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Goals of this presentation:

• Describe seven types of meal

service.

• Review the basics of table

etiquette.

We will define 7 different

styles of dining service.

The type of meal service may

depend on several factors:

The number of people eating

The formal or casual meal tone

Where the meal is eaten

Meal service, or dining

style, simply refers to the

way a meal is served to the

diner and who is serving it.

All required meal components, except

the dessert, are placed on the table at

the same time for casual dining.

Platters and bowls of food are passed

around the table… to the right, or

counter-clockwise. Participants serve

themselves from the serving dishes,

using the utensil that accompanies

each dish.

Participants are allowed to make

choices selecting foods and the size of

the serving. When preparing food,

always prepare enough that each

person is allowed at least one, full-size

serving.

Adults supervising the meal help those

participants who are not able to serve

themselves, such as the children.

Foods may be re-passed again later, if

desired, for second helpings.

In the English style service, the platters and

bowls of food are placed in front of the table

“host”, along with a stack of dinner plates.

The host carves and serves the meat and

side dishes, and passes the filled plates

around the table to the hostess and the

guests. Sometimes the hostess assists with

the serving. Condiments, rolls, relishes, etc.

are usually found elsewhere on the table

and passed around family style.

Ho

ste

ss

Ho

st s

erv

es

from

he

re

Stack of

Plates

Ma

in c

ou

rse

Vegetable dish

Rolls Relishes

Correctly, no person would start

eating until everyone has

received their plate. The host

serves himself last.

Service à la russe (French, literally

meaning "service in the Russian style“ )

is a manner of dining that involves

courses being brought to the table

sequentially.

Dishes are served at the guest's left

and removed from the right side.

Glasses are filled from the right.

Example of a meal served in 4 courses:

Soup

Salad

Entrée

Dessert

Each course is brought out separately,

and the plate removed before the next

course is served.

Hors d’ouvres

or beverages are

often served

“butler style” to

standing guests.

The food or drink

items and

cocktail napkins

would be on the

tray.

In the butler style of service, the server

presents the food to the guests and they help

themselves from the trays. If guests are

seated, the “butler” stands to the diner’s left.

The butler continues to hold the tray while the

guest takes the amount of food they want.

You don’t have to

employ a butler in

order to serve

“butler style”.

Service à la francaise (pronounced frahn-say), the traditional French service is

no longer used. It was a service in which all the food was brought out at once

in an impressive, but often impractical, display in the center of the table.

Guests reached in to the foods they could reach, and took what they wanted.

The classic French meal service is elegant

and elaborate. At least some foods or

courses are fully or partially prepared

tableside or at the table, in view of the

guests.

Tableside preparations are made on a

portable cart called a gueridon (gha-ree-

dawn) with a cooking unit called a rechaud

(ray-choh).

Tableside preparation might include

assembling a dish, such as a Caesar salad,

saucing and garnishing, sautéing and

flambéing, or carving and deboning.

The blue plate meal service is

especially useful when the table

size is too small for serving

dishes, or when passing platters

or bowls of food would be

difficult for some guests (such

as children). The entrée and

side dishes are all served

together on one plate.

When the blue plate service is used, sometimes

referred to as the blue plate special, a salad or

dessert may sometimes be included but served on

a separate plate than the main dish. In the

Russian service, they would be served as courses,

sequentially, but in the blue plate service they are

all brought to the table at the same time.

The buffet service is especially convenient for serving large groups of people

or for guests who will be eating at staggered times. The food is placed on

platters and in bowls on the long buffet table. Guests take a plate and then

serve themselves from those platters and bowls. In some situations, servers

may be present behind the buffet table to assist the guests in filling their

plates. A buffet line should move from left to right when possible.

After filling their plates,

guests may stand to eat, but

the host should plan a place

for them to set a beverage.

If guests are seated at tables

after going through the

buffet line, a wider variety of

food items may be offered. If

guests are seated, they can

have several plates, perhaps

on a tray, and they can cut

meats.

