Kitchen Essential

Leave yourself plenty of time as there are always little jobs to do to ensure that everything looks perfect. First decide which accessories you are going to use. Sometimes a cloth or napkins need ironing, using a little spray starch to give a fresh, crisp look. Silver and glasses may need polishing, mats may need a wipe over, flowers may have to be picked and so on.

Lay the table with the cloth or mats first. Count out the cutlery you need and set this next. Then come the glasses, well polished and sparkling. Count out the pieces of china you need for all the courses and stack ready in the kitchen, other than those you need for the first course and any side plates, which will go directly on the table. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »