How to Have Table Manners at a Fine Dining Restaurant

Know what to do when dining out in a fine restaurant.

A fine dining restaurant expects its customers to have good table manners, and you'll feel more comfortable in both business and social situations when you are sure you know what to do. Even if you are occasionally confronted with a piece of cutlery or type of food you haven't encountered before, you can learn how to handle yourself in most situations.

Instructions

1. Put the napkin in your lap as soon as you are seated. If wine is poured or drinks are served you will be prepared. When you are ready to leave the restaurant, take the napkin off of your lap and fold it neatly and place it on the table. If you have to get up during your stay, then place the napkin on the table out of the way of others.

2. If you will be served soup, then the soup bowl will be in the center of the table setting on top of the dinner plate. When the soup is served, use the spoon at the outermost edge of your silverware setting. Take the spoon and dip it into the soup near you. Then move it away from you and lift it out. Put the spoon in your mouth; don't sip it.

3. Use the silverware from the outside to the inside. The silverware at your place setting will be in the order of the courses -- most likely, soup, salad, main course and dessert.

4. The bread and butter plate will be at the left above the dinner plate. Break the bread or roll with your fingers and butter it. Sometimes there will be butter pats on the plate already. If there aren't, then cut the butter with the the butter knife on the butter tray and bring the piece to your plate, then use that piece to butter your bread.

5. To cut your meat, use the fork to steady the piece of meat and cut the meat with the hand that you use to eat with. Cut several bite-sized pieces, then switch the fork to your dominant hand and begin eating. After the piece you have cut are gone, then cut several more pieces and do the same. Rest the knife at the upper edge of the dinner plate until you need it again.

6. While you are eating, always place the hand that you are not using to eat with in your lap. The exceptions for this are cutting meat and buttering and eating bread.

7. Say please and thank you frequently to the staff, even at a casual or fast food restaurant.

Tips & Warnings

• At very formal meals, it's considered polite to talk to the person on each side of you, rather than someone across or further down the table.

• When in doubt about what to do, wait and follow the lead of your host; if it's a business meal, watch your boss for cues.

References

• What's Cooking America: Dining Etiquette Guide
• Metro: Fine Manners for Fine Dining
• Etiquette Scholar: Table Manners 101