Table Etiquettes And

Manners & Table Settings

America Compared To India
 THE PERFECT DINING IN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
How Do I Use My Napkin ?
 The American Table Etiquettes And Manners
How Do I use Napkins ?
• In a restaurant:
As soon as you are seated, remove the napkin from your place setting, unfold it, and put it in your lap. Do not shake it open. At some very
formal restaurants, the waiter may do this for the diners, but it is not inappropriate to place your own napkin in your lap, even when this is
the case
.
The napkin rests on the lap till the end of the meal. Don't clean the cutlery or wipe your face with the napkin. NEVER use it to wipe your
nose!

If you excuse yourself from the table, loosely fold the napkin and place it to the left or right of your plate. Do not refold your napkin or wad
it up on the table either. Never place your napkin on your chair.

At the end of the meal, leave the napkin semi-folded at the left side of the place setting. It should not be crumpled or twisted; nor should it
be folded. The napkin must also not be left on the chair.
 
• At a private dinner party:
The meal begins when the host or hostess 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. Do not shake it open.

The napkin rests on the lap till the end of the meal.

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 left of your dinner plate. (Do not refold your napkin, but don't wad it up, either.)

 
Im Hungry! When Do I Start Eating ??
The American Table Etiquettes And Manners

When to start eating: 

• In a restaurant: 
 Wait until all are served at your table before beginning to eat.

• At a private dinner party:

 When your host or hostess picks up their fork to eat, then you may eat. Do
not start before this unless the host or hostess insists that you start eating.
How Do I Use My Silverware and
Dinnerware ?
 The American Table Etiquettes And Manners
How to use your silverware and dinnerware:
• Here's the Silverware and dinnerware rule:
Eat to your left, drink to your right. Any food dish to the left is yours, and any glass to the right is yours.

Starting with the knife, fork, or spoon that is farthest from your plate, work your way in, using one utensil for each course. The
salad fork is on your outermost left, followed by your dinner fork. Your soup spoon is on your outermost right, followed by your
beverage spoon, salad knife and dinner knife. Your dessert spoon and fork are above your plate or brought out with dessert. If
you remember the rule to work from the outside in, you'll be fine.

• Use The method when using the fork and knife:

American Style:  Knife in right hand, fork in left hand holding food. After a few bite-sized pieces of food are cut, place knife on
edge of plate with blades facing in. Eat food by switching fork to right hand (unless you are left handed). A left hand, arm or
elbow on the table is bad manners.

REMEMBER :-

Once used, your utensils, including the handles, must not touch the table again. Always rest forks, knives, and spoons on the
side of your plate or in the bowl.
For more formal dinners, from course to course, your tableware will be taken away and replaced as needed.
To signal that your are done with the course, rest your fork, tines up, and knife blade in, with the handles resting at five o'clock
an d tips pointing to ten o'clock on your plate.
Any unused silverware is simply left on the table.

 
 
