Human beings are social beings and we do not miss any opportunity to express ourselves. The language of the cutlery is according to many connoisseurs of the domain, universal, although several positions of these are rather local and little known abroad.
Like any language, if it is used without knowledge it has negative results. Imagine that a customer uses it, but the waiter does not know it and does not comply with what the client silently asks for. Or better yet, the customer places the cutlery in position “I have finished” without realizing it and gets upset when the waiter takes the dishes off.
If you want to give a good quality service, teach this language to your waiters since, although your regular customers do not use it, you will leave with a good taste in your mouth and wanting to return to the connoisseurs.
Next, we will show you the most used and known positions.
1. Pause
The cutlery is left on the plate forming a 90 degree angle without touching the tablecloth with the handles. This position indicates that you have not finished eating yet.
2. Finished
The cutlery is left parallel to each other and perpendicular to the table with the handle on the bottom without touching the tablecloth. 2 positions are accepted: horizontal and vertical. This gesture indicates that you do not want to eat more but without saying whether the menu was good or bad.
3. I did not like it
The cutlery is left in the same position as “pause” but putting the tip of the knife between the teeth of the fork. It is not considered a rude gesture since the diner only gives his opinion about the food. Another accepted position for this gesture is to cross the cutlery in the middle of the plate forming a cross.
4. Next plate
This gesture indicates that the diner is ready for the next dish. The cutlery crosses in the middle of the plate forming a cross. The waiter will proceed to remove the dishes although there is still food in these.
5. I loved it
If the diner has loved the dish and wants to let the waiter know, he must put the cutlery in parallel between them and with respect to the edge of the table. The handle has to point to the left of the diner.
The pause and termination gestures are the most known and universally accepted, the others tend to be recognized locally and sometimes have different meanings. Diners and waiters should make sure first of all that they convey their feelings well, expressing them verbally.
Do you want to know how to have clean cutlery all the time? Keep reading our blogs or read more about the cutlery polisher.
