Business Dining Etiquette Guide 301 In US
Professional & GraduateISBN 978-0-917921-80-3
Business Etiquette Dinner
Eating in Courses
Look Polished
Look Polished
University Etiquette Outclass the Competition
An At Ease Press Etiquette Guide
A Be at Ease School of Etiquette Course Guide
(137)
Text by
Harold Almon
Published by
At Ease Press schoolofetiquette@ateasepress.com
Business Dining Etiquette Guide 301
Professional & Graduate
Business Etiquette Dinner
All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
ISBN 978-0-917921-80-3
Copyright © 2014, 201, 2018
Printed in the United States of America
Text by
Harold Almon
To: Proofreaders and reviewers;
If you have additions, corrections, or questions let me know, the worst it can get you is an updated copy.
Your forever re-writer,
Acknowledgments
To: Travis,
On the way to being a Five – you knew your ascension had begun, when someone said to you more than once, “Let’s do lunch.”
Foreword
Business Dining Etiquette Guide 301 provides an excellent opportunity to learn (or brush up on) business table manners: rules of etiquette used for business dining: pre-steps, dining stations and lines, presents, name badge placement, handling cocktail foods, mock-tail introductions, notes on handshaking, getting business cards, standard USA menu and order of courses, napkin rules, advanced-formal place setting, flatware rule of three & ten, cutting meat Continental style, eating steak with a dinner knife, eating in courses, salad with the third fork, saying thank you part I acknowledgment and part II a note by hand, and there are other things to ponder.
This is written because the more you climb the corporate ladder the more dining protocols matter. There comes a time to transcend coffee shop habits and dining hallways. The way you drink and eat reflects on you and your company.
Business dining is a ritual at which more than eating is done. Eating in courses? Look polished. Dining is a dance. Learn the steps and practice. Get etiquette. Outclass the competition. On the way to the top, there are stations and lines at which to stop.
Pre-Steps to Business Dining
You have responded to a request to RSVP and have accepted “with pleasure the kind” invitation, and have identified any meal restrictions. You have agreed to the dress request. Yes, dress as your host expects. It does not have to be new. It can be a consignment purchase. It can be rented. It can be acquired and taken back. Dress in season. Learn business dress suit etiquette, business personal grooming, and business etiquette to know. Meet conduct expectations. Plan your transportation. Get directions. Know the name of the venue, location, and time of the meeting. Engine search the location and map directions. Get a trip planner, bus, car, and ride-hailing application. Get a parking application. Learn the most favorable driving directions and parking instructions for each place to which you will invite someone. See if each parking pass can be validated by the venue. The discount for the special of the day can be overshadowed by the cost of parking or the valet. The Valet: the person who will park your car. Someone asked me about parking to which I replied, “Get a Valet key and let a valet park your car. It is OK, really.” If you let this happen, place what you want to keep in the glove compartment or in the trunk. Avoid tempting an angel. Tip this person one dollar to five dollars and the posted rate on the way out. This person can expect that you have already mastered the art of palming. When a valet is not present, learn if the venue will validate the parking pass.
Review the online menu. Get fast food coupons; (eat a little something before you get there.”) Now back to stations.
Dining Stations and Lines
Know that there are eight stations and lines for each dining event.
*
Station One The Meeting Line
Station Two The Reception Line
Station Three The Line to the Bar
Station Four The Line to the Table
Station Five The Line to the Food
Station Six The Line to the Bathroom
Station Seven The Line to Things to Take Away
Station Eight The Line to Goodbye
Every phase of each event must be done by going through one.
Only what is in each station, and who has to go through each line can change. This way, please.
Station One
The Meeting Line
The Meeting Line
Station One – The Meeting Line
The meeting line begins from thirty feet out and ends at the front door. It gives an indication of the care to be provided;
thus, the resurgence of Landscape Architecture.
thus, the resurgence of Landscape Architecture.
The meeting line is where you meet people or assemble before calling on the event host or hostess or a commercial host. It is here, that someone from the inside can get a first glimpse at you.
