Basic rules of restaurant etiquette

The first date, a dinner party, the celebration of an important date in a close family circle - all this is an excellent occasion to organize a feast in a memorable place. Any trip to the restaurant is a special event and is accompanied by the selection of the appropriate image in the wardrobe. Stylishly selected clothes, neat makeup and accessories will remain invaluable if loved ones who intend to share an important meal with you are not familiar with the basic rules of etiquette.

The basics of restaurant service and etiquette have their own distinctive features and seemingly insignificant trifles that make up the general impression of the evening. Simple rules begin to act long before the meeting, for example, it has long been considered that a restaurant table should be booked by a man, and also, if possible, he should approach the meeting place a little before the girl.

The first to enter the institution is also a man if the evening is held in the company of guests, then according to the rules, the one who initiated the meeting “leads”, also initially confirming its subsequent consent to the payment.

This rule may partially lose its relevance, but it still works at secular and business meetings of company leaders and dinner parties during negotiations.

Visitors at the entrance by all the rules are met by the administrator, also called head waiter, or the main waiter of the restaurant. The meeting involves the greeting and reconciliation of table armor. If you have a wardrobe, you should leave your outerwear there, as well as purchases or, for example, a work bag. A man always helps a woman to undress, offering a helping hand.

Landing is as follows: a man always gives a woman a more advantageous landing place, for example, with a view through a window or onto the stage, if the evening involves musical accompaniment. Pushing one of the chairs back, he invites the lady to sit down. Having settled down behind the reserved table and having studied the presented menu, it is necessary to make the order.

At this point, you need to correctly call the waiter. Any way to attract attention through all sorts of sounds is considered to be very ignorant: tapping cutlery on a table or dishes, trying to hail. In such a situation, a simple gesture is enough - a wave of the hand or a nod of the head, accompanied by direct eye contact with the staff. The most correct option would be to contact any representative of the service personnel directly by name, which is always written on the badge attached to the form.

The opportunity to be the first to order food is always given to a guest or a girl, while men follow, as regards the choice of alcoholic beverages, he is trusted by the male sex. In principle, the initial distribution of the menu is as follows: the main thing is the female half, the bar list is male.

The rules of etiquette in the restaurant suggest the absence of unnecessary things on the surface of the table. Thus, it is considered very ignorant to lay out on the table a phone, keys, wallet or any clothing accessories. Particularly gross mistake - to put on the table bag. This is not only ignorant of your interlocutor or company, but also distracts the waiter and other staff of the establishment.

Located at your table, remember your posture: when properly seated, there will be no desire to put your elbows on the table or lean again towards it. It is best to cover the knees with a napkin prepared during the table setting. If during the meal you need to absent himself, then the napkin is placed on your seat.

While waiting for an order, it's time for a small conversation, but loud conversations violate the right atmosphere for eating, so in restaurants it is customary to communicate with partners quietly. Vivid stories, rich gestures, as well as loud peals of laughter are also an indicator of impoliteness.

The basic rules of eating behavior suggest 8 simple steps:

• Do not blow on hot food, wait until the dish cools down.
• Observe the correct position at the table. Do not put your elbows on the table, keep your posture, do not hide your hands under the table, and do not bend too low above the plate.
• Do not spit out the bones. Spitting out fruit, fish or other bones in the palm or napkin is considered impolite, try to get the bones with a fork. A more neutral option seems to be shifting the bone to the napkin brought to the mouth.

• Do not eat from someone else's plate, and especially the cutlery. The romance of movie scenes turns out to be a very ignorant table-breaking behavior.
• Do not speak with your mouth full, try not to slurp or make any other sounds that give any assessment of the prepared dishes.
• Do not use personal appliances, imposing some kind of common dish.
• Properly cut one piece of the cooked dish, just eat it, cut off the next. It is not necessary to cut the whole cooked dish, constant picking in the plate looks ridiculous.
• In order to avoid incidents and for greater confidence, try as often as possible to wipe your hands and soak your mouth with a napkin.

The most common fear of anyone who gets to a dinner party in a good restaurant for the first time is the inability to cope with the number of cutlery, and the fear of looking stupid. In fact, there is always logic in everything, and the table laid in advance can be read.

The first served snacks. The very small diameter of the plate will tell you which is the best spoon to use with a small spoon or snack bar. Cutlery laid out in strict order of serving dishes.

Next are the first and second dishes, the devices also most often correspond to the diameter of the plate, and all subsequent ones are not particularly different. If today you do not eat soup, then a deep tablespoon will remain in the same place., and at a certain time of the dish change the waiter will take it.

Special are devices for fish dishes: a special-shaped knife, resembling a spatula (which is especially convenient when cutting and separating bones) and a fork with shorter teeth.

Before serving dessert devices are subject to change again. The dessert fork has three cloves, and each device is different in size.

It is not enough to figure out what device and what to eat and chop, it is also important to do it correctly. For example, the knife should always be held in your right hand. If you're not used to eating with a knife, then make a habit of practicing this simple skill at home in separate meals. The spoon, as a rule, is not filled completely, so as not to spill the contents in any way.

The position of the instruments on the table is an opportunity to maintain a dialogue with the staff of the establishment. For example, if during a meal there was a need to otlyutsya, but you intend to continue the dish started, it is customary to put the appliances in such a way that their ends are touching, and if you are finished with the dish, then the appliances are placed parallel to each other.

There are also other little things that can even tell you whether you liked a particular dish. Having crossed the devices in such a way that the knife falls between the teeth of the fork, you can tell that you didn’t like the dish according to your taste or other characteristics, and to tell about the opposite and please the waiters and chefs, place the devices perpendicular to the side of the table and point with the point to the right.

Simple combinations can be a great compliment for staff or a signal, which you should pay attention to.

Often a controversial issue arises after eating if you pay the bill. Restaurant etiquette assumes that the invoice is paid by the inviter or the man. The division of the bill is appropriate if dinner or any other meal was friendly. In restaurants it is customary to tip, a pleasant compliment for the staff will be ten percent added to the total bill.

In fashionable establishments, as a rule, in addition to the waiter and the administrator of the hall, the attendants also have to interact with the sommelier. Rarely a pleasant dinner without a bottle of good wine.

A real sommelier, an enthusiastic master of his craft, is always ready to answer any questions about alcoholic beverages and tell the story of the origin of a particular variety.

Many people used to think that special rules of etiquette apply to fashionable restaurant establishments, but this is far from being the case. Any polite gentleman or lady will not allow themselves to behave outside the culture of public institutions. Even a Sunday family breakfast in a cozy coffee shop or a business lunch in a cafe require compliance with the norms and knowledge of the basic basics of etiquette.

After a long and pleasant meal and paid bills The initiator of leaving the restaurant, of course, is also a man.

Knowing the basic rules of etiquette will help you relax and enjoy your time while eating in a good company.

It’s enough for girls to know only fifteen rules of restaurant etiquette in order to make a pleasant impression on their men and those around them when visiting a place. You can find out about them in the next video.