Kitchen Essential

Have you ever watched the precise and practised way in which professionals in a good hotel or restaurant set a big table for a five- or six-course meal? Lots of different glasses and table silver are placed in exactly the right spot without hesitation. The number of items involved in a setting may seem confusing to you.

However, there is a clear rule for everything.

Guests start with the cutlery furthest away from the plate and work inwards during the course of the meal. The same procedure applies to glasses. The drink which is served first is put into the glass which is furthest from the centre of the plate. There is often also a side plate, which is placed to the left of the setting.

These few rules are so basic and clear that they can become a matter of routine for any guest, so you nolonger have to worry about which knife, fork or spoon to use next during the meal.

For the preparations to be as straightforward for you, you should be clear in your mind before setting the table about which courses are going to be served during the meal, and which drinks will accompany them. Then the cutlery is laid out in reverse order — in other words the cutlery for the last course is closest to the plate and for the first course on the outside, furthest away from the plate.

Here are two further tips to ensure your place settings are perfect every time.

Apply the “rule of thumb”! There should be a gap of a thumb’s width between the edge of the plate and the cutlery, and between the cutlery handles and the edge of the table.

Try to avoid a game of hide and seek. The cutlery should not be hidden under the edge of the plate. Your guests would far rather have what they need to hand straight away than have to go hunting for it.

The illustrations on the following two pages show two place settings for meals with only a few courses, which will probably cover most meals which you cook at home. Two other examples illustrate variations on more complex settings for four-course meals.

For two-course menus

Crockery: a dinner plate is laid ready for the main course. The dessert plate or dish is not laid.

Cutlery: the fork and ‘knife are set ready for the main course; the dessert spoon is placed, with the handle to the right, above the plate.

Glasses: if you are serving wine, the appropriate red or white wine glass should stand above the knife, to the right. Beer glasses or other glasses should be put in the same place.

Crockery: a deep plate has been put ready for an Italian pasta dish. The dinner plate underneath serves as a place plate. For Italian meals you must have a side plate for bread.

Cutlery: for the pasta the spoon and fork are placed to the right and left of the plate respectively, the dessert spoon — with the handle to the right — above the plate, and the butter knife on the side plate.

Glasses: water is a must. A water glass is there ready for mineral water, with the wine glass placed to the left and above the water glass.

For four-course menus

Crockery: the dinner plate and soup cup are placed on top of a place plate. In many cases the soup is served straight into the cups, rather than from a tureen, so at first only the soup cup saucers are set.

Cutlery: the soup spoon is placed on the outside right, followed by the knife and fork for the starter. The knife and fork for the main course go on the inside of these, with the dessert spoon above the plate.

Glasses: a white wine glass ispositioned to the right, just above the soup spoon. To the left and above this is the water glass, which is used frequently. The red wine glass for the main course is placed on the same line, above the water glass.

Crockery: a soup plate and dinner plate stand on a place plate in the centre. A side plate is placed to the left, a little above the forks.

Cutlery: the soup spoon is laid on the right, next to the fish knife. The fish fork is on the outside left. The knife and fork for the main course are inside the fish service. A small butter knife or starter knife is placed on the side plate. The dessert service is placed above the plate, the fork nearest the plate with the handle to the left, and the spoon above it with the handle to the right.

Glasses: the glasses are placed on the right, above the soup spoon. Starting from immediately above the spoon they are a white wine glass for the starter, a water glass, and a red wine glass for the main course.

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