1. Be punctual. Arrive, “Just in time,” whatever this means in your community. You can get there early and take a walk around the block. You may wait in the downstairs lobby. You could visit a restroom to tidy up. Avoid showing up early in the reception area, or waiting for someone at the bar. No one will know what to do with you. At the appointed time you are to arrive. You can check to see if your party is there, and ready to receive you.
2. In a commercial dining establishment, open the door for any person with you. Give each revolving door a push. Step back. Let each senior person (regardless of gender) enter the door before you do.
3. Remember, it is the right of a host to enter a doorway (or elevator) last. Know when to hold to your position and when to give up the fight.
Bolded items are contained in a PowerPoint presentation.
The Line to Presents
Occasionally show up with a present. A guest is to take a present to the hostess of any event where he or she did not have to work or pay to attend. The present is to be carried by the senior male guest when in tandem and is to be given to the hostess (when there is one). Avoid the expecting receiver always being able to say, "Here he comes again, one hand just as long as the other.”
Presents can be omitted at events where you had to pay to attend when you are there to do work, you are a single male, or when you are young. Avoid pushing the latter two rules.
A table for presents can be omitted. If no one else has bought a gift, give your gift in private.
You could bring personality to the table. Have a story (or two) prepared that can be shared. You might bring a card game, or know the one that can be played.
A guest has been seen invited to an event to be a role model. Someone is waiting for you to show someone else how to ask, “How can I be of help? Volunteer to help set a table, eat in an established style, clear a table, ask where each item is to be placed, help wash dishes, offer to strip and remake a station, call and say thank you, and send a thank you note. Most have someone in training.
Presents for an Interview
Remember the purpose of the meal.
Bring copies of your resume or ready one for forwarding.
Have a pen and note pad.
Research the company. Complete a company fact sheet.
Practice responses to interview questions, and
Prepare a list of questions to ask.
Follow the lead of your host or hostess.
Be discreet. Eat a little something before you get there. (Eating is not to be the reason for the meeting.)
Look better eating in style. Get etiquette. Outclass the competition.
Station Two
The Reception Line
The Reception Line
Station Two The Reception Line
The reception line starts behind the front door. It is where people invited to an event can be made comfortable and introduced to someone else. Socially, a woman or senior person is to be lead into this area. Here, help any woman with you to take off her coat. Check it if asked. Check any other items such as an umbrella, package, briefcase, coat, and/or hat.
The reception line can lead to hired help who will say, "May I have your “card,” “ticket,” “Invitation,” or "This way please."
The reception line may lead to a table set up so that a present may be placed on it. (You can have at home a closet from which you may select and provide a proper present, where required.) Note, people give presents; gifts come from another source.
In a commercial dining room, the reception line can lead to a Maître d’hôtel that may provide you a menu to view during your dining room review or a menu that you can take with you. Ask if they have one. Note on it what is offered that you can recommend, (know how to eat,) meets any meal restriction, what is not to be missed, a signature dish, and in company what is not to be ordered. It could lead to a plan de table; it is to be studied to identify an ideal table and seating arrangements.
The reception line may lead to a receiving line; a place to greet the host, hostess, and any honored guest(s.)
1. The official host or hostess is to be in the front of this line unless there is a designated introducer assigned. The spouse of this person is to stand next in line. Then the honorees stand in precedence. Informally a spouse can stand to the left the senior honoree, guest of honor, or any person who is a stranger.
2. A designated introducer may take the name of each guest and relay it to the host or hostess. The guest of honor is to be addressed as the introducer says, "This is..." or "May I present...," followed by the name of the newly arrived guest. More formally, this person can be instructed to just repeat the name of each guest to this person.
3. At a small party, a guest of honor who is not a stranger can be relieved from receiving people with the hostess and instead sit or stand somewhere close so that others may come up and talk to him or her. Introduce yourself and your guest to this person.
4. In official life, an official going through a receiving line is to precede the person with him or her. In social life, a woman is to precede any man with whom she is partnered.
A woman can walk on the right side of a man. At the front of the line, a man can step to the right of the person with him and provide the introducer with his name and with the name of the person in his company.
Next, you may find a Plan de Table and locate the table to which you have been assigned.
At each restaurant where you plan to have an event, each table plan is to be studied to identify tables and seating arrangements for your dinner parties.
Rules for Name Badge Placement
Get a name badge holder with a clip, pin, or magnet; not crazy about cords. You may get two, each in a different size. Place any stick back name badge atop and around a business card and place this inside your name badge holder. Get and wear a name badge. The number one accessory in Business Networking can be a name badge. It can say, "Hello," "Let's talk," or "Let's do business."
Know where to place that name badge: theirs, single-line up high to the right (to show courtesy). A badge, when it also has your company name goes high to the left, (to show allegiance,) above the right pocket (to show authority,) at the chest (to show security,) or at the belt (to show a pass ;) there are limits to how low one could have to go to learn your name. A badge with your name and the name or your company goes to the left when you are a host, allegiance is owed. Who knew? I do and I am not alone. Note the Family Feud name badge placement for a guest. You can check your name badge placement in a mirror or in a headshot. If your name is not in the frames you are not in the game. Adjust it until you get a picture-perfect match. A reception line may lead to a reception table on which there is a check-in list with your name on it and a name badge for you to wear. Get a name badge for your guest, and/or the envelope with your name on it, containing your table assignment and the name of the person you are to "Take into dinner."
Station Three
The Line to the Bar
The Line to the Bar
Station Three The Line to the Bar
At a no-host event, you can order and get a pre-dinner drink for yourself after you have said, "Hello" and "How are you" to people near you. Someone may say, “What can I get you?” It is the same as saying, “What drink can you call by name?
A pre-dinner drink is called an aperitif: used to stimulate appetite. It could be made available at a bar or at the table. Common choices are Campari, Champagne, Dubonnet, Lillet, and Vermouth.
Know how to respond to an offer of a drink. During mock-tail hour order a non-alcoholic or “Zero proof” one. “A virgin (something) drink” is just easier to say. During Mock-tail hour you can order
Water Always (Sparkling-mineral) or (Tap – flat) w/ lime/lemon/juice or a twist (in a rock glass)
Soda w a twist (Club soda with a lime in a rock glass)
A Soft Drink Sometimes (Roy Rogers in a rock glass)
Fruit-juice (Cranberry with a twist)
Alcohol Never (Except for the 1 when you ought)
Shots (Rarely ever) (Never.)
Normally the line to station three, the bar, leads to an area set in the corner of a room. It can be an area for secondary introductions. At the bar, a host will most likely call on someone to prepare a pre-dinner drink for you: well, call, premium, or top shelf.
During cocktail hour when a drink ought to be alcoholic, get a Gin and Tonic (or Gin and Soda) with a twist. Be aware of the sugar in the tonic water. You may get a Martini with an olive or twist, Gin: Tanqueray Ten, or Vodka: Belvedere, or stay the course, and get yourself a soda and a lime twist (in a rock glass.) Squeeze the lime and put it in the glass.
Pre-Dinner Drink Napkin Rules
1. A pre-dinner drink glass is to be given in a glass with a cocktail napkin. OK then, ask for, or go get one. In formal tray service, the glass (with or without a napkin) is considered given when the tray is offered.
2. In a commercial bar, the drink glass and napkin are considered given when set center the space in front of the person who ordered it. At a table, it is set or a napkin or coaster to the right of the last glass. Both items can be served by being given directly to you or directly to the person who requested it. In formal service, this practice is to be avoided.
3. At a business social party, know what to do with that cocktail napkin. When away from a bar, the cocktail napkin is to be picked up and placed on your left-hand between the index and middle finger. It can be held between the middle and ring fingers. It may be placed on top of a bar or on a table. It is to be used and treated as both a napkin and a coaster.
A napkin has been seen used as a sleeve wrapped around a glass. – Avoid doing this. Away from a bar, a napkin is to be in your hand before you stand and drink anything. The napkin is to be held under the glass without touching it. A napkin can be rested atop a drink that is to be temporarily left. A napkin left under a glass unattended may be removed with it. When at a bar, when a drink is finished it is to be reset on the cocktail napkin to indicate that both could be taken away.
At a table, the cocktail napkin and the glass are to be taken away from the place setting position in which it was set.
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