A Short Guide to Table Manners

“The most telling display of good behaviour is at the table,” proclaims the classic etiquette expert Oldřich Nový in the famous film 'Světáci', and he is right. At the dinner table, it immediately becomes clear whether we are accustomed to dining in company or if we only find ourselves at a formal table on rare occasions. We learned our table manners from our parents, but let's ask ourselves: were they the best teachers? Convinced that our parents knew best, as children we imitated everything we saw them do, thus forming habits that may not serve us well today. Do you know that bread should be broken, not bitten into, at the table; that cutlery is held only from the top, not like a pencil; that a glass should be held by the stem, not the bowl; that pasta is eaten with a fork in the right hand and a spoon in the left, whereas dessert is eaten with a fork in the left and a spoon in the right? The book you are holding will show you what skills you need to master to sit down at a formal dinner table with the confidence that you are doing everything correctly. It will give you assurance at any social gathering around a table. A Little Book of Dining Etiquette is the fourth instalment to be published in this series. All the Little Books of Etiquette share a common model, which is the major work ETIQUETTE – Modern Etiquette for Everyone, the most comprehensive book on the subject of etiquette ever published in our country. The Little Books are specialised, allowing the reader to choose the topic that interests them.