The right is respected. At a banquet, the order of tables and seats is an issue that cannot be ignored. According to custom, the order of tables is determined by the distance from the main table. The right is high and the left is low. When the number of tables is large, tables should be placed with secondary cards. Banquets can use round tables, square tables or long tables. For banquets with more than one table, the distance between tables should be moderate and the distance between each seat should be equal. In group banquets, the banquet table arrangement is generally with the front or center table as the main table.

The specific placement of the dining table should also depend on the topographical conditions of the banquet hall. The placement and seating arrangement of various banquet tables should be neat and unified, the chair backs should be arranged in vertical and horizontal rows, and the folds of the tablecloth should be in one direction to give people an overall aesthetic feeling.

The protocol order is the main basis for arranging seats. In our country, it is customary to arrange the guests according to their positions to facilitate conversation. If the ladies are attending, the ladies are usually arranged together, that is, the guest of honor sits on the upper right of the male host, and his wife sits on the upper right of the hostess. For banquets with more than two tables, other guests sit on the upper right side of the hostess. The position of the first owner of the table is generally the same as the position of the owner on the main table, or the position facing the main table can be the main seat.

Other factors should also be considered when arranging seats. For example, if the relationship between the two parties is tense, they should try to avoid being arranged together. Those with roughly the same status or the same major can be arranged together.

Generally, when a family holds a banquet, the main room faces south, so the north side of the square table facing the door is where the guests sit. Now, the left side of the party facing the door is the top and the right side is the bottom. These are the first two seats. The left side is still on top and the right side is on bottom. The master sat with his back to the door.

Appropriate arrangement of tables and seats to show your status and express your respect will add the style of a country of etiquette to your meetings and banquets and achieve specific effects.

The Eight Immortals table in the old days was square, but today’s wine table is round. It can be said that there is no circle without rules. I think there are two kinds of order that must be paid attention to at a formal banquet. ?

The order of seats

Liang Shiqiu has a famous saying, saying that if a person wants to have a restless day, treat him to a guest. In the old days, guests were usually entertained at home, and they had to work all day long from morning to night. Deciding the menu, purchasing, cooking, opening the banquet, seeing off guests, and washing dishes are mostly physical tasks, but drawing up the guest list and arranging the seats are a big headache. If there are two or three guests who are evenly matched, the host will be scratched. If a guest who should be sitting at the table is arranged to sit at a side table, but a person with a certain status asks him to "respect the last seat", it is difficult to guarantee that there will not be a situation where "one person is in a corner and everyone is unhappy". I don't think you want to invite me to that banquet table. ?

It’s much simpler now. Especially the one with the highest position among the guests. In most cases, he will say in a very humble and nonchalant tone, "Comrades, just sit down wherever you want. How come there are so many details!" But the more the leader spoke like this, the more people pushed and dodged, not daring to sit down. One thing everyone knows is that the seat facing the door is the main seat. As for the rest, not much is known. So after a while of humility, the leader who asked everyone to sit wherever they wanted was pushed, pulled, or even held up by everyone, and finally sat on the main seat with no choice but to sit on the main seat. The others waited, roughly according to their position and reputation. , decreasing toward both ends like a group photo. wrong! All wrong! ?

It’s okay if you don’t follow these rules. If you want to talk about them, you should sort them according to the serious etiquette rules. Whenever I am present, I will still speak without hesitation when others are showing modesty, and I will not avoid the suspicion of speaking loudly. I will first say "Everyone listen to me", and then add "I personally edited and published a book" Chinese and Western Etiquette". This sentence generally works well. Everyone suddenly stopped bowing and looked at me. The first priority is to determine who will sit in the chair. The main seat facing the door is not determined by position or fame, but by who is the master, that is, whoever is hosting the guests today will sit in this seat. After the main seat is determined, I then signal the person with the highest position or the most famous person to sit on the right side of the host, and explain that "this is the first guest of honor seat." To the left of the host is the "second guest of honor seat".

After the three protagonists were determined, the rest of the people did not sit as in the group photo, but started from the second guest of honor seat and descended in a clockwise direction until the seat close to the first guest of honor was called " The so-called "last seat" and "the last seat" refer to this seat. ?

Etiquette has such a great charm. Once you sit down according to the rules, the host will be full of face, the guest of honor will have a bright face, and everyone will feel at ease. You may not have noticed that at any state banquet, the person sitting to the right of the host must be the foreign head of state who is the first guest of honor, and to the left of the host is the head of state’s wife. Well-trained waiters at state banquets or large hotels, whether serving wine, serving soup, serving dishes, or serving sweets, will start from the first guest of honor on the right of the host, then to the host, the second guest of honor, and then proceed clockwise. In order until the last seat. Unfortunately, more than 70% of Chinese hotels and restaurants do not follow (do not understand) this rule. Whether the waiter is pouring wine or serving soup, he or she is nearby or arranges flowers randomly. In this situation, it’s not the waiters’ fault, it’s probably the managers who are ignorant of these rules. ?

Of course, it’s just an ordinary banquet. If you are entertaining high-end merchants or important foreign guests, it will be so careless and careless. slipped away.

