Dear Home&Garden,
I really enjoyed reading your articles in today’s Tribune [Nov. 12]. In your article, “Designers mix it up to set a convivial table,” I couldn’t help but notice that the designers had made some errors in their place settings. Timothy Fox of Fox Wahls Design has the forks and spoons turned down, which is OK, but it is the ‘European’ way to set a table.
However, he also has the dessert or coffee spoon–I cannot tell which spoon from the photograph–facing the wrong way. The spoon over the plate should face left and the fork, if there is a dessert fork over the plate, should face right.
The reason for this, of course, is that when dessert is served, the diner can easily take the utensils from over his plate and put the fork to the left and the spoon to the right of his plate.
I also noticed in the place setting that Brian Hudock of Cambium did that the soup spoon is