essentially, used flatware must never be allowed to touch the surface of the table, where it might dirty the cloth. It is not proper to allow even the clean handle of a knife or fork to rest on the cloth while the other end lies on the plate. At the end of a course, a utensil must not be left in any dish that is not flat, the soup bowl, for example. All these items are usually presented with a plate underneath the bowl or cup, on which the utensil must be placed after use.
Reading the Placement of Flatware
Reading the Placement of Flatware
The positioning of knife and fork when not in use acts as a sort of semaphore, allowing the diner to indicate the degree to which he intends to pause in eating. Flatware should always be placed on the plate during pauses between bites. If this is to be a very short time, there is no set pattern. For longer waits, perhaps caused by a diverting twist in the table conversation, the diner places the fork on the left and knife on the right, so that they cross over the center of the plate. The diner preparing to pass his plate for a second helping places the fork and knife parallel to each other at the right side of the plate, so that there is room for the food.
When the diner has finished, he signals this by setting 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. The cutting edge of the knife blade should face toward the diner (again, avoiding all possible aggressive implications), and the fork is best placed with the tines pointing up
When the diner has finished, he signals this by setting 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. The cutting edge of the knife blade should face toward the diner (again, avoiding all possible aggressive implications), and the fork is best placed with the tines pointing up
Proper Clearing Order
Another misconception exists here. Should plates be cleared as soon as each guest is finished, or should you wait until the last guest in the table has finished that course? The rule is simple. You should wait until all guests have finished with a course before removing the first dish. Just as the ideal of service is to present each course to the entire party at once, it is best to clear the plates at the same time, too.
It has become common for waiters to remove plates as each guest finishes, in violation of this rule of serving etiquette, perhaps because it can be interpreted as extreme attentiveness on the part of the waiter. Nevertheless, the rule holds firm. The most elegant service calls for the removal of all dishes at the end of that course. There is nothing more irritating than to have a plate removed from under you while you are still chewing your food. Not only should you wait, but you should also give some time between courses. Food should not come out as soon as one course is finished. The idea here is to make a nice evening of the affair, and multi-course meals should take hours.
Proper Serving Order
Ever wonder what is the correct order to serve your guests? The following should help you out.
At a formal restaurant or banquet, food should be presented to guests in the following order:
1. Guest of honor
2. Female guests
3. Male guests
4. Hostess
5. Host
After the guest of honor, first the women, then the men, are served in one of two ways:
Dishes can be presented to guests in the order of their seating, starting at the host's right
Dishes may be presented in order of seniority, starting with the most influential and proceeding down to the least prominent guest.
Clearly, using the latter system requires the hosts to furnish information regarding the order of service ahead of time. In restaurants, most groups include neither guest of honor nor hosts, so the meals will simply be served first to the women, then to the men.
Serving Food Properly – An Often Misunderstood Practice
Most people in the US think that all food should be served from the left and removed from the right. This is a misconception and stems from the fact that long ago, all food was served in large trays and each guest was served individually tableside from this large tray. If you still do this, then yes, by all means, your guests should be served from the left. But if you are like most people today and have the plates presented to your guests with the food already on it, nicely displayed and decorated, then it should be served from the right, and it is incorrect to serve it from the left. Below is detail of when to serve from the left and when to serve from the right. From the Left In general, the diner is approached from the left for three purposes and three purposes only: 1. To present platters of food from which the waiter will serve or the diner will help himself. 2. To place side dishes such as vegetables or dinner rolls 3. To clear the side dishes that were placed from the left. The reason most often given for this is that most people are right handed. So, for example, when a waiter must use his right hand to serve from a platter, it is least intrusive if he stands to the left. This way, the platter can be held safely away from the guest as the waiter leans forward to reach his/her plate. And, in the case of placing side dishes, it makes most sense to put them to the side that is less in focus, leaving the right side free for the main dish. From the Right These days it is nearly universal practice, even in very formal circumstances, for food to arrive already arranged on the plate, rather than to be presented on a platter. Preplated food (except for side dishes), as well as empty plates and clean utensils brought in preparation for upcoming courses, are always placed from the guest's right side. At the end of the course, these plates are also cleared from the right. Wine and all other beverages are presented and poured from the right. This is a logical, since glasses are placed above and to the right of the guest's plate, and trying to pour from the left would force the server to reach in front of the guest. |
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