The order of serving dishes

There are six aspects to pay attention to in the order of serving dishes. ?

Firstly, there are a few cold dishes for the guests to enjoy as they please, firstly to avoid being left in the cold, and secondly, if any of the guests are hungry, they can pacify their stomachs first. The second is about the order of soup. In the South, it is customary to serve the soup first, and it is advocated to drink to whet your appetite first. There is also a saying that "drinking soup first before eating is better than prescribing medicine." Northerners are pragmatic and believe that if you drink a lot of soup first, you should eat less vegetables. As for the order of soup, just do as the Romans do. Third, the wine glasses must be filled before the hot dishes are served. Sometimes two or three hot dishes are served, and the wine is still missing. The host wants to say a few words. How can he say something while holding an empty glass? By the time the waiter slowly opened the bottle and sifted the wine, the hot dishes that were served were already half cold. When it comes to hot dishes, special attention should be paid to serving them while they are hot and eating them while they are still hot. When the hot dishes turn cold, the hot and attractive steam disappears, and the shiny luster becomes sticky due to the solidification of fat. Even the skills of a top chef will be greatly compromised. Fourth, for hot dishes that are fried and served right away, there should be a certain interval between the two dishes. After eating more than half of one dish, the second one came. If the same dish is served in the right way, the guests will have a better appetite and the impression will be deeper. Some restaurants go to two extremes in this regard. If they finish one dish and fail to serve the second one for a long time, they run out of food and ammunition, and no reinforcements are seen, the guests will have the habit of "stopping their cups and throwing chopsticks, unable to eat, and looking around with swords" Feeling confused". Or is it because the guests have not made the minimum mental preparation, and the table is filled with a gust of wind, saying: "Sir, your dishes are ready, please use them slowly!" The guests are facing the table full of dishes, and their chopsticks are moving around like A horse is racing through a hundred gardens, and within a few rounds, it becomes complacent. Fifth, the restaurant's signature dishes, especially those made with fine craftsmanship, as well as fatty dishes such as braised pork and braised pork, should generally not be placed too far down the list. At that time, the guest had already hiccupped, so bringing these good things to the guests would only give people the feeling of giving them umbrellas after the rain or fur coats in the summer. Sixth and last, from the perspective of salt, each dish should be lighter than the other. This truth was expressed by the writer Lu Wenfu through the mouth of the gourmet Mr. Zhu Ziye in his work. What is the greatest knowledge about cooking? Two words, put salt in it. The so-called salt seasoning, the umami, sweetness, and aroma in dishes all rely on salt to bring them out. There is a saying that salt is a gentleman. After salt brings out all the good flavors in food, it retreats into the background. If a dish tastes salty, then the dish has failed - this is called salt overpowering all flavors. The human tongue, like other senses, will become numb after being used for a long time. Therefore, each dish should be lighter than the other. If it's the opposite, then it's a complete blow.

Zhu Ziye said that one time he went to a banquet and the master chef forgot to add salt to the last soup. When it was brought to the table, everyone drank and almost shouted one word in unison: "Fresh!"

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China Food has a long history. In this country, which has been a country of etiquette since ancient times and where food is the first priority for the people, food etiquette has naturally become an important part of the food culture.

China’s banquet etiquette is said to have begun with Zhou Gong. After thousands of years of evolution, it has finally formed a set of dietary etiquette that is generally accepted by everyone today. It is the inheritance and development of ancient dietary etiquette.

Food etiquette varies depending on the nature and purpose of the banquet; it also varies in different regions. Ancient dietary etiquette was divided by class: palace, government, gangs, folk, etc. Modern dining etiquette is simplified to: host (host), guest.

As a guest, you should pay attention to your appearance when attending a banquet, and decide whether to bring small gifts or fine wine based on your closeness. Be punctual and keep your appointments when attending banquets. Upon arrival, first introduce yourself according to whether you know your home, or be introduced by the host, follow the host's arrangements, and then take your seat: this "seat arrangement" is the most important part of the entire Chinese food etiquette.

From ancient times to the present, due to the evolution of tables, the arrangement of seats has also changed accordingly. Generally speaking, the seating order is "to the left and to the east" and "to face the door is to respect". The person who takes the seat at the family banquet is the person with the highest seniority, and the person who takes the last seat is the person with the lowest seniority.

During the wine tour, toasts are given in order from the chief to all the guests. If it is a round table, the ones facing the door are the host and guest, and the ones on the left are 2, 4, 6...the ones on the right are 3, 5, 7...until they meet.

If it is the Eight Immortals table, if there are seats facing the door, the right seat on the side facing the door will be the host and guest. If it is not facing the gate, the right seat on the east side is the chief. Then sit on the left hand side of the chief, 2, 4, 6, 8, and on the right hand side, 3, 5, 7.

If it is a big banquet, the arrangement between the tables should be such that the chief guest is in the front and center, with 2, 4, and 6 seats on the left, and 3, 5, and 7 seats on the right. They are divided according to the identity and status of the host and guest. sit.