Business dinners and meetings in restaurants are very important part of our life. We enjoy going to the favorite pubs and we love to visit bistros to taste something new. However, it is surprising that although we spend so much time eating out, using cutlery is still quite stressful for us. Sometimes the choice of a proper fork or spoon for a certain meal is problematic. We also have problems with deciding how to place cutlery to inform a waiter that we have already finished eating. To avoid those situations and fully relish the dinner and the time spent with our family, it is worth to know the basic rules of savior vivre.

Look at the table setting

The table setting can gently suggest what dishes will be served in a moment. Cutlery can be placed on both sides of a plate and above it. If a table is set with a great number of cutlery, you should firstly take that fork, knife or table spoon which is placed on the outside of a plate. Teaspoons and cake forks are put above a plate – you will use them during eating a dessert.

Use the cutlery properly

Probably, it does not have to be reminded that a fork is held in the left hand, and a knife in the right hand. While it is obvious that a knife helps in cutting and putting food on a fork, other eating rules are much more difficult to obey. Remember that it is appropriate to cut only some products, for instance meat. We should not cut vegetables, pasta or potatoes. When eating soup, you can’t slurp, or cooling it by blowing. If the soup is too hot, try to wait a minute, and spoon the soup from the edge of a plate where it is a little colder.

How to put the cutlery after eating?

If we want to take a short break from eating to talk or reach for a drink, we should arrange the cutlery in an appropriate manner so that the waiter knows that our meal is not yet finished. Put a knife on the right side of the plate, the fork on the left, with their tips facing towards each other. If you are not going to eat anymore, waiting for a waiter to take a plate, place the cutlery on the right side, parallel to each other (pointing to five o'clock). Always put the cutlery on a plate, never on the table or tablecloth.

Remember to follow the rules in such a way to feel relaxed and cooled out at the table.