10 Dead Giveaways That You're A Fine-Dining First Timer - Tasting Table

"For starters, it helps to know that some questions are immediate red flags to servers, from asking for the cheapest item on the menu to requesting off-menu additions. And it doesn't end there, either. From what you are wearing when you arrive at the restaurant to the finer nuances of where your napkin is placed during the meal, the smallest actions can serve as telltale signs that you are a fine dining first-timer."

""A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is to work from the outside and then inward," Mariah Grumet Humbert says. This is because cutlery is generally placed on either side of the plate in the order that it will be used. This means that the dinner fork will be placed directly on the left of the plate, accompanied by the fish fork and finally, the salad fork."

Fine-dining requires mastery of social graces beyond merely affording expensive meals. Certain questions, such as asking for the cheapest menu item or requesting off-menu additions, immediately mark a diner as inexperienced to servers. Clothing choices and small behaviors like napkin placement convey familiarity with upscale norms. Running late and mishandling cutlery are common pitfalls. Cutlery is arranged in the order of use, so diners should work from the outside inward: dinner fork closest to the plate on the left, followed by fish and salad forks; knives mirror that order on the right. Practice reduces awkwardness.

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