Posted by Medusa on February 8, 2004, at 1:24:41
In reply to u should be ashamed......... » Poet, posted by dragonfly25 on February 7, 2004, at 17:53:40
> But wait...i am not sure now what to do if i get a really big piece of lettuce in a really posh restaurant?? do i cut it or ignore it and leave it on the plate....b/c now i am going to never be able to use a knife in my salad :)
>Dragonfly, if I understood (clearly not internalized yet LOL) the guideline for this situation, the knife can be used to fold the piece of lettuce up into a manageable bite size.
This was in a pretty fancy, very small restaurant. I was alone ... confession time I guess: someone gave me a generous gift certificate, enough for two to have a 5-course dinner and wine. What I do though is go there at lunch once a month or so. I'm usually the only person in the restaurant (dinner is their main business but they open for lunch since they're preparing dinner anyway) and I ask the owner questions about how to eat things I've never seen before. I 'pay' with the gift certificate and leave an overly generous cash tip.
(Last time I was there, the owner asked me about my relationship to the person who gave me the certificate, and this really ticked me off - it felt like an indiscretion. She also chatted a LOT, and I just wanted quiet. So once I've used up the gift, I'll still go back for difficult appetizers, but will find another place to practice.)
So I ran into the salad 'faux pas' because I'd set myself up to practice, but it was still embarrassing. Even between countries similar to each other, there are big differences in table manners ... in France, the bread +does+ go on the table in even some pretty nice places. Napkins are never placed back on the table, but on the chair - whereas in the states I'm pretty sure I learned that cloth napkins were to be left on the table beside the plate at the end of the meal.
poster:Medusa
thread:310432
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040131/msgs/310802.html