Cutlery Etiquette

[OwlHoot]

Only on CUK could a bunch of dull IT nerds argue about the angle of ******* cutlery.

Jeez.

Yes, and at 8:05pm too. Jeez.

P.S. Must say I'd forgotten about the tynes down thing. But now I have a vague recollection of it being because the waiter might poke their hand on upturned tynes.

[Sands of Time]

I like doing things properly.



Bing!

[Platypus]

Tines down

Well that I didn't know

Am I am chav?

[OwlHoot]

Well that I didn't know

Am I am chav?

TBO, I think that's more of a "faux gentile" thing, like using fish knives.

[TopBanana]

A friend of mine does this when we go out for pizza. Completely oblivious.

[SueEllen]

Well that I didn't know

Am I am chav?

Not if you put your knife and fork together after eating.

There are apparently a generation of 4 and 5 year olds coming into schools not knowing how to use cutlery at all.

So when they are 21/22 those that can use a knife and fork to eat, regardless of where they place it at the end of a meal, who will be the elite.

Edit to say: If you don't make it obvious to the waiting staff that you have finished with your food then expect them to remove it from you when you haven't finished, or to give up and ignore you.

[EternalOptimist]

It's simple good manners. If one is well-bred, like one is, it is second nature.

Girl friends are a problem and notoriously difficult to educate, like

dont eat with yer gob open dear
place yer knife and fork just so dear
it's knife and fork, not fork'n knife dear
dont leave your dirty knickers lying round, stick em to the wall dear

[norrahe]

now here is something that's sadly gone out of fashion. In the good old days, waiters would give you your plate from the left, and remove it from the right. Nowadays it's anybody's guess.

In my formative years, I developed an instinct of bobbing in the right direction whenever I sensed a waiter behind me. But now that just gives me a 50/50 chance of leaning into a plate of chops.

We're going to hell in a handcart I tell you.

No one seems to train waiting staff how to serve food and wine properly these days.

Only in fine dining establishments will you find that they serve from the correct side.

[OwlHoot]

It's more practical to rest your fork with the tynes up, because that way it's less likely to roll over and slide off the plate when the waiter picks this up.

[Sysman]

If you put them either side in Belgium, then expect to have your plate taken away as it means you have finished.

In a non-posh restaurant in France you are expected to use the same knife and fork for the main course as you did for he started. Is that the same thing?

Leaving both fully on the plate in France can have the same result. If I remember correctly, the sign for "I haven't finished yet" is to leave both knife and fork ends on the plate with that handles on the table.

Having learnt the French customs, I would leave my knife and fork any old how on the plate when done, especially when dining with my parents. This had the very satisfying result of winding my mother up.