Which side serviette

For a basic table setting, here are 2 great tips to help you--or your kids--remember the order of plates and utensils:. To see informal and formal place settings, click here to go back to the main Table Setting page. Skip to content Skip to navigation. Close Menu. It should never go in the water glass or tea cup, no matter how pretty it makes the table setting look. The meal begins by placing the napkin on your lap. Even paper napkins should go on your lap! Imagine you are at a very formal, multi-course dinner and there is a salad fork, a dinner fork, and a fish fork on top of your napkin.

If you like, you can place a soup bowl or salad plate on top of it when you serve those courses, but the charger should always be removed before you serve the main course. You also have the option of removing it immediately after guests sit down — the idea is to dazzle them with a beautifully set table when they enter the dining room, and to hold their places at the table.

For an informal table: Use placemats at every place setting, or nothing at all. Forks, Knives and Spoons For a formal table: Forks go on the left and knives and spoons go on the right. Space all flatware as evenly as you can, depending on the size of your table and number of guests, and align it with the bottom of the charger or dinner plate. Why is the knife on the right side?

Your fork is in your left hand with the tines pointing down and your knife is in your right hand because most peoples right hand is stronger and therefore more suited to the activity of cutting.

Eating with your fork in the right hand, with the tines pointing up has been popular in North America for many generations. How do you make a fancy napkin easy? Fold a napkin in half twice to form a square with the open corners facing you. Repeat again with the next open corner. Then fold the napkin into thirds with the folds forming a diagonal on the front. Where do you put the napkin? You can find the napkin either to the left of the forks, beneath the forks, or on the main plate.

In a restaurant, the napkin may be folded in a fancy way and placed on the plate or in a glass. It's not necessary to fully open a large napkin; just fold it in half.

Are placemats out of style? Like formal dining rooms and fine china, placemats have mostly fallen out of style in favor of more minimalist, casual table settings.

It makes sense. After all, they're just one more thing—to store, to set out, to wash, and then to put away again.