Tap anything on the table. Every piece tells you what it is and when it’s yours.
Plates
Cutlery
Glasses
Also on the table
Customs
Bread on the cloth
There is usually no bread plate. Tear off a piece and set it on the tablecloth beside your plate. Bread plates mostly turn up at smart restaurants. Source
Hands in view
Rest your wrists on the edge of the table so both hands are visible. Hands in your lap look odd in France; elbows stay off. Source
Wait for bon appétit
Don’t pick up your fork, or your glass, until the host has started or said “bon appétit”. Source
Cheese before dessert
Cheese follows the main course and comes before dessert. Coffee comes last, after dessert, never with it. Source
Fold the salad
Big lettuce leaves aren’t cut. Fold them into a neat bite with your knife and fork. Source
Plate · Center, under the starter plate
Dinner plate
Your plate for the main course, waiting under the starter plate.
- When
- The plat principal (main course).
- How
- Try to finish what you’re served; take only what you know you’ll eat.
- Why
- A clean plate is the simplest compliment you can pay a French host.
Source: French Today, Mastering French Table Etiquette
Plate · Stacked on the dinner plate
Starter plate
For the entrée. In France, entrée means the starter, not the main course.
- When
- The first course at the table, after the apéritif.
- How
- It is cleared when everyone has finished the starter.
- Why
- Stacking the plates means the main course plate is already in place.
Source: Polyglottist Language Academy, Understanding French Mealtimes
Linen · Left of the fork
Napkin
Cloth, beside your fork. Onto your lap when you sit.
- When
- From the moment you sit down to the end of the meal.
- How
- On your lap during the meal; on your chair if you step away. When you’re done, leave it beside your plate, unfolded.
- Why
- On the table means finished, so it only goes there at the end.
Source: Taste of France, French Table Etiquette: A Quick Guide
Cutlery · Left of the plate
Fork
One fork for the whole meal, laid tines down.
- When
- Every savory course: starter, main, salad.
- How
- Keep it in your left hand and don’t switch hands. Between courses it waits on the knife rest.
- Why
- A knife rest means the host isn’t changing cutlery, so one fork does the whole meal.
Source: Savoir vivre à la française, L’art de la table en 5 points clés
Cutlery · Right of the plate
Knife
Blade toward the plate. It does double duty for the cheese.
- When
- Starter, main and cheese.
- How
- Right hand, nudging food onto the fork. At the cheese, use it to set a small piece on a bite of bread.
- Why
- Keeping it through the meal is exactly what the knife rest is for.
Source: Taste of France, French Table Etiquette: A Quick Guide
Other · Right, beside the knife
Knife rest
A porte-couteau: a small bar where your knife and fork wait between courses.
- When
- Whenever a plate is cleared and you keep your cutlery for the next course.
- How
- Lay the tip of the knife, and the fork, across it so they don’t touch the cloth.
- Why
- It belongs to relaxed family meals, where the cutlery isn’t changed between courses.
Source: Savoir vivre à la française, L’art de la table en 5 points clés
Cutlery · Above the plate, handle right
Dessert spoon
The small spoon above your plate, saved for dessert.
- When
- Dessert, after the cheese.
- How
- Bring it down to the right of your plate when dessert is served.
- Why
- Its handle points right, toward the hand that will pick it up.
Source: Je retiens, Placer les couverts à la française
Glass · Top right, the bigger glass
Water glass
The larger of your two glasses, on the left of the pair.
- When
- Throughout the meal.
- How
- Don’t just fill your own: top up your neighbors’ glasses first, then yours.
- Why
- Serving others before yourself goes for every drink at a French table, water included.
Source: Talk in French, A Quick Guide to French Table Etiquette
Glass · Right of the water glass
Wine glass
Your wine glass. The host pours; you don’t reach for the bottle.
- When
- From the first toast through the cheese.
- How
- Wait for the host to pour; don’t fill it yourself. At a toast, clink lightly and look each person in the eye.
- Why
- Pouring is the host’s way of looking after you; serving yourself skips over that.
Source: Polyglottist Language Academy, Understanding French Mealtimes
Other · Passed round, top left
Cheese board
The plateau de fromages. It comes after the main course and before dessert.
- When
- Between the main course (or salad) and dessert. It usually goes round once.
- How
- Take a modest piece of two or three cheeses. On a wedge of brie, never cut off the tip; slice along the side.
- Why
- The creamy tip is the best part, and it shouldn’t go to just one guest.
Source: Salumi Pasini, Comment couper le Brie : le guide complet