Art Of Closing Your Plate Correctly After Dinner

Listen Here Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A visit to a restaurant or a dinner party is never complete without flaunting our table manners and our knowledge for the use of cutlery. Our etiquette are at its peak whenever we step out. Every basic detail is kept in mind while we dine with friends and family but do we really pay attention to how we finish? Do you know that you are supposed to close your plate after you are done with your dinner? Well, most of us are unaware of this and this is exactly the reason why at times we end up giving a wrong message to the chef and our server about the food. There is a way to respond about your food to the chef and the server without saying a word. And you do it with your cutlery. The way you place your cutlery on the plate after you are done with your dinner tells about your liking or disliking for the food and service.

Here are a few basics about closing your plate you should know before you attend a dinner party or date.

Still Eating

If you are still eating and want to have another serving, keep your plate open. You do it by as shown in the image below. This helps the server to understand that your need for another serving and he/ she can come up to the table to serve.

Do Not Take the Plate

This is the most helpful if you are at a dinner buffet. Has it ever happens with you when we get up to grab a food item and the waiter picks up our plate from the table from which we were still eating? This might be because you didn’t give him a hint for not taking away your plate. The art of that is keep the folk and knife overlapped from the top (as shown in the image).

Waiting For a New Dish

If you are waiting for a dish that you have ordered and is still not here, there is an option to tell the staff about it without making any noise. Place your folk and knife in a cross position on the plate and let your server notice. This placement of the cutlery indicates your wait for the dish to the restaurant staff without you calling out for him from your table.

The Meal Is Over

Just as you finish your meal and want the waiter to clear the table, all you need to do it tell him with your plate. Place your folk and knife on the plate, parallel to each other and facing the top.

The Meal Was Tasty

There are times when you are at an official dinner party and cannot really compliment the chef for the food served. Now you can do that simply with your folk and knife. Place your folk and knife parallel to each other on the plate and facing towards your right. This placement of the cutlery implies that you’ve really liked your food and wish to convey that to the chef.

Serving was bad

Nobody likes the time when the serving at a restaurant turns your mood off but the fact that it does happen at times is undeniable. So how do you inform the serving staff that you weren’t happy with their services without yelling at them? Leave it up to your plate to do that. Once you are done with your dinner, place your folk and knife in a cross position on the plat, facing downwards. This position of the cutlery lets you inform the restaurant about your experience with their service and the scope of improvement to seek in them.

You may also ask for their complaint book (if you had a really bad experience that you want to share with the team) by placing the cutlery parallel top each other on the plate and facing down.