Dining table

The glasses
Starting from the left hand side: the largest is for the water, the medium size one is for the red wine, the smallest one is for the white wine and the tall thin glass, the flute, is for the champagne or spumante.
During the meal, all of the glasses are to remain on the table.

The cutlery
The positioning of the cutlery should be as simple as possible and arranged according to the order of use. This is by no means an "extremely refined method" but is, however, rather functional and accessible to anybody.
It is recommended to use a white or light coloured tablecloth and keeping in mind that "American" style single person small tablecloths are somewhat out of fashion. Position the spoon on the outer side of the right hand side of the plate. Then, in between the spoon and the plate, position the knife with the blade always facing the plate.
The fork is positioned on the left hand side of the plate. The desert cutlery is positioned above the plate: starting from the plate we have the spoon with the handle facing the right hand side, the small fork with the handle facing the left hand side, the knife with the blade facing the plate and the handle facing the right hand side. These are just the basic articles of cutlery.
For more complex meals, other pieces of cutlery may be added: such as those for fish, cheese etc..

The plates
The plate is positioned between the cutlery and the glasses: starting from the flatter plate, which is positioned on the table, the deeper plate is placed on top of the flat plate with the small plate used for the starters positioned within the deeper plate. Then, during the course of the meal, the plates will be changed and others will be added.
The desert plate will be supplied at the end of the meal and once all of the other plates have been taken away.

The accessories
The bread should not be sliced too thin and placed in an appropriate basket. Glass and bottle coasters are an optional. The table-napkin should be folded into a triangular form and placed to the right hand side of the plate. The flowers on the table should be refined but the quantity should not be too excessive, nor should their fragrance be too strong.
The flowers should be of a size that does not obstruct the vision or disturb the conversation between the guests. Slightly out of fashion is the finger-wash bowl but, whenever necessary, it should be positioned at the right time and towards the top left hand side of the plate. The content of the bowl is prepared an hour before it will be used and is composed of water with a few peppermint leaves and a slice of lemon.
It is forbidden to place an ashtray onto the dining table before the fruit is served.

Seating arrangements
The traditional rule is the simplest, that is, the master and lady of the house sit at the two ends of the table. To the right of the lady of the house sits the most important male guest whilst to her left sits the second most important guest.
To the right of the master of the house sits the most important female guest whilst to his left sits the second most important female guest. To understand how the criteria of "most important guest" works is not easy: nobles, professionals, family ties, business relationships, etc are all aspects that should be considered. Today, in reality, the only rules to observe are those related to the pure pleasure of conversation at the dining table.
It is a good idea to alternate male and female guests, to separate guests with too many common professional interests as well as chatterboxes. In any case, it is a good rule to ensure that the guests are well "attuned" to one another. If you do not want that the seating arrangement be decided by the guests, it may be useful to use name cards (preferably hand written) for each position at the table.

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