There are two ways to use a

knife and fork…

In the American style, a right-handed person cuts

the food by holding the knife in the right hand and

the fork in the left hand with the fork tines piercing

the food to secure it on the plate. Cut one or two

bite-size pieces of food, then lay your knife across

the top edge of your plate with the sharp edge of

the blade facing in. Change your fork from your

left to your right hand to eat, fork tines facing up.

The European or Continental

style is the same for cutting,

but your fork remains in

your left hand, tines facing

down, and the knife in your

right hand. Simply eat the

cut pieces of food by picking

them up with your fork still

in your left hand.

The fork should be held with the handle between

the index finger and the thumb and resting on

the side of your middle finger.

Never gesture with a knife of fork, especially if it has food on it.

Never lick any utensil or put your knife in your mouth.

It is impolite to start eating before everyone has been served.

Never chew with your mouth open.

Don't reach over someone's plate for something, ask for the item to be passed.

Never talk with food in your mouth.

It is impolite to put too much food in your mouth.

Never use your fingers to push food onto your spoon or fork.

It is impolite to slurp your food or eat noisily.

Never use your napkin as a handkerchief .

Never take food from your neighbors plate.

Use a napkin to remove food from your teeth, or excuse yourself from the table.

When entertaining a guest, such as when out

for dinner, the person who extended the

invitation (regardless of gender) is

responsible for paying the bill.

Oyster crackers or croutons, when

served with the soup, are put in the soup

whole with your fingers or spoon.

Fill the spoon with soup by pushing it

away from you, then sip from its side.

Larger soda crackers should not be

crumbled into the soup and are best kept

on the plate and eaten with the soup.

The tipping of soup dishes is acceptable

once or twice IF the plate is tipped

slightly away from you, not toward you.

The spoon should never strike or scrape

the bottom of the bowl loud enough to

make an audible noise.

The soup is eaten with a larger-bowled soup spoon. If the soup is served in a

bowl, the spoon is placed on the liner behind the bowl when finished. If the

soup is served in a large soup plate, the spoon may be left in the plate.

The most common mistake is to

overload too much pasta on the

fork. If you decide it’s too big or too

long, drop it down and pick up a

smaller bunch.

Take a little bunch of the spaghetti with the prongs of

the fork. Push it against the bowl of a spoon. Now,

working with the fork in a near-vertical position, and

the prongs against the bowl of the spoon, twirl the fork

clockwise with your fingers to roll the spaghetti around

your fork.

Do not cut the threads of the pasta.

Do not slurp any threads or sauce.

Do not splatter the sauce. Only

children should use a bib.

Eating spaghetti correctly has been

“Americanized” by incorporating

the use of a spoon to help twirl the

spaghetti. If the spaghetti is served in a pasta plate,

you may prefer to use the sides of the plate instead of a

spoon.

The meal begins when the host unfolds

his or her napkin. This is your signal to

do the same. Place your napkin on your

lap, completely unfolded if it is a small

luncheon napkin or in half, lengthwise, if

it is a large dinner napkin. The napkin

remains on your lap throughout the

entire meal and should be used to gently

blot your mouth when needed. If you

need to leave the table during the meal,

place your napkin on your chair as a

signal to your server that you will be

returning. The host will signal the end of

the meal by placing his or her napkin on

the table. Once the meal is over, you too

should place your napkin neatly on the

table to the right of your dinner plate. Do

not refold your napkin, but don't wad it

up, either. Do not push your plate away

from you when you have finished eating.

If you drop your napkin during the

meal, simply retrieve it if possible

or ask the server for another.

Always follow the lead of your

host/hostess if you don’t know how to eat

a particular food. Do what they do.

Unless you are at a picnic, you should eat

chicken, barbeque, and pizza with a knife

and fork.

To eat lobster or crab, start by cracking the

shell with a nutcracker and then extract

the meat with a seafood fork. Pull off the

small claws and suck out the meat as if

you were drawing liquid through a straw.

You can eat cake with your fingers if it's in

bite-size pieces. If it comes as a whole

slice, if it's sticky, or if it comes with sauce

or ice cream, use both a fork and spoon.

Say “please” when asking for something;

and “thank you” when served something.

If the tails are still attached on shrimp,

you may use your fingers to eat them.

If you eat tortillas with your hands,

start eating them at one open end,

holding the other end closed.

Unless you are eating fast food, cut

French fries in half and eat them with

your fork.

Use both hands to eat an ear of corn.

Butter and eat only a few rows at a

time.

It is impolite to put elbows on tables.

Doing so creates a risk of tipping over

bowls and cups. In casual settings, this

rule has become relaxed, especially while

lingering after a meal for conversation,

when the table has been cleared.

If you are seated at a table with place

cards, it is NEVER acceptable to switch,

or even ask to switch the placement of

the cards.

When you put something in your mouth

that you cannot swallow, the rule of thumb

is to remove it the same way it went in…

with your spoon, fork, or fingers. Move the

offensive item forward with your tongue

onto the fork and place it back on the side

of your plate.

Wait until you have finished chewing and

have swallowed your food before taking

a sip of your beverage.

If you do not want a

beverage or a refill,

never turn your cup

or glass upside

down. Simply hold

your hand over the

top of the

beverageware when

the server arrives.

It is appropriate to share food

when others at the table are also

willing to share. However, always

request additional small plates and

clean utensils for dividing the

shared food. People often choose

to share a large dessert portion

after a meal.

When offered rolls or bread, tear or cut off a portion and

place it on your bread plate. Also take butter from the butter

dish and place on your plate. As you eat the bread, tear a

small piece of bread from the roll, loaf, or slice. Butter it and

eat it in one or two bites. Tear another piece when ready.

Secure lemon wedges with a fork and squeeze with the other

hand or, if you pick up a wedge to squeeze between the fingers,

use the other hand as a "squirt shield“.

Do not take partial bites off a

utensil; so do not put more food

on your utensil than you can

place in your mouth with one bite.

If food falls off your plate… leave it.

As a rule-of-thumb, always use

your utensils outside-in, and

don't be afraid to leave the table

and ask the server if you find an

unusual dining device.

Never leave a spoon in a bowl or a

glass. Always place used flatware or

cutlery parallel to one another across

the plate with the knife blade facing

inward toward you OR on a liner plate if

one is available. If the handles of the

utensils are in the 3 o’clock position, it

means you are not done eating. Handles

in the 4 o’clock position mean you are

done.

You should not season your food before tasting it. If a fellow

diner asks for the salt…always pass the pepper as well. When

passing items such as a basket of rolls, the person closest takes

the service plate/basket, offers it to the person on his left, helps

himself, and passes to the person on his right.

If you spill something on yourself, clean up a spill at the table or excuse

yourself to the restroom if needed. Apologize to anyone inconvenienced.

If the salad is served on a separate plate or

bowl, use a salad fork. If it is served as the

main dish or on the same plate with the

entrée…use the dinner fork. You may use a

knife to cut large pieces, a few pieces at a time.

If it is necessary to leave the table for any

reason, excuse yourself. Do excuse

yourself from the table to reapply makeup,

fix your hair, or blow your nose.

A finger bowl may be brought to the table just prior to the

dessert being served. You are not required to use it, and

may just put it aside. If you do choose to use it, simply dip

the fingers into the water and wipe them on your napkin.

Then pick up the bowl and the doily underneath, and move

them to the upper left side of the place setting. This clears

them from the plate area, so dessert can be served.

Men always remove their hats inside a building. They also

rise, at least partially, when a lady excuses herself from the

table (unless it is purely a business dinner).

What is the name of the type of meal service

would you expect to find:

• In the school’s cafeteria?

• During a dinner at your home for

Thanksgiving?

• At a black-tie dinner held at the White

House?

• At a diner?

• At Olive Garden or Outback Steak House?