Dining Etiquette
eating etiquette (how to eat...)
Table manners for using butter. Butter can be served in different ways:
- Put a stick of butter on a butter dish with a butter knife;
- Serve sliced pieces of a butter stick on a plate (small) with a fork; or
- Serve butter that has been whipped from small plate with a butter knife.
Guests can use their own knife (or fork) (if clean) to place butter on their plate if no utensil for that purpose is provided.
If butter is served in a wrapper or tub, dining etiquette requires that you leave butter packet wrappers or tubs on your bread plate after you have emptied them.
Our resting utensils etiquette section covers the rules (american and continental) for resting your utensils when taking a break from eating, when you are finished eating, and when you are passing food [...]
Table Manners
It's easy to impress at the dinner table! Just take a few minutes to read through our table manners section and you'll be the most sophisticated diner at the table.
International Dining Etiquette
Visit our international dining etiquette section for more etiquette tips for your next trip overseas or hosting international guests!
Wine Tasting Etiquette
Once it is poured into the proper glass, it’s time to evaluate and enjoy the wine. Evaluating wine involves four basic steps – looking, swirling, smelling, and tasting.
- Step #1 – Look. Holding the wine glass up against a white background, such as a napkin or table cloth, to evaluate its color and clarity. Red wines should range in color from deep purple to brick red.White wines should range in color from lemon gold to golden amber.
- Step #2 – Swirl.Swirl the wine in your glass to aerate it.
- Step #3 – Smell.Put your nose in the glass and take a deep breath.Older wines should have subtler aromas than younger ones.
- Step #4 – Taste.To taste the wine, fill your mouth about ½ full and subtly swish the wine around.
