In Europe, everything related to eating is highly valued because it provides the two most appreciated aesthetic enjoyments at the same time - food and conversation. In addition to the exquisite taste, the matching of wine and dishes during meals, elegant dining etiquette, adjusting and relaxing your mind, enjoying the environment and food, and the correct use of tableware and wine utensils are all prerequisites for entering gourmet food.
It should be noted that in the West, when going to a restaurant to eat, you generally need to make a reservation in advance. When making a reservation, you must pay special attention to several points. First, you must indicate the number of people and time, and secondly, indicate whether you want a smoking area. Or a seat with a good view. If it's a birthday or other special occasion, you can tell us the purpose and budget of the party. It is basic courtesy to arrive at the scheduled time. If there is an emergency, you must inform in advance and apologize if you cancel the reservation.
No matter how expensive casual clothes are, you cannot wear them casually to eat in high-end Western restaurants. Dressing appropriately is common sense among Europeans and Americans. When going to a high-end Western restaurant, men should dress neatly; women should wear evening gowns or suits and heeled shoes. Women should wear heavier makeup because the light in the restaurant is darker. If formal attire is specified, men must wear a tie before entering. When in a restaurant, men should open the door first and invite women to enter. Women should be asked to walk in front. When taking a seat and ordering wine, you should ask the lady to taste and decide.
Generally, the business hours of western restaurants are from 11:30 to 11:30 in the afternoon, and dinner starts after 6:30 in the evening. If guests arrive early, they can have a drink at the bar before entering the main restaurant.
You don’t have to rush to order after you sit down. If you have any questions, you can ask the waiter directly. They are usually very happy to answer any questions you ask. If they are not sure, they will ask the restaurant manager or chef. .
The dining time is too early, arriving at the Western restaurant at 11 noon or 5:30 pm, leaving in a hurry, talking about business at the table, not being well-dressed, and eating the main course too slowly. It is rude to order a single dish, or just an appetizer without a main course or dessert.
Although the portions of high-end Western appetizers are small, they are exquisite and worth savoring.
After the meal, you can choose desserts or cheese, coffee, tea, etc. Different countries have different tipping habits. But be sure to add compliments and show gratitude.
To a large extent, eating Western food is about eating with atmosphere: marble fireplaces, sparkling crystal lamps, silver candlesticks, colorful wines, plus people’s elegant and charming manners, this in itself is A touching oil painting. In order for you to behave more skillfully when you first taste Western food, it is still worth spending some effort to familiarize yourself with these dining etiquette.
When sitting, your body should be upright, your elbows should not be placed on the table, and your feet should not be crossed. It is best to keep the distance from the table to facilitate the use of tableware. Do not mess around with the tableware that has been placed on the dining table. Fold the napkin in half and place it gently in your lap.
*When using a knife and fork to eat, take the knife and fork from the outside to the inside. Hold the fork in your left hand and the knife in your right hand; when cutting things, hold the fork in your left hand to hold down the food, and hold the knife in your right hand to saw it into pieces. Piece it into small pieces and bring it to your mouth with a fork. When using a knife, the blade must not point outward. When you put down your knives and forks during a meal, they should be placed in an "eight" shape and placed on the edge of the dinner plate. The blade of the knife is facing towards you, indicating that you will continue to eat. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate. If you are talking, you can hold the knife and fork without putting it down. When you are not using a knife, you can also hold a fork with your right hand. However, if you need to make a gesture, you should put down the knife and fork. Never wave the knife or fork in the air, nor hold a knife or fork in one hand and hold it in the other hand. Wipe your mouth with a napkin, and do not hold a wine glass in one hand and a fork in the other hand to pick up food. Remember, never put one end of the knife and fork on the plate and the other end on the table.
*Do not put too much food into your mouth at a time, do not talk while chewing, and do not take the initiative to talk to others. [Edit this paragraph] Dining After taking a seat, the host greets you and starts eating.
