Courses

Table setting, dining etiquette and conversation — table-manners courses you can take step by step.

1. Table Setting

Understand the purpose and placement of tableware in different dining settings.

A Well-Set Table — Learn the basic layout of a formal place setting.
Cutlery and Its Placement — Learn where the soup spoon, dessert cutlery, and butter knife go in a full-course setting.
Using Your Napkin — From unfolding your napkin to dabbing your lips, stepping away, and finishing the meal.
Glasses and Wine — Learn how glasses are arranged and how to handle being poured for, toasting, and declining wine.
Taking Your Seat — How to approach your chair, sit well, stow your belongings, and choose a seat in a private room.

Learn what to do from the moment you sit down to the final bite. Build confidence with real-life dining situations.

The Flow of a Meal — Follow a meal from being seated to leaving the table, sit with graceful posture, and keep the conversation comfortable.
Courses and Cutlery Signals — Learn the order of a full-course meal and how the way you rest your knife and fork speaks to the server.
Bread and Soup — Learn how to break bread, handle butter, and enjoy soup quietly and gracefully.
Fish and Meat — Learn to eat a whole fish neatly and to handle bone-in meat and stray bones with grace.
Dessert and Coffee — Learn to use dessert cutlery, handle your coffee spoon, and step away from the table at the right moment.

Feel at ease with gracious conversation at the table.

Choosing Topics — Learn how to pick topics that put people at ease, steer around sensitive subjects, and bring everyone into the conversation.
Eating and Talking — Learn how to respond when your mouth is full, handle your phone, and keep pace with the table.
Closing the Meal — Learn how to handle the bill, thank your host, and leave the restaurant gracefully.
Toasts and Short Speeches — Learn when to propose a toast and how to keep it short, how to respond when you’re toasted, and how to listen when someone speaks during dinner.
Hosting a Dinner — Learn how to welcome and seat your guests, recommend dishes and set the pace of the meal, settle the bill discreetly, and see your guests off.