Wrong Way Of Behaving On The Table.
He Looks Impolite, doesn’t he ?
 General Social and Dining Etiquette Rules
ss
u g g e st e d b y t he host / hoste
s te d o n t h e invitation or s
v er d re s s co d e is req u e
ifie d . N e ve r a rrive late!
e c
 Follow what s e a rl y u n le ss otherwise sp
e
o t o b li ge d to use that very
st 10 minu te the hostess is n
 Arrive at lea h o s te s s g ift , o n e th a t
go o d h o s te s s gifts, as the
is p ro p e r to bring a small , w in e , o r d essert, are not ex pect your gift to
 It e r s, c a n d y t n o t n e v e r
uch as flow iately. You mus
evening. Gifts s t it o u t im m e d
ste ss w il l fe el that it must pu at. If the
ho r p a rt y . ta k in g yo u r s e
e dinne s down before
be served at th t h e h o s t o r h o s te ss s it
p a rt y , if th e r e are no name
 At a dinner p
arty, wait for
n d o . A t a v e r y formal dinner it . T h e seating will
s it , th e sh o u ld s
sks you to tes where you ht of the men.
host/hostess a u n ti l th e h o st in d ic a
a te d t o th e r ig
cards at the tab
le, wait
-w o m a n w it h the women se e r g u ests may join in
n-wom a n -m a n T h e d in n
typically be ma m a r y in so m e households. th e m eal is eaten .
b e c u s to b e fo re
lessing' may de by the host
 A prayer or 'b si le n t . M o s t p ra y e rs a re m a
in in w it h a to ast. If the host
lly rayer. Always jo
or be respectfu in st e a d o f a p
a toast is offered w
 S o m eti m e s
e to a st , a ls o stand up. e n in g is o v e r. Guests may no
stands up durin
g th
h a t th e fo rm al part of the ev to do so.
ff e e s ig n ifi e s t c ou ra g e s th e m
r co st or hostess en
 Serving tea o o r li n g e r if t h e h o
t to th e h o st / hostess
ve , se n
feel free to lea , a th a n k y o u note should be
l dinner party
 After a forma
A SHORT POEM
The American Table Etiquettes And Manners
• Serving food:
Food is served from the left. Dishes are removed from the right.
Always say please when asking for something. At a restaurant, be sure to say thank you to your server and bus boy after they have removed any
used items.
Butter, spreads, or dips should be transferred from the serving dish to your plate before spreading or eating.
• Passing dishes or food:
Pass food from the left to the right. Do not stretch across the table, crossing other guests, to reach food or condiments.
If asked for the salt or pepper, pass both together, even if a table mate asks for only one of them. This is so dinner guests won't have to search for
orphaned shakers.
Set any passed item, whether it's the salt and pepper shakers, a bread basket, or a butter plate, directly on the table instead of passing hand-to-
hand.
Never intercept a pass. Snagging a roll out of the breadbasket or taking a shake of salt when it is en route to someone else is a no-no.
Always use serving utensils to serve yourself, not your personal silverware.
• Eating
Do NOT talk with food in your mouth! This is very rude and distasteful to watch! Wait until you have swallowed the food in your mouth.
Always taste your food before seasoning it. Usually the hostess has gone to a lot of work making sure the food served is delicious to her standards.
It is very rude to add salt and pepper before tasting the food.
Don't blow on your food to cool it off. If it is too hot to eat, take the hint and wait until it cools.
Always scoop food, using the proper utensil, away from you.
Cut only enough food for the next mouthful (cut no more than two bites of food at a time). Eat in small bites and slowly.
Do eat a little of everything on your plate. If you do not like the food and feel unable to give a compliment, just keep silent. It is acceptable to leave
some food on your plate if you are full and have eaten enough.
Do not "play with" your food or utensils. Never wave or point silverware. Do not hold food on the fork or spoon while talking, nor wave your
silverware in the air or point with it.
Try to pace your eating so that you don’t finish before others are halfway through. If you are a slow eater, try to speed up a bit on this occasion so
you don’t hold everyone up. Never continue to eat long after others have stopped.
Once used, your utensils, including the handles, must not touch the table again. Always rest forks, knives, and spoons on the side of your plate or
in the bowl.
If the food served is not to your liking, it is polite to at least attempt to eat a small amount of it.
Drinking A Wine, Does It
require manners too ?
The American Table Etiquettes And Manners

Drinking The Wine:

Never turn a wine glass upside down to
decline wine. It is more polite to let the
wine be poured and not draw attention.
Otherwise, hold your hand over the wine
glass to signal that you don't want any wine.
Hold your wine glass by the stem, not the
rim.
Where a different wine is served with each
course, it is quite acceptable to not finish
each glass.
 
The Perfect American Table Setting
 The American Table Setting
p l a c e d u n d er the
 
