Table setting in a restaurant: getting to know etiquette

Every adult has visited a restaurant at least once in their life. He must have been impressed by the variety of eating utensils. In order not to get into an awkward situation, it is advisable to know what all these devices are for, and to know the rules of etiquette.

Table setting in the restaurant may vary at different times of the day. The type of event also matters. It's one thing if you went to the nearest restaurant for lunch during the day, when compliance with all etiquette standards is not of great importance. And it is a completely different matter if you are invited to a banquet or a reception on the occasion of any celebration, when a full restaurant serving is observed.

Proper serving includes the arrangement of plates, wine glasses and cutlery in a certain order. First of all, you will see a plate in front of you, on which a hot dish is usually placed. It's called serving. Before the start of the banquet, a smaller plate of snacks will be placed on it.

To the left of the snack plate there will be several forks for different dishes, and to the right - knives and a tablespoon. According to etiquette, when eating, you should first take those devices that are at the edges. Behind the appetizer plate are dessert utensils. To the left of them they put a pie plate on which they put bread, and to the right - glasses for wines (white and red) and a glass for water.

For establishments where people eat and celebrate various events, their appearance is very important. It implies not only an interesting interior, but also table setting for visitors.

Serving for breakfast or dinner, a regular reception of guests or a banquet, the sequence of its implementation and the consistency in customer service is subject to certain standards. However, it is worth noting that at present the standards are losing excessive rigor. For example, it became permissible to use colored dishes. This is especially true for national restaurants, where white dishes are simply inappropriate (in Arabic or Chinese). A pie plate will be present on the table if bread is ordered.

The minimalism that is coming into fashion has also touched the serving. For pre-arrangement use the minimum number of items.

In a good restaurant that cares about its reputation, tables are always ready to receive guests and serve dishes. This is the so-called pre-serving. It consists in preparing the hall for receiving guests and is always carried out before the arrival of the first visitors.

Tables are necessarily covered with tablecloths, and a certain number of devices are placed on them, which will then be used in customer service.

On the tables you can see devices for spices, wine glasses, patty plates. Other necessary utensils will be placed during the additional serving, depending on the dishes present in the order.Serving will also include cutlery necessary for use in the process of eating: knives, forks, spoons.

In front of each seat is a cloth napkin, arranged in a special way to serve as a decorative element. There are many ways to fold napkins beautifully. The main thing is to comply with certain conditions:

• products should be easy to deploy;
• after unrolling, they should not be crumpled.

Also, tables are usually decorated with small vases with artificial or natural flowers. Flowers, of course, should not be wilted.

Often the waiters, having cleaned the table after some visitors, immediately carry out a full serving for others. The rules for the sequence of the procedure are as follows:

• cover the table with a napkin;
• serve dishes for food;
• serve appliances;
• put wine glasses and glasses;
• it is interesting to roll napkins and decorate the table with them;
• arrange containers for spices;
• decorate the table with flowers in a vase or light candles.

Having accepted the order, the waiters prepare the table for the upcoming meal: they remove the extra plates and cutlery and arrange the dishes necessary for serving the ordered dishes. If necessary, the table will be served with auxiliary cutlery: a butter knife, caviar spatula, special forks for oysters, crabs. For dessert, the serving will be complemented with tongs for confectionery and sugar. In the case of a previously placed order, guests sit down at an already laid table, on which there are cold appetizers.

There is a sequence for serving dishes, and the waiter must follow this standard. Serving dishes should occur simultaneously for all those sitting at the same table.

For hot appetizers, there is a special portioned dish in which they are cooked. Hot snacks are served in the same dish, placed on a plate covered with a paper napkin.

The ordered soup is served in a cupronickel bowl on a small plate. Separately, warmed deep plates or bouillon cups are served. Also, soup or broth can be served poured into a cup or plate. In this case, it should be placed on a saucer. The dressing put to the soup is served in a special gravy boat.

There are quite a few rules regarding the serving of alcoholic beverages. They concern both the volume and shape of glasses, wine glasses, glasses, as well as the sequence in which they are served, and the dishes they correspond to.

Dinner or banquet, as a rule, begins with an aperitif. As an aperitif, various drinks are used, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. It can be champagne, vermouth, fortified wines, wine blends, juices. They are brought on a tray covered with a napkin.

Each drink has its own capacity. For example, for martini - glasses of a triangular shape, for champagne - tall slender glasses, for fortified wines - glasses, for wines and wine mixtures - glasses. Cocktails and juices can be served in glasses with straws.

Then, when the meal begins, it's the turn of the wine. Of the two glasses served on the table, the smaller one is for white wine, the larger one for red.The ordered wine is uncorked in front of customers, the cork is placed on a special saucer.

Before pouring wine into glasses, the waiter pours a small amount of it to the owner of the table - the customer. And only after his approval is the service of guests. Service begins with the oldest woman, then men are served, also in seniority. The procedure ends with filling the glass of the owner of the table.

The classic table setting in preparation for a banquet is observed in almost all restaurants. Many of them, following the style to the end, use white dishes. But even with colored dishes, the festive table looks just as good.

By the time guests arrive at the ordered banquet in any restaurant, plates of food, in particular cold appetizers, are placed on the served table.

In a premium class restaurant, which implies a unique interior and service, tables are served with china, the white color of which is perfect.

The following educational film will show the order of table setting in the restaurant of the Courtyard by Marriott Irkutsk City Center hotel.