Dinner Party Etiquette: Food

Dinner Party Etiquette: Food

• Wait for the party host to take the first bite of food before eating.
  

• Don't talk with a mouth full of food and chew with your mouth closed.

• Use a fork and knife for food on the bone, including: chicken legs, lamb chops, and ribs. 

• Foods that are acceptable to eat with your fingers include: tail-on shrimp, artichoke leaves, sushi, tea sandwiches, rolls, and--believe it or not--asparagus stalks.

• Shellfish is typically served with a special fork, which you use to pick out the meat while you hold the shell with your fingers. An exception would be escargot, which is served with tongs and a fork.

• Twirl pasta like fettuccine or spaghetti on a fork into a nice tight roll to eat it. If you lift your fork and find long pasta strands hanging from it, twirl it again!

• Any food that is very greasy should be eaten with a fork, including French fries and bacon, if at all possible.

• To eat food with a pit in the center, such as an olive, eat around the pit and then place the pit on your plate. You can use your fingers or a fork to hold the food.

• Always cut food into smaller pieces if it is too large to fit in your mouth, such as salad leaves. Or break finger food like dinner rolls into smaller bits as opposed to taking a bite out of it. 

• Dip your spoon into soup moving away from your body and then bring it up to your mouth. It's acceptable to tilt a soup bowl to spoon out the last drop. However, it's never proper to pick up the bowl and drink from it.

• Don't ever slurp soup, coffee, tea, or any liquids.

• Never blow on food to cool it off. Simply wait.

• Don't reach for food or a tabletop item. Ask guests to "please pass the salt."

• Always pass food on its plate or in its container. Don't pick up a roll and pass it down the table.