The Place Setting

You are attending a very formal banquet or dinner and you are confronted by a place setting of cutlery that looks as if the caterers have cornered the silverware market! Do not remain daunted as there is a very good rule of thumb to remember. Use the cutlery provided from the outside of the setting first, working your way inward. Quite often, between courses of the meal, you will be served a lemon or a sharp tasting sorbet. This is to refresh the tastebuds for the course that follows. In the basic banquet setting, you will be confronted by four empty glasses. They are for the following uses: The large goblet is for water. Then there are two wine glasses, one larger than the other. The smaller of the two is for white wine and the larger for red wine. Depending on the course being served, a particular wine to complement that food may be offered. The last glass should be a tall-fluted glass, which is used for the sparkling wine in toasts. If the dinner or banquet is a full-blown affair, there may well be a small liqueur or port glass in the setting. The table setting for a formal state banquet takes the stillroom staff several hours in setting up. Each item will be placed on the table using a rule and white gloves.