When taking out dishes, don’t overfill them. After the food on the plate is finished, if it is not enough, you can take more. If the waiter distributes the dishes, if you need to add more, wait until the waiter brings it to you. If you can't eat or don't like the food, when the waiter serves it or the host takes it, don't refuse it. You can put a small amount on the plate and say "Thank you, that's enough." Don't show your face to the dish that doesn't suit your taste. Embarrassed expression.
Be polite when eating. Close your mouth and chew, don't sip the soup, and don't make any noise when eating. If the soup or vegetables are too hot, wait for them to cool down before eating. Do not blow them with your mouth. Do not spit out the fishbones and bones in your mouth directly. Cover your mouth with a napkin and take them out with your hands (chopsticks can be used when eating Chinese food), or spit them gently on a fork and put them on a dish.
Leftovers, used tableware and toothpicks should be placed on the plate, not on the table.
Never speak with food in your mouth.
When flossing your teeth, cover your mouth with your hands or a napkin.] Conversation: Whether you are a host, companion or guest, you should talk to people at the same table, especially your neighbors. Don't talk to just a few acquaintances or just the same two people. If you don't know your neighbor, you can introduce yourself first. Toasting: When attending a banquet held in a foreign country as the guest of honor, you should understand the other party’s toasting habits, that is, who is toasting, when to toast, etc., in order to make necessary preparations. When clinking glasses, the host and the guest of honor clink first. If there are many people, they can raise their glasses at the same time, but not necessarily clink glasses. Be careful not to cross and clink glasses when toasting.
When the host and guest of honor are delivering speeches or toasting, they should pause their meals, stop talking, and listen carefully, and do not take this opportunity to smoke. Stand while the national anthem is played. After the host and guest of honor have finished speaking and clinking glasses with the VIP guests, they often go to other tables to toast. In this case, you should stand up and raise your glasses. When clinking glasses, greet each other visually.
Toast each other at the banquet to express friendship and liven up the atmosphere, but be sure to drink too much. Drinking too much can easily lead to blunders or even loss of posture, so it must be controlled within one-third of the amount of alcohol consumed. Taking off clothes: In social situations, no matter how hot the weather is, you should not unbutton and take off your clothes in public. At a small banquet, if the host asks the guests to undress, the male guests can take off their coats and put them on the back of the chair. Drinking tea (or coffee) When drinking tea or coffee, add milk and sugar if you wish. You can add it to the cup by yourself. After stirring with a small teaspoon, the teaspoon will still be placed back in the saucer. Usually milk and sugar are served in separate containers. When drinking, hold the cup handle with your right hand and the small saucer with your left hand. When drinking coffee, liquid Coffee Mate is added to the coffee. If you don't want to waste it, you can pour a little coffee into the cup and plate containing Coffee Mate and stir it, then pour it into the coffee cup again and stir. Don't accidentally mix the remaining Coffee Mate Drink it directly. When drinking soup, do not drink it by sucking it. First use a spoon to scoop up the soup from back to front. Place the bottom of the spoon on your lower lip and bring the soup into your mouth. A 45° angle between the spoon and the mouth is best. The upper body is slightly tilted forward. When there is not much soup left in the bowl, you can use your fingers to raise the bowl slightly. If the soup is served in a bowl with a holding ring, you can hold the ring directly to drink it. When eating pears and apples, do not bite them whole. You should first cut them into four or six pieces with a fruit knife, then peel and core them with a knife, and then eat them with your hands. When peeling, the knife edge should face inward and work from the outside in. cut. Peel the banana first and cut it into small pieces with a knife. Oranges can be cut into pieces with a knife and eaten, while oranges, lychees, longans, etc. can be peeled and eaten. Others, such as watermelon and pineapple, are usually peeled and cut into pieces. When eating, you can cut them into small pieces with a fruit knife and eat them with a fork. Water Bowl At banquets, when chickens, lobsters, and fruits are served, a small water bowl (copper basin, porcelain bowl, or crystal glass jar) is sometimes presented with rose petals or lemon slices floating on the water for washing hands (someone once mistakenly thought that drink, to the point of becoming a joke). When washing, take turns to wet your fingers with both hands, rinse gently, and then dry them with a napkin or small towel. Souvenirs: Some hosts provide a small souvenir or a flower for each attendee. At the end of the banquet, the host asked the guests to bring them. In this case, you can say one or two words of praise for the small gift, but there is no need to express your gratitude solemnly. Sometimes, foreign visitors often take the banquet menu as a souvenir, and sometimes ask the guests to sign the menu as a souvenir. Do not take away all kinds of entertainment items, including candies, fruits, cigarettes, etc., except those specially indicated by the host as souvenirs. ] Acknowledgment Sometimes after attending a private banquet, a letter or business card is often given to express gratitude.
