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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8549639)
With the plates thing, I feel that it puts pressure on the diner still eating when the finished plates are removed by highlighting they are the last eating / holding people up.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8549576)
The reuse of knives and forks bothers me.
Also, in resturants here, if one person finishes a meal before their companion, the plate is whipped away while the other person is still eating. :oI can't remember if this happens in the UK :o When it happens I just feel that it's rude, is that because all plates are left on the table in the UK until the last person has finished? or is it my imagination? |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8549639)
With the plates thing, I feel that it puts pressure on the diner still eating when the finished plates are removed by highlighting they are the last eating / holding people up.
The problem is that most Americans don't use the universal signal for indicating that we're finished (laying the knife and fork together on the plate), so the servers have to ask. They aren't trying to rush you, at least not most of the time. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8549576)
The reuse of knives and forks bothers me.
Also, in resturants here, if one person finishes a meal before their companion, the plate is whipped away while the other person is still eating. :oI can't remember if this happens in the UK :o When it happens I just feel that it's rude, is that because all plates are left on the table in the UK until the last person has finished? or is it my imagination? Italians have a habit of remving plates when only one diner has finished and others haven't. Sometimes they will even come up and ask if you've finished when you haven't. That might also be because Italians often leave their knife and fork open on their plate and not closed together to signify "I have finished." |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by mikehope
(Post 8548261)
I remember when I first had a meal with the American in laws and they were all staring at me eating, my wife later told me its because of how I use my knife and fork and I mix things together on the fork.
I thought that everyone ate that way till I really watched how most people use cutlery over here. I was then thinking of the scene in "Kate and Leopold" where they are dining together, made sense of hop they were watching him eat.
Originally Posted by Rete
(Post 8548265)
This difference rears it head at least once every six months.
Yup there are differences in the use of tableware. However, I have never seen many Americans mixing their foods on the same fork at one time and then shoveling it into their mouths. Now that seems like poor manners. Unless, of course, you are mixing your peas with your mashed potatoes :) |
Re: Knife and fork usage
I remember reading it. My mum was in America for 3 weeks last year. I don't remember her commenting on any eating habits .... just how very big the portions were.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Dan725
(Post 8549492)
Yep, what a pullaver. While the majority of Americans do seem to engage in this unnecessary faffing around, I have however met quite a few who seem to have adopted the "British method" of knife in one hand, fork in the other.
Since I learned it in Europe, it's always the 'European method' to me. :p |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Rete
(Post 8549470)
Hence the SPORK for the shovels among us :eek::blink::rofl:
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8549695)
That isn't it. Servers clear plates as quickly as possible because Americans get pissy when dirty plates are left on the table for too long.
The problem is that most Americans don't use the universal signal for indicating that we're finished (laying the knife and fork together on the plate), so the servers have to ask. They aren't trying to rush you, at least not most of the time. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8549695)
That isn't it. Servers clear plates as quickly as possible because Americans get pissy when dirty plates are left on the table for too long.
The problem is that most Americans don't use the universal signal for indicating that we're finished (laying the knife and fork together on the plate), so the servers have to ask. They aren't trying to rush you, at least not most of the time. And there, I think, lies the problem :) |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by ironporer
(Post 8549747)
Just give me a large (soup) spoon and I can handle just about anything...if the meat is too tough to cut with the side of the spoon, it probably needed to picked up and gnawed off the bone anyway!;)
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Re: Knife and fork usage
My mum taught me that to push the plate out of the way was rude too
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8549576)
The reuse of knives and forks bothers me.
Also, in resturants here, if one person finishes a meal before their companion, the plate is whipped away while the other person is still eating. :oI can't remember if this happens in the UK :o When it happens I just feel that it's rude, is that because all plates are left on the table in the UK until the last person has finished? or is it my imagination?
Originally Posted by Rete
(Post 8549583)
Again a difference of opinion. I prefer that they remove my finished plate as soon as I'm done with it. I can then sit back and enjoy speaking with the rest of my dinner companions while others are still enjoying their appetitzer or whatever. However, if it is just two diners, then I would prefer they wait until both are finished or have indicated that the plates should be removed.