t h e l e ft . S o metimes e wearing
in t h e fo ld to a n d y o u ’r
Napk h e fork with o n the table
a c e d to th e l e ft o f t
a p k in s a re p re s e n t
yo u a b la c k napkin.
Pl
n t he p la te . If white n e r if h e / s h e can get
forks or o p r o p e r t o ask a wait
g, it ’s
black clothin d in ner fork.
ft o f th e
Salad Fork , it ’s lo ca te d to the le
k is used ft of the
If a salad for n three for ks to t h e le
m o re t h a
Dinner Fork t h e d in n e r plate. No
e left of
Placed to th s o u p spoon.
f t h e
plate. y s g o e s to the right o
rk alwa
An oyster fo
Dessert Fork l a rg e r d in n er fork.
of the is placed
To the right r s p re a d e r
te A b u tt e r k n ife o iz e d p ie c e s, not
Bread Pla o f the fork . into bite- s
s ju st a b o v e t h e ti p
a d s h o u ld b e b ro ke n
r i s s e r ve d , put some
Belong a d plate. Br e W hen butte
n t h e b r e g to e a t.
horizontally
o
ie c e yo u a re preparin
nly the p
cut. Butter o u s e a s n e e d ed .
yo u r b r e a d plate and
on
 The American Table Setting
Dinner Plate ng. W h ile ea ti n g ke e p your knife and
lo c at e d in th e ce nt er of the place setti th e knife and fork
Always W h e n fin is h ed p ut
o n th e si d e s o f th e plate (or open).  in tin g to w ard 4 o’clock.
fork dl e s p o
(o r cl os e d) . Ty p ic al ly on an angle, han
together
Dinner Knife m u ltip le k n iv es , pe rh aps for meat,
h t o f th e p late . S om etimes there are
To the rig fro m the o u tside in.
r of use d
fish and salad, in orde
Tea Spoon
ner knife.
To the right of the din
Tea Spoon
rig h t o f th e o th er te a spoon.
To the
 Soup Bowl m ay b e p la ce d o n th e plate holding
ri gh t of th e 2n d te a spoon, however y o ur so u p sp oon down
To the . Note: If you ne e d to se t
w l o f so u p is se rv ed er the bowl until
the soup bo t it o n th e d is h u n d
in in g , p la ce it in th e bowl.  Do not pu
while d
you are finished.
 The American Table Setting

 Cocktail Fork o th e rig ht s ide.

way t
Smaller fork all the
Water glass
ab ove th e tip o f k nife.
Just
Red Wine Glass
he r ight o f th e water glass
To t
White Wine Glass e gla s s . A white w ine g la s s is h e ld on the
h e re d w in egrees
To the right of t It s ho uld be s e r ve d at 4 5 to 5 5 d
r ve t h e c h ill.
stem to prese
Fahrenheit.
 Coffee Cup rvice.
eded b ro u ght at time of se
If ne
THE PERFECT INDIAN DINING
A Short Comparison which I noticed Between The American
Table Manners And The Indian Table Manners

• In the Previous slide, you saw a photo where in each of the

family members are resting both their hands on the table.
America Believes that it is a disrespect to rest your left hand or
elbow on the dining table.
• One of the family member(the father in the blue T-shirt) is
talking while the food is in his hand. America says that it is bad-
manners to do so. America believes that it is appreciated, if you
first swallow the food well, and then talk, that too, if necessary.
The Indian Table Manners And Etiquettes
Traditionally, Indian food is served on a rug on the floor and people are
supposed to sit in a circle. In case you are using a table, let the eldest
person sit first. The host is supposed to sit in a direction from where he
can see everyone around him. 
When everyone is seated, wait for the food to be served. You should not
chatter unnecessarily with the people around you.
Indian tradition does not emphasize on the use of cutlery which are
considered to be a part of western culture, such as fork and knife. Indian
food such as curries and gravies are enjoyed best when eaten with hands.
Wash hands properly before starting as much of the food is eaten with
hands, even if you are using basic cutleries such as spoon and fork.
Wait for the eldest to start first. Even if you are starving don’t attack the
food or east hastily. It is considered disrespectful and a bad manner.
The Indian Table Manners And Etiquettes
You are not expected to use your left hand while eating. Even breads and chapattis
are broken into pieces using the right hand alone. But you are supposed to transfer
food from the common plate using your clean left hand.
In north India it is not acceptable to stain your hands with gravies or curries, only
fingertips it used to pick and gather food. However, in south India, you can take
liberty to dip your hand up to your palms. 
Don’t flood your plate with food. You don’t have to taste each and every dish served.
Finish your whole food before asking for more. Wasting food is considered
disrespect to the host and the food.
Once you have finished your food, don’t leave the table until the host asks you to. If
you have to leave the table, ask for the permission from the people before leaving.
Don’t wash your hands in your plate or on the bay leaf and you are not expected to
close the bay leaf- if you are in south India. Use a finger bowl (lemon and water) to
wash your greasy hands.
You are expected to say polite terms like ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ as a courtesy
towards your host.
Indian Table Setting
 Thanking You.
• I truly declare that I am the only Creator of the
presentation. I have made the presentation
through my hard-work and strength.
• I hope that the presentation covered the
required information, and was interesting.
Please Note That I am not trying to insult the Indian Way of Dining or
the American Way of Dining . I am comparing the data in my
presentation for educational purpose only as per instructed by the
Respected teacher.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH 