Eating Etiquette & Table Manners

"Hi! I am Marianne and on behalf of expertvillage.com, I will be discussing dining etiquette. This session is on knowing on when to begin eating. Typically, when you are seated with others at a restaurant, many courses are served at different times. It is proper to wait until everyone has been served one particular course before actually beginning to eat; the same with the second and third courses. There are some informal situations where it may be accepted for, if at least 50% of the people eating at the table have been served they can begin. But generally, that is not the accepted etiquette rule. When there are multiple dishes to be passed around, such as appetizers or different types of bread perhaps, you always start passing to your left, clockwise, and you pass to the party before you take your own helping."