My personal gripe is when they try to clean the crumbs/etc off the table, expecting you to 'stand back' as it were ... at the end of a meal, I don't care if there are a few crumbs, I want to relax. Pausing the mood while some guy dutifully 'scrapes' the table is just an imposition, in my mind. But some folks appreciate it. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by ironporer
(Post 8549747)
Just give me a large (soup) spoon and I can handle just about anything...if the meat is too tough to cut with the side of the spoon, it probably needed to picked up and gnawed off the bone anyway!;)
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by AmerLisa
(Post 8549754)
Oh ffs, did you take a poll on your generalization? :rolleyes: We don't all eat at Denny's for heaven's sake!:rolleyes:
And no, the cutlery "signal" is not common here at all. When I was doing the job, I was forever having to ask customers if they were finished because I couldn't tell, given that the silverware was all over the place and that most customers didn't eat everything that was served to them. The standard for table manners in the US is certainly less stringent that you'll find in Europe. You can decide for yourself whether that's better, worse, or just different, but whatever it is, it is less formalized. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8549906)
In addition to working as a server in a nice restaurant back during my college days (during the Civil War), I also have occasionally had meals with Americans here in America.
And no, the cutlery "signal" is not common here at all. When I was doing the job, I was forever having to ask customers if they were finished because I couldn't tell, given that the silverware was all over the place and that most customers didn't eat everything that was served to them. The standard for table manners in the US is certainly less stringent that you'll find in Europe. You can decide for yourself whether that's better, worse, or just different, but whatever it is, it is less formalized. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8549695)
The problem is that most Americans don't use the universal signal for indicating that we're finished (laying the knife and fork together on the plate), so the servers have to ask.
Originally Posted by Lorna at Vicenza
(Post 8549911)
That might depend on where in Europe as Italians leave their knife and fork willy nilly on the plate and don't place them neatly together at 20 past or 25 past 6 clockwise
Besides, I doubt many servers here would even know the 'universal signal' you all are speaking of. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Sally Redux
(Post 8548391)
I didn't know you weren't meant to put different foods on your fork.
This is all very complicated.
Originally Posted by mikehope
(Post 8548261)
I remember when I first had a meal with the American in laws and they were all staring at me eating, my wife later told me its because of how I use my knife and fork and I mix things together on the fork.
I thought that everyone ate that way till I really watched how most people use cutlery over here. I was then thinking of the scene in "Kate and Leopold" where they are dining together, made sense of hop they were watching him eat. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by N1cky
(Post 8550077)
What bugs me most is no-one here understands the word 'cutlery', they all say 'silverware'. Even the take-out places that give you plastic, call it bloody 'silverware':curse:
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by sunflwrgrl13
(Post 8550061)
OMG, this just tells me that too many people put too much formality into eating. I mean really? Somewhere people actually measure the exact placement they leave their silverware on their plate? :blink: That just seems way OTT to me. I guess I'm just not a formal person, and feel that too many people in this world take things way too seriously. Just leave your cutlery on the plate when you're done - what's so complicated about that?
Besides, I doubt many servers here would even know the 'universal signal' you all are speaking of. I love food and someone has gone to a great deal of effort to present it to me. How you hold your knife and fork, even how you lay out your cutlery is slightly different to in other countries, most notably the US, I disagree that its personal preference, I suspect it's parental preference. I have a friend who stabs her food to her plate to cut it. It's like a toddler eating badly, but that's OK in this country. My husband, does not stab the food like that is also horrified, and has been practicing squishing peas on to his fork like I do... |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by ironporer
(Post 8549379)
Thank God the French invented 'proper' eating utensils, otherwise we'd all be drinking our gruel straight from the bowl and eating the odd fowl with our fingers...like Brits did for centuries.:p
http://neoneocon.com/wp-content/uplo...henryviii2.jpg I suppose The Brits invented the arbitrary and seemingly ridiculous rules of usage for these utensils as a way of holding up their noses in superiority at the rest of the world.;) |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Trixie_b
(Post 8550099)
Errmmm While I accept that everyone has their own style I love eating out and dining out. I think there should be some ceremony over food, even when your at home.
I love food and someone has gone to a great deal of effort to present it to me. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by sunflwrgrl13
(Post 8550061)
Just leave your cutlery on the plate when you're done - what's so complicated about that?