Collecting dishes at buffets and cocktail parties. When the receptionist serves dishes at buffets and cocktail parties, do not rush to pick them up. Wait until they are brought to you. Don’t rush to get the second portion when others around you haven’t gotten the first. Don't crowd around the food table. Step away immediately after taking the food so that others can take it. [Edit this paragraph] The use of tableware The tableware for Chinese food is mainly bowls and chopsticks, while for Western food it is knives, forks, and plates. Foreigners are usually entertained to eat Chinese food, usually Chinese or Western food, with bowls, chopsticks, and knives and forks set out. The use of a knife and fork is to hold the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand, cut the food into small pieces, and then use the fork to put it into the mouth. Europeans do not change hands when using it, that is, they hold the fork with their left hand from cutting to serving food. Americans put the knife down after cutting and hold the fork in their right hand to bring food into the mouth. When dining, use the knife and fork in the order from outside to inside. After each dish is finished, put the knife and fork together on the plate to show that you are finished. If you have not finished eating, place it in a figure eight or cross position, with the knife edge facing inward. When eating chicken or lobster, you can tear it open with your hands upon the owner's instruction. Otherwise, you can use a knife and fork to cut off the meat and cut it into small pieces. When cutting meat with bones or hard shells, the fork must be firmly inserted into the meat and the knife should be cut close to the edge of the fork to avoid slipping. When chopping vegetables, be careful not to hit the plate too hard and make a sound. For food that is difficult to fork, or food that is difficult to fork, use a knife to gently push it onto the fork. Except for drinking soup, do not eat with a spoon. The soup is served in a deep plate or a small bowl. When drinking, use a spoon to scoop it up from the inside out and put it into your mouth. When you are about to drink it all, you can hold the plate slightly outward. Food with fishy smell, such as fish, shrimp, game, etc., should be served with lemon. You can squeeze the juice with your hands and drip it on the food to remove the fishy smell.
The basic principle is to hold a knife or spoon in your right hand and a fork in your left hand. If there are more than two, they should be taken from the outermost one inward. The way to hold a knife and fork is to hold the end lightly and press the index finger on the handle. Just hold the spoon like a pen. If it feels inconvenient, you can change the right hand to hold the fork, but changing it frequently will appear rude. When eating larger vegetables, use a knife and fork to fold and cut them. Softer foods can be placed on the flat surface of a fork and trimmed with a knife. Encountering unexpected situations: During the banquet, if an abnormal situation occurs due to carelessness, such as using too much force, causing the knife and fork to hit the plate and making a sound, or the tableware falls to the ground, or drinks are spilled, etc., you should remain calm and do not worry. If the tableware makes a sound, you can gently say "I'm sorry" to your neighbor (or to the host). The receptionist can give you a drop of cutlery if you drop it. If the drink spills on your neighbor, you should apologize and help wipe it up; if the other person is a woman, just hand over a clean napkin or handkerchief and let her dry it herself.
Correct and standardized etiquette sitting posture requires dignification and grace, giving people a sense of elegance, stability, natural and generous beauty. Sitting, as a kind of behavior, can be divided into beauty and ugliness, elegance and vulgarity. Correct etiquette sitting posture requires "sitting like a bell", which means that the person's sitting posture is upright like a clock. Of course, upright here refers to the uprightness of the upper body.
