Formal Sit Down Meals

Introduction:

There are 2 types of Sit Down Meals:

• The Formal Sit Down, where the food is served in courses by trained staff to guests seated at the table.
• The Informal Sit Down meal, where food is placed on the table and the guests help themselves.

In all these styles the table is pre-laid with the cutlery and glassware. The Invitations will indicate the type of meal, whether it is formal or informal.

The Formal Sit Down meal is an elegant and sophisticated way of entertaining and requires detailed planning. It can be served in different ways:  where the waiters serve the food in platters and the guests help themselves; where the waiters serve the food onto the dinner plates and lastly where the food is pre-plated and served. There is generally no concept of a second helping. The table-ware should be of the finest quality, and the linen should be white, off white or light beige. Good quality crockery and glassware should be used. Care should be taken that the table settings looks co-ordinated and sparkling. The place-settings will depend on the menu.  Normally guests are seated according to a seating plan. The dress code is formal and proper table etiquette is very important.

The informal sit-down meal is easier on the host as the food is already placed on the dining table and the dishes are passed around by the guests. For an informal sit down dinner, the table can be set in an interesting manner with mixed china, glassware and linen. The Host must be alert and see that no guest’s plate empty and that all the dishes have been passed to everyone. Dessert should be served after the table has been cleared.