How to Enjoy a Four Course Meal

Enjoying a four course meal can be difficult when you don’t know what cutlery is used for what and which plate is used for which food but never fear today you are going to learn how to properly enjoy a four course meal.

The Table Setting

Set in front of us is a formal table setting. I will explain what each piece is and what it is used for.

First, I will go over the glasses on the table. To the right of the plates we have the water goblet which is used strictly for water. To it’s right is the red wine glass. Next to the red wine glass is the white wine glass. You can tell the difference between the red wine glass and the white wine glass by the size of their bowls. Red wines usually require more surface area in order to let the aromas present in them come through. So the  bowl on a red wine glass is wider in than the white wine glass. Behind the red wine glass is the champagne flute which is used only for champagne. 

Next we have the plates. The bread plate and knife, soup bowl, the salad plate, the dinner plate and the service plate also known as the charger. The charger stays on the table for the duration of the meal.

Lastly, we have the cutlery. Starting from the right we have the salad fork, the dinner fork, the bread knife, the desert spoon, the desert fork, the dinner knife, the salad knife and the soup spoon. One easy way to remember to use the cutlery in the right order is to think of starting with the outside cutlery first and then working your way in. First course use the spoon. Second course use the first fork and the middle knife. And for the last course use the inner most fork and knife. 

Now that we have gone over the place setting let’s enjoy a meal. 

Enjoying a Meal

So the first course will be our soup. Here we have a tomato soup with a little garnish. A tip for eating the soup is to think of the soup as a clock. Starting at 12 o’clock we will pick up our soup and without pointing it toward us we will sip it from the side. Make sure to take just as much as you can sip at one time. 

The second course is our salad. We have a iceberg and romaine lettuce with red cabbage and carrots.There are two ways of eating the salad: The American style and the European style. In the American style we take some of our salad, cut it, and then put the knife back on our plate like this. In the European style we cut our salad, use our knife to put more salad onto our fork if we wish and then eat not concerning ourselves with putting the knife back down on our plate. If we want a sip of water we can criss cross our knife and our fork to let the waiter know that we are still eating. And when you’re done put the knife and the fork at time position 10:20 with the tines of the fork, which are the these, facing upward if you were eating American style and downward if you were eating European style. If you don’t know which style to use watch your host.

The third course is our dinner. Here we have baked chicken, asparagus, and wild rice. To drink we have a 2013 Benziger Family Winery Chardonnay which pairs well with white meat. The same rules apply for the salad course as for the dinner course. Place the knife and the fork criss cross if you would like to take a sip of wine or water. Then place the knife and fork at 10:20 with the tines facing upward for American style and downward for European style if you’re done. Another thing to remember is to never immediately reach for the salt and pepper without tasting the food first. It comes across as rude to the chef, host or hostess. Taste the food first and then season as necessary.

Lastly, we have the desert. Tonight we will be having some assorted fruit. Take your dessert spoon and dessert knife and place them to your right and to your left. They are placed in a way that when you pull them down they will be in the right position. Then enjoy.

Conclusion

I hope you learned from this video on how to enjoy a four course meal. You can now be more confident at your next formal dinner party or fine dinning experience. I’m Nella, and until next time stay classy.