(1) When sitting, you should be light, stable, and slow. Walk to your seat, turn around and sit down gently. If the position of the chair is not suitable and the chair needs to be moved, you should first move the chair to the place where you want to sit, and then sit down. It is against social etiquette to move while sitting on a chair.
(2) Calm and composed expression (lips slightly closed, mandible slightly retracted, face calm and natural).
(3) Keep your shoulders straight and relaxed, and bend your arms naturally on your legs. You can also place them on the armrests of chairs or sofas. It is appropriate to be natural and appropriate, with your palms facing down.
(4) When sitting on a chair, keep your waist and chest straight, and your upper body naturally straight.
(5) Keep your knees together naturally, place your legs upright or sideways, and put your feet together or overlapping or in a small "V" shape. A man's knees can be about a fist apart apart, and his feet can be in a small eight-figure step or slightly apart to show his natural and free-spirited beauty. However, do not open your legs and feet as much as possible, as that will look vulgar and arrogant. If you sit upright for a long time, you can cross your legs and overlap them, but be sure to retract the top leg and point your toes downward.
(6) When sitting on a chair, you should fill at least 2/3 of the chair, and at least 1/2 of the wide-seat sofa. Do not lean back on the chair for at least 10 minutes after sitting down. After a long time, you can lean back on the chair.
(7) When talking, you should turn your upper body and knees toward the interlocutor according to the direction of the interlocutor, while keeping your upper body straight and avoid showing a posture of inferiority, flattery, or flattery. Pay attention to etiquette and respect others without losing your self-esteem.
(8) When leaving your seat, you should be natural and steady, take half a step back with your right foot, and then stand up.
(9) When a woman sits down, if she is wearing a skirt, she should use her hands to gather the skirt slightly. Do not pull the skirt after sitting down, as that is not elegant. In formal occasions, it is generally polite to sit on the left side of the chair when entering. It is also polite to leave from the left side of the chair when leaving the seat. Women should especially be elegant, quiet and graceful when sitting, with their legs together, feet placed to the left or right at the same time, and hands stacked on the left and right legs. If you sit upright for a long time, you can cross your legs and overlap them, but be sure to retract the upper leg and point your toes downward to give people a sense of nobility and generosity.
(10) When men and women need to sit sideways, they should turn their upper body and legs to the same side at the same time, but keep their heads facing forward.
(11) As a woman, the choice of sitting posture should also depend on the height of the chair and the presence or absence of armrests and backrests. The hands, legs, and feet can be placed in various ways, but the legs should be spread apart. Or folding the legs in a figure-four shape is very inappropriate.
(12) The most appropriate way to sit when dining in a restaurant is to sit from the left side. When the chair is pulled away, stand up straight at a distance that almost touches the table. The leader will push the chair in and sit down when your legs touch the chair behind you. After taking a seat, your sitting posture should be upright and your upper body can rest lightly on the back of the chair. Do not rest your chin with your hands or place your elbows on the table. Do not leave your seat frequently or move your seat. When eating, your upper arms and back should lean against the back of the chair, and your abdomen should be about a fist away from the table. Sitting with your feet crossed is best avoided.
(13) To sit in jeans, first sit sideways, support the weight of the body with one foot, and rest the ankle of the other foot on the toe of this foot. You can also sit cross-legged with your feet crossed, your toes pointing upward, and your hands placed naturally on your knees. If you sit on a sofa chair, you don't have to be too restrained, just sit naturally and maintain an elegant posture.
After taking a seat, your sitting posture should be upright but not stiff. Do not rest your chin with your hands or place your elbows on the table. Do not play with tableware and napkins carelessly, and avoid some unethical behaviors, such as taking off your shirt, tie, and rolling up your sleeves at will; gesturing while talking, leaving the table frequently, or moving your seat; resting your head on the back of the chair Yawn, stretch, rub your eyes, scratch your hair, etc.