Basic Table Manner

• Take small bites.


• Chew and swallow before you speak.


• Avoid the overwhelming temptation to play with your food.


• Pay at least some attention to the person you're dining with.


• Refrain from PDA (Public Display of Affection).


• Sit up straight at the table.


• When you are not eating, keep your hands on your lab or resting on the table (with wrist on the edge of the table). Elbows on the table are acceptable only between courses, not while you are eating.


• Do not season your food before you have tasted it.


• Do not slurp from a spoon. Spoon the soup away from you when you take it out of the bowl and sip it from the side of the spoon.


• If food get caught between your teeth and you can't remove it with your tongue, leave the table and remove the food from your teeth in private.


• If you need something that you cannot reach easily, politely ask the person nearest to the item to pass it to you.


• If a piece of your silverware falls onto the floor, pick it up if you can reach it and let the server know you need a clean one.


• If food spills off your plate, pick it up with a piece of silverware and place it on the edge of your plate.


• Never spit a piece of bad food or tough gristle into your napkin. Remove the food from your mouth using the same utensil it went in with. Place the piece of food on the edge of your plate. If possible, cover it with some other food from your plate.

Dining Situations

{Bread and Butter}
Break bread into moderately-sized pieces, or use a long serrated bread knife to cut a piece. After using the master butter knife to place butter on your bread plate, use the individual butter spreader to spread enough butter for a bite-sized piece.

{Soup}
Bouilion soup can be drunk from the 2-handled cup it is often served in or your can use teh bouilion soup spoon to consume. A cream soup is consumed using a round, or an oval soup spoon.
{Salad}
A lettuce salad that is served in large pieces can be cut one bite at a time using the knife. If salad is the main course, use the entree fork to eat it with. If it is served prior to the main course or after, use the smaller salad fork to eat with.

{Chicken}
Chicken is never eaten with fingers in a formal dining situation. In an informal setting, you can eat the smaller pieces (wing, leg, joints) with fingers. Larger pieces from the body (breast, thigh) are eaten by cutting the meat off with a knife or steak knife, and leaving the rest on your plate.

{Fish}
Ideally, your table will have a fish serving fork & fish slice to serve the serving plate to the dinner plate. Also, individual fish knives are a great addition to place settings.

If a sauce is served seperately, use a small ladle to place it on top of your serving and return to the sauce dish.

{Potatoes, French Fries}
When served a baked potato, cut in half and add seasonings, butter & sour cream to taste. If you are served mashed potatoes and gravy is being passed, simply use the gravy ladle provided to top the potatoes. French fries can be eaten with the fingers or a fork.

{Cheese}
When cheese is served alongside a fruit dessert, cut it with the cheese knife and place on the plate and place on the plate with the fruit fork. The cheese, if bite size, can be eaten with fingers.

{Fruit}
The best sterling silver items to have for eating fresh fruit are the fruit knife and fruit fork. Cut large fruits into quarters, and peel before eating. Of course, peeling the fruit is an option. Place any seeds & the peel on the side of the plate.

{Dessert}
There are many different sterling silver items to eat dessert with, including dessert spoons, ice cream forks, fruit spoons, fruit forks, strawberry forks, parfait forks, pastry and cake forks.

Cake and pie are usually eaten with a salad fork, if cake or pastry forks are not available. If it is served "a la mode", the teaspoon is also used (although the ice cream fork offers the best of both worlds).

{Tea Bags}
When served a cup of tea with a bag in it, wait until it steeps to the desired strength and remove the bag to the saucer. When dining in a restaurant, they usually serve the tea in a pot of hot water. Place the tea bag into the pot and allow it to steep to the desired strength, then remove the bag to the saucer on which the pot sets.

When you are served tea from a teapot in which loose tea has steeped, you will need a sterling tea strainer to prevent the leaves from going into your cup. Place the silver tea strainer on top of your cup and pour the tea into the cup.