Business Profile

Basic Table Manners

In the business world, you may be required to dine out with your business associates. How to behave appropriately on such occasions? Here are some of the useful tips:

• It is inappropriate to ask for a doggy bag when you are a guest. Save the doggy bag for informal dining situations.
• It is best to order food that can be eaten with a knife and fork. Finger food can be messy and is best left for informal dining.
• Be careful about ordering alcoholic beverages. Becoming tipsy or drunk is inappropriate behaviour at business dinners.
• Do not smoke during a meal or when others are eating.
• Sit up straight at the table. It makes a good impression.
• When you are not eating, keep your hands on your lap or resting on the table (with wrists on the edge of the table). Elbows on the table are acceptable only between courses, not while you are eating.
• Do not season your food before you have tasted it.
• Never chew with your mouth open or make loud noises when you eat. Although it is possible to talk with a small piece of food in your mouth, do not talk with your mouth full.
• Do not slurp soup from a spoon. Spoon the soup away from you when you take it out of the bowl and sip it from the side of the spoon. If your soup is too hot, wait until it cools; do not blow on it.
• If food gets caught between your teeth and you can't remove it with your tongue, leave the table and go to a mirror where you can remove the food from your teeth in private.
• Eat rolls or bread by tearing off small bite size pieces and buttering only the piece you are preparing to eat. When ready for another piece, repeat the same process.
• Engage in table conversation that is pleasant; avoid arguments and disagreements.
• You should not leave the table during the meal except in an emergency. If you must go to the bathroom or if you suddenly become sick, simply excuse yourself. Later you can apologise to the host by saying that you didn't feel well.
• If you need something that you cannot reach easily, politely ask the person closest to the item you need to pass it to you. For example, "After you have used them yourself, would you please pass me the salt and pepper?"
• If a piece of your cutlery falls onto the floor, pick it up if you can reach it and let the server know you need a clean one. If you cannot reach it, tell the server you dropped a piece of your cutlery and ask for a clean one.
• If you or someone you are dining with is left-handed, it is best for the left-handed person to sit at the left end of the table or at the head of the table. This arrangement helps ensure that everyone has adequate elbow room to eat comfortably.
• If food spills off your plate, you may pick it up with a piece of your cutlery and place it on the edge of your plate.
• Never spit a piece of bad food or tough gristle into your napkin. Remove the food from your mouth using the same utensil it went in with. Place the piece of food on the edge of your plate. If possible, cover it with some other food from your plate.
• Do not use your napkin to wipe your nose. If you wipe your nose, don't put the used tissues on the table.