The point is that servers in the US often have no choice but to ask you if you have finished because they can't be sure that you're finished unless (a) you have eaten every scrap of food on your plate, (b) you use Ye Old Cutlery Signal (TM), (c) you push aside or stack the plates so that it's obvious that they are no longer needed, or (d) they ask you about it. And since they rightly assume that most diners don't want unwanted plates to stay on the table for long and since (a)-(c) often don't apply, they usually end up asking. The interruption may annoy some of you or make you feel rushed, but you should see from this that they have their reasons for asking that have nothing to do with shoving you out the door. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8550109)
And since they rightly assume that most diners don't want unwanted plates to stay on the table for long and since (a)-(c) often don't apply, they usually end up asking. The interruption may annoy some of you or make you feel rushed, but you should see from this that they have their reasons for asking that have nothing to do with shoving you out the door. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Oh joy. Another knife & fork thread.
Threads like this make me want to cut myself. Can somebody please advise as to the proper utensil to use for this? |
Re: Knife and fork usage
I eat my food the way I was taught, with a knife and fork (never put down unless for drink or when finished)
Hubby eats how most mericuns do, just a fork used for both cutting and putting food in mouth. I have never tried to change the way he eats, he has never found my way strange, my kids have grown up watching both of us eat, I never pushed either way as 'better' and both my kids eat with just a fork. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Leslie66
(Post 8550127)
Oh joy. Another knife & fork thread.
Threads like this make me want to cut myself. Can somebody please advise as to the proper utensil to use for this? |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8549695)
That isn't it. Servers clear plates as quickly as possible because Americans get pissy when dirty plates are left on the table for too long.
The problem is that most Americans don't use the universal signal for indicating that we're finished (laying the knife and fork together on the plate), so the servers have to ask. They aren't trying to rush you, at least not most of the time. Bull Dinky. If that there the universal code, then why don't the waitstaff in the US know about it. I was a server for more years than I wish to recount and in fine dining as well. Never heard such dribble. Wherever do you come up with these generalizations and as an American you are awfully down on us. Phfft! |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Rete
(Post 8550138)
Bull Dinky. If that there the universal code, then why don't the waitstaff in the US know about it. I was a server for more years than I wish to recount and in fine dining as well. Never heard such dribble.
Wherever do you come up with these generalizations and as an American you are awfully down on us. Phfft! |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Can I change the subject slightly to Doggy Bags. Just wanted to say, I am not an ex-pat or living in the US but we have holiday'd there all over tonnes of times. I love America and just wanted to say I adore the way that Americans seem to order everything on the menu, with coupons for discounts and then take it all home for later! Unfortunately, we too have seen and done this so many times over there that we do it in the UK too. No one has ever refused us, but we do sometimes get some funny looks. :D
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
(Post 8550109)
... but you should see from this that they have their reasons for asking that have nothing to do with shoving you out the door.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Leslie66
(Post 8550127)
Oh joy. Another knife & fork thread.
Threads like this make me want to cut myself. Can somebody please advise as to the proper utensil to use for this? You've been damned by the elite. It is not utensil but CUTLERY. Please read the entire thread before posting, Les, otherwise the elitists will have your nail your hide to the dining room wall. |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Bob
(Post 8550152)
it's exactly that though....bums on seats, they ain't going to be earning many table tips if you sat there all night and if that's what they rely on rather than the wage, you feel that pressure too.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Leslie66
(Post 8550127)
Oh joy. Another knife & fork thread.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Rete
(Post 8550154)
You've been damned by the elite. It is not utensil but CUTLERY. Please read the entire thread before posting, Les, otherwise the elitists will have your nail your hide to the dining room wall.
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Re: Knife and fork usage
You've got to remember this is a country that can't even write the bloody date correctly. Why would you expect them to understand the subtleties and complexities of correct knife and fork usage?
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Leslie66
(Post 8550167)
Too late. I just nailed myself to my own chair with my salad fork. Was that the wrong piece of cutlery to use? :confused:
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by zargof
(Post 8550170)
You've got to remember this is a country that can't even write the bloody date correctly. Why would you expect them to understand the subtleties and complexities of correct knife and fork usage?
HA! |
Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by Leslie66
(Post 8550127)
Threads like this make me want to cut myself. Can somebody please advise as to the proper utensil to use for this?
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Re: Knife and fork usage
Originally Posted by aries_bird
(Post 8550150)
Can I change the subject slightly to Doggy Bags. Just wanted to say, I am not an ex-pat or living in the US but we have holiday'd there all over tonnes of times. I love America and just wanted to say I adore the way that Americans seem to order everything on the menu, with coupons for discounts and then take it all home for later! Unfortunately, we too have seen and done this so many times over there that we do it in the UK too. No one has ever refused us, but we do sometimes get some funny looks. :D
We adore you too. :wub: |
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