How Well Do You Know Fine Dining Etiquette?

Any small items you may be carrying upon reaching the dining table should not be placed on the table itself. That includes car keys, cellphones, purses, and similar items not necessary for dining.

While it’s tempting to reach for your cellphone in between courses, don’t. It’s bad manners to take it out, to answer a call or text message, or to surf the internet and check emails while in a fine dining setup. Excuse yourself from the table if you need to answer an urgent call or message.

It’s generally bad manners to eat with your mouth open. It’s especially rude to hear someone chewing their food in a fine dining set-up.

It’s generally bad manners to place one’s elbows on the table while dining. However, if it’s before or after eating, one can casually put them on the table, but assess the situation before doing so.

A napkin is there for several purposes, but it should not be seen all the time. Therefore, it should always be placed on one’s lap.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not familiar with the many types of cutlery laid on the table as long as you follow the “outside-in rule.” That means, you start using the one that’s farthest from the plate (the outside), and then work your way in, toward the plate, using the next cutlery as the meal goes along.

Even if the dinner party is at someone’s home, etiquette in seating arrangements should be followed, so take your cue from the host on where to sit. If there are nameplates, look for yours and never switch places with anyone. Never sit at the ends of the tables, for these are reserved for the hosts.

There’s a reason why the cocktails are served in the area where they’re served, separate from the dining area. So whatever you use in that area, like cocktail glasses, you leave them there.

Always take your cue from your hosts. When they announce that dinner is served, then that’s the time you eat.

If there’s a server putting food on each guest’s plate, expect them to serve everyone in a counterclockwise direction. Passing food from guest to guest should also follow this direction.

You can slice the full loaf if they are served that way. Just don’t touch them with your fingers directly; use the cloth that comes underneath the bread on the basket to hold it still.

In formal and informal fine dining setups, it’s best to wait for everyone to be served their food before starting to eat what you were served. That’s the proper manner of doing it, and saying you’re very hungry is no excuse for displaying bad manners.

Depending on the fine dining place you go to, the deeper kind of plate atop a more leveled kind of plate is usually used for the salad serving, or sometimes it’s for placing the soup there. They will take that away when you’re done, so you can eat your main course on the dinner plate that’s left there.

Expect food servers to come to your left side when serving you food. So make sure you don’t bump into them while they’re doing their job.

Fork tines should generally be facing downward, as if ready to make contact with the food on your plate. This is called continental style of holding cutlery.

Sorry folks, but that napkin is not meant to wipe your entire mouth clean. The proper way of using it is to dab your mouth with it, gently.

It’s tempting to slice everything on your plate before eating, but that’s just not proper fine dining etiquette. The rule is, just make a slice and eat that, slice again then eat, one slice at a time, until everything is consumed.

It’s an insult to the chef or the host if you immediately put seasoning on the food before even tasting it. So take a bite first, and see if seasoning is still needed or not.

Even if someone requests one or the other only, salt and pepper shakers should be passed on to them together. That’s the general rule when it comes to these two condiments.

Slurping, in general, is not a good fine dining gesture in most parts of the world. However, it might be OK in other situations overseas, so play this rule by ear when in a foreign land.

Fine dining rules prescribe specific food items or liquids to be placed in the proper dinnerware in front of you. Therefore, never ask them to serve you water in other glasses other than the water goblet or water glass.

Be careful not to bump into servers clearing the table of used cutlery and dinnerware. They will always be on your right side when doing this.

Make sure you place your knife and fork strategically on your plate if you’re not done eating, to alert the servers. You either put your knife on the top right edge with the fork on an angle on the bottom left, or put them on the plate at a 45-degree angle facing you.

Not only is it generally uncouth to speak while your mouth is full, but it is also dangerous. Food particles may wind up in your windpipe instead of your esophagus, and that could make you choke.

While fine dining etiquette may sound stiff and formal to most, the general idea here is to also enjoy the food. Basically, you can eat slow and in a relaxed manner, and truly savor the food and drinks they serve.

Never put your napkin on your plate or on the table if you’re temporarily stepping away from it. Put it on your chair.

It’s generally not nice to gesture with your hands in the air while you’re eating. So of course doing that while holding cutlery is a genuine no-no.

The white wine glass should be held at the stem. For red wine, you can either hold it at the stem or the bowl.

The best way to sample your friend’s food across the table is to hand them your fork, which they will use to spear a morsel and hand it back to you. Reaching over is considered rude behavior in a fine dining setup.

Hunching over your plate or slouching during the whole course of the meal could be read in a negative way. Other guests or the host will think that you’re disinterested with the food they’re serving you, so sit up straight.

Even if they indeed serve you finger food, you don’t lick your fingers after eating them. Use your napkin to wipe your fingers.

To show your respect and appreciation, never make a scraping motion on your plate with your utensils. It’s seen as a disrespectful act if you do, not to mention annoying and ill-mannered.

Don’t forget to put your knife and fork together, side by side, in a parallel vertical position on your plate when you’re done eating. This means the servers will stop serving you, and they can also take your used utensils and plates away.

Since your hands will be needed during the dining act, it should never touch any other body part for cleanliness or propriety’s sake. Therefore, avoid touching your hair during the course of the meal.

The napkin is usually found on the left side of the table placement before the meal begins. Therefore, you should also leave it there after the meal, and folded, too.