A lighthearted look at dining decorum

By  CLARE MAXFIELD

Fine dining, meeting your partner’s parents or going out with the boss, all events can send shivers of apprehension up the back of any unsuspecting dining novice. Long gone are the days of etiquette training to help us through the myriad of dining experiences that we may encounter. Fast food and take away has also dissolved the family experience of sitting down to a meal with our families, let alone the simple art of using cutlery.

I was fortunate that my Mum always had a napkin for us and we sat down to the dinner table most nights for dinner. Special occasions always had our dining room table set up like a 5 star restaurant and, I should add, the food served was worthy of such a fine setting. Mum may have taught me style but she has it on me in spades when it comes to cooking for a dinner party.

There are some very common misconceptions about eating that I believe have arisen from our relaxing of everyday dining so this month I thought I would have some fun with some of the more antiquated rules while sharing with you some of the simple guidelines that appear in my next book Getting Corporate, due for release July 1st.

Taken from the Manners for Men (1897)-Allow the servant to take your hat and coat before you enter the drawing room and greet the hostess before the host. At this point he will be told which lady he will escort to dinner and shall be expected to make small talk with her until they enter the dining room.

Speed dating it wasn’t but couples have been blind dating for centuries You will not encounter a meal such as this very often today but there are a couple of tips I can give you so any situation will not be too confusing.

Bread and butter is on the left
By this I mean your bread and butter plate. Have you ever been at a function where the bread rolls are already set out and you didn’t know which one was yours? The easiest way is to remember that the roll is on your left and you will hold it in your left hand as you apply the butter with your knife which is in your right hand. So you don’t elbow your neighbour in the ribs as you butter your bread.

Solids to your left and liquids to your right
If you are still having trouble remember solids on the left so your bread will go on the left and liquids on the right, your wine glass, your water glass and your coffee will all be sitting, hopefully not all at once, in front of your right hand.

What ever hits the floor stays there
If you drop a knife or fork or anything else onto the floor whilst in a restaurant leave it there and allow a waiter to pick it up for you and bring you a fresh implement.

Taste your food before you season it
It is the height of rudeness to immediately, upon receiving your meal, cover it in salt and pepper before you even know what it tastes like. You are insulting both the host and the chef by not even bothering to taste your food first to see it has been flavoured accordingly.

Those pits
Olive pits don’t get spat into the nearest pot plant or dropped back into the olive bowl. Keep them in your napkin or the bowl provided for the olive pits. They are not for sharp shooting across the room to see who can spit the furthest.

Until next time, enjoy all you do and smile.

A smile will make everyone look gorgeous.

Cheers Clare

For information regarding my Getting Gorgeous and Getting Corporate Workshops call Clare on 5979 7434

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