I was brought up in a way that when you're at a dinner party, you don't grab a chip unless it's been offered to everyone else. It's the manners of being brought up by English parents.
Don't touch my napkin. I do not want the server to pick up the napkin and put it on my lap. I know it belongs there; maybe I don't choose to put it there.
Basil Stag Hare tut-tutted severely as he remarked to Ambrose Spike, 'Tch, tch. Dreadful table manners. Just look at those three wallahs, kicking up a hullaballoo like that! Eating's a serious business.
Avoid banquets which are given by strangers an ignorant persons. But if there is ever occasion to join them, let your attention be carefully fixed, that you slip not into the manner of the vulgar (the uninstructed).
Back in the really olden days, dinner was seldom a ceremonial event for U.S. families. Only the very wealthy had a separate dining room. For most, meals were informal, a kind of rolling refueling; often only the men sat down.
Eating American-style, you put the knife down and clang. Continental is silent and efficient.
I never eat standing up, I never eat in front of the refrigerator. I treat myself very formally with meals. I don't watch TV or read. It's a little bit of a ritual, and it's more enjoyable.
I beg you come tonight and dine A welcome waits you and sound wine The Roederer chilly to a charm As Juno's breasts the claret warm.
Be able to set a table so that you feel like you're dining, not just sitting and eating.
Know how to behave at a fine restaurant, which is a telltale measure of social maturity.
I was expected to sit at the table, learn how to eat properly.
The Kennedys tried to avoid using the big U-shaped table, but when they couldn't, they had several tricks - including keeping the flowers simple - to keep it from appearing overly stiff and formal.
Elbows are never put on the table while one is eating.
Arranging an official dinner in an embassy is a little like writing a script for a play. The prolog is the guest list, often the most difficult part of the whole creative operation.
I don't like grand restaurants or kowtowing waiters. I don't need that kind of attention and I don't want it.
I think fine dining is dying out everywhere... but I think there will be - and there has to always be - room for at least a small number of really fine, old-school fine-dining restaurants.
Gogol is unaccustomed to this sort of talk at mealtimes, to the indulgent ritual of the lingering meal, and the pleasant aftermath of bottles and crumbs and empty glasses that clutter the table.
Sex, that’s meaningless, I can understand that, but dinner; that’s heavy. That’s like an hour.
Dinner at college high table is one of the legendary experiences of England. I could remember keenly each one I had attended; the repartee is sharper than the cutlery.
I simply adore getting dressed up for a special occasion. I feel incredible stepping out in luxurious fabrics and a bit of bling. That's also how I feel about special-occasion dining rooms. Because these aren't everyday spaces, they contain all sorts of drama for that once-in-a-while 'wow' event.
Lunch is formal - that's when my husband and I have our dates. And dinner is formal: we sit down every day with the kids at seven o' clock.
You know, I've been attending so many banquets that I know what they're going to serve before I get there.
I literally got a private invite for lunch with the Queen. There was just 10 of us. And I was absolutely petrified because you can't take anyone with you, and no other sportspeople were there. There was the head of the military, and then the Queen sat next to me.
A kaiseki meal is like that, very small courses over a long period of time.
In proceeding to the dining-room, the gentleman gives one arm to the lady he escorts--it is unusual to offer both.
