Bread and Soup

Don’t bite into a whole roll. Tear off one bite-sized piece at a time with your fingers. Take a little butter from the butter dish onto your bread plate, then butter each piece just before you eat it. Rest the butter knife on the edge of your bread plate, never directly on the tablecloth. At a formal meal, start on the bread once the first course is served and enjoy it alongside the food (at a casual restaurant, or where eating bread before the meal is the norm, nibbling a little while you wait is fine). If olive oil comes in a shared dish, dip each torn piece just once, and never re-dip bread you’ve bitten.

Eat soup quietly, bringing the spoon to your mouth. Spooning away from yourself is the common formal style (in France and elsewhere, spooning toward yourself is also seen). When you pause or finish, rest the spoon in the soup plate — or on the saucer if the soup comes in a cup. When only a little is left, lift the near edge of the plate slightly and tilt it away from you to spoon up the rest. With a two-handled soup cup, you may take a few spoonfuls to check the temperature, rest the spoon on the saucer, and then sip, holding both handles. Never leave the spoon standing in the cup.