Setting a table might sound like a simple task, but it can get
complicated. Here’s all you need to know, from where forks should
be placed to which glasses to set out
Dinner guests are on their way over, and you have to set the table. You’re laying down the silverware when you realize you’re not sure where the soup spoon should go. And does the smaller fork go on the outside or on the inside, closer to the plate?
You’re planning to serve both red and white wine, but it’s unclear how you fit both of those glasses plus the water glass near the place setting.
Though setting the table seems like a simple thing, it can get complicated and stressful if you’re trying to impress the guests. For the skinny on setting tables, we talked to two experts: Maurizio Cutrignelli, owner of Maurizio’s restaurant in Morgan Hill, and Tony Ybarra, manager of The Cedar House restaurant in Hollister. They offer their advice on how to dress your table to the nines.
“You can set a table from basic to elegant depending on the occasion,” Ybarra said. “But what goes on the table depends on the meal and beverages you’re serving. Always start with the basics, and add from there depending on the courses. I’ll tell you how we might set a table at the restaurant, but people should adjust it to what they’ll be serving.”
n Forks are to the left of the plate, knife and spoons to the right. The bread and butter dish should sit to the left of the forks. Some people like to put the small butter knife on this dish, but Ybarra said he prefers it to lie horizontally above the plate.
Place the forks in the order they will be used from left to right. Start with a chilled salad fork, then an appetizer fork, and end with the main course fork nearest to the plate.
To the right, the knife should be closest to the plate, followed by the teaspoon, iced tea spoon, and bouillon spoon used for soup.
“As you clear away the different courses, make sure to clear away the silverware that goes with the course, too,” Ybarra said. “As the meal progresses, there should be fewer and fewer pieces of silverware on the table.”
n “The one glass that will always be on the table is the water glass,” Cutrignelli said. “You can put wine glasses on the table if you want to or if you know people will be drinking wine, but if you’re not sure, there should at least be a water glass at every place setting.”
If you will be serving different wines with a meal and you’d like to have the glasses on the table, have the water glass nearest the top of the plate, near the knife, Ybarra said. Then place the red wine glass, the white wine glass and finally the champagne flute, which should be closest to the edge of the table. Glasses can be set in the same order pointing back toward the center of the table, but Ybarra said he feels it make the center too cluttered and makes it harder to clear away the glasses with out knocking something over.
“I call it an A-frame,” he said. “The table setting should be in the shape of an ‘A’ in front of the guest. The glasses make one of the sloping sides of the ‘A.’ It looks very neat that way, and it makes it easier to serve and clear away.”
n Linens can set the tone for the meal. At The Cedar House, a black underlay cloth is on the table with a light mocha-colored overlay cloth. At Maurizio’s, the underlay is a red and white check, and the overlay is sparkling white.
“The underlay is generally twice the size as the overlay,” Ybarra said. “You don’t need both, but they certainly look good. Just make sure the colors compliment each other and that they go with whatever atmosphere you’re trying to create. The napkins should also match the other linens.”
While getting his restaurant education in his hometown of Bari, Italy, Cutrignelli said he learned the table linens should still have the creases on them from being folded, even when placed on a table.
“When the lines show where the tablecloth was folded, it shows that people haven’t been putting their hands all over it,” he explained. “We were taught that you don’t want people touching everywhere the food is going to be going.”
At school, Cutrignelli also learned that napkins should be white so it’s easy to see any spots of dirt.
“It’s still a matter of personal preference, but I still use the classic white napkins because that’s how I was taught,” he said.
n Centerpieces can add plenty of personality to a table, but there are a couple of rules to follow.
“A centerpiece should compliment the colors on the rest of the table, and it should never be high enough to obstruct the view across the table,” Ybarra said. “People should be able to make eye contact across the table.”
n Napkins can be placed under the forks, in one of the empty wine glasses or folded neatly in the center where the plates go.
n No matter how pretty your table is after it’s set, the whole effect can be ruined by a dirty spot on the silverware or plates.
At Maurizio’s, the first thing the staff does every morning is polish the silverware and bread plates set at every table with white vinegar, Cutrignelli said.
“You can’t have spots on your sliverware,” he said. “You just can’t. Are we human? Yes. Do we miss something every now and then? Yes. But we try very hard never to have water spots on anything so when people sit down at the table, the only thing they notice is how nice things look.”
