Most of us know the essentials of dinner table etiquette: Wait until everyone is served to take the first bite, sit up straight. Here are these essentials, plus a few more that may not be as well known, illustrated so charmingly!
These illustrations are by Gemma Correll for the blog Cup of Jo. She illustrates some very cute tips, like the fact that salt and pepper should be passed as a pair (they're married!) and a funny way to remember how to sit in your chair.
See more: Dinner Etiquette, Illustrated at Cup of Jo
One thing I like about seeing these tips illustrated in such a friendly fashion is that they help you remember the real point of good etiquette — not to be extra "correct" or stuffy in a posh way, but to be comfortable and to help others feel the same.
Putting the bread plate on the left and the drinking glasses on the right, for instance, may sound like a specification right out of Downton Abbey's butler handbook, but it's very practical. When you know where your plate and glasses are, you never have to worry about accidentally sipping out of your neighbor's instead.
Were any of these tips new to you? I certainly had never heard the cat and mouse tip for sitting in your chair!
Related: Potluck Etiquette: What Are Your Rules?
(Images: Gemma Correll for Cup of Jo)
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I recently learned (at a wedding reception) that the way to remember bread plate/drink location is to bend your forefinger to your thumb and stick your other fingers up straight. the hand that makes a lowercase b (your left hand) is the side of your space where the Bread plate is, and the hand that makes a lowercase d (your right hand) is where your Drink is. So clever! These illustrations are also veryyyy cute
I've heard most of these but the cat/mouse one.
I'm still always shocked that whenever I go out with family or friends, we wait til everyone has their food to start eating but with coworkers? The first plate to hit the table, that person is scarfing down their food. They'll be done before the last plate is handed out. Weird.
Some of them always seemed silly to me though- don't blow on hot food? Nah, if its scalding, I'll blow.
I'm with JMorris. I'm always surprised when people just dig into their food before everyone has been served.
On a *slightly* different note: is it ever appropriate to educate your peers about things they are doing that could be considered rude?
FWIW, I've been given to understand that the 'don't start eating everyone has been served' thing holds for dinner parties where you are expected to wait until the host/ess is seated and ready to eat (after serving everyone else, presumably), but *not* at some restaurants where the group's meals are not brought out all at once (rather poor table service, IMHO)... That said, unless I truly am ready to gnaw off my own arm, I agree that it's much more polite to wait for everyone to have their food before digging in!
Seeking opinions: How badly mannered is it to sit "a cat's length" away from the table? I usually sit pretty close to the table and didn't realize this was a faux pas. Even with a well-placed napkin, I'm afraid of getting food on myself because I'm not especially skilled with a fork and knife (grew up using chopsticks).
At larger tables once three to four people have been served you can start to eat. Also, it is never appropriate to educate people on their lack of etiquette. In fact, it is very bad form to do such a thing, manners are rules that make people more comfortable in situations and not for scolding.
Would anyone else consider rude adding salt and pepper to food before you try it when someone's cooked dinner for you? Even if you did try the food and thought it still needed some salt and pepper, and the host/hostess didn't make any comments as to if the food's under-seasoned?
We threw a BBQ for my husband years ago and I'd asked my dad to cook for everyone. He made a specific cut of steak for grilling. This meat was marinaded over night--it's meant to to acquire all the flavors in the marinade and the only thing you add to eat when you get to eating it is something similar to pico de gallo. Well, some people automatically asked for the steak sauce when they were served--without even having tried the steak! I find it to be rude, but was just wondering if I was being overly picky.
I grew up in France and I'm also a cook. Maybe things are different back there, but I really hate it when I have guests who pour salt and pepper on what I serve them before they taste it. It's awfully rude to me. I understand that people might like more condiments than what I put in my cooking, but if the drown their food with it before tasting, they're going to totally ruin it in case, you know, I'd already seasoned my food. Which I always do. Now, if after a bit or two they request condiments, so be it, I'm happy to oblige.
Also, the sitting so far away from the table would be considered awkward in France, and if you're ever invited to a formal meal there, you will have a surprise when you see the glasses situated above the plate, not so far out on the right (waste of valuable tabletop real estate). Also, no bread plates.
i think Terry Pratchett has remarked on this Autocondimentation................my partner has this condition, the treatment is no condiments on the table, and hid the wow wow sauce
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Yes, the salting before tasting the food is a big pet peeve for me, whether I've made the food and served it or am out with friends at a restaurant. I find it really rude and have chalked it up to those people needing salt more than they need to taste that particular food and so over time, it's become less personal for me, but I still bristle a bit inside.
These are totally cute. I'd love to see them for other cultures.
I've always been told that if you're at a restuarant and your hot food comes first you can eat it. If it's room temperature food, you are to wait until everyone else receives theirs. I'm assuming the same would go for something cold like ice cream.
Easy to remember: BMW
B: Bread
M: Main course/Meal
W: Water/wine.
I feel any seasoning other than salt is a personal choice. Ofcourse, I agree on tasting first. Whats the point in addiding extra salt if it's already good? Its not rude but stupidity. Who will eat that salty thing later? I usually look for herbs and pepper as seasoning.
It drives me crazy when people season without tasting. My bf and I had one of our first fights over that when we first started dating! I'm also with @violetveil and have heard (and been brought up with) that if something is hot, you should start.