Expert Advice on table Setting

Setting It Right
Time to unpack your fanciest bone china and shiniest silverware
to glam up that special night of romance

By Nadya Huang | Photo by Koh Boon Wei | Styling by Nadya Huang and Sabrina Wong
reprinted with permission from "Expert Advice" by Home Concepts Magazine

IT'S global recession and you have important guests flying in town. How would you like to entertain them? Dining at a five-star restaurant may be tasty but it certainly is not tasteful. So, why don't you just entertain at home? If you have no time to attend a crash cooking class, you can always hire good catering service. Just remember to bring out your best china and flatware to make your guests feel truly important.

FOR A FORMAL SETTING:

1) A service plate always acts as the centre of the setting.

2) A soup bowl is placed on top of the service plate.

3) A napkin is always balanced on the rim of the soup bowl or placed on the left of the forks.

4) Forks are placed left of the plate.

5) Knives are placed on the right, with the sharp edge of their blades facing the plate.

6) Spoons are on the right of knives. From left to right: dinner knife, teaspoon, dinner spoon, soup spoon

7) Dessert cutlery is placed horizontally above the service plate.
a. The handle of a dessert fork should face the prongs of other forks.
b. A dessert spoon, if needed, should be placed above the dessert fork in the opposite direction.


8) Beverage glasses should be placed above the knives and spoons.
a. A water goblet should always be placed on the most left, closest to the service plate.
b. If you are serving more than one kind of wine, glasses are placed in service order from left to right:
| water goblet, Chardonnay wine glass, Bordeaux wine glass, and champagne flute.

9) A bread and butter plate should be placed above the forks with a butter knife lying across it.
The featured formal setting would suit a five-course dinner that includes:
a. Soup, served with warm bread and butter
b. Pasta/rice course
c. Entrée
d. Dessert
e. Coffee/Tea

RULES OF THUMB:

• If possible, all dishware and cutlery should be positioned on a placemat.

• The service plate will act as an under-plate for the dishware of all courses served before the entrée. The plate is then replaced by the entrée when it is served.

• Remember that cutlery is used from the outside in. Cutlery used for the first dish should always be placed furthest from the service plate. For example, if you have a salad and a fish course before your entrée, your cutlery should be placed from left to right in this order: salad fork, fish fork, dinner fork; dinner knife, fish knife, salad knife.

• All utensils should be equidistant from each other and their handles should be straight and level.

Source: Expert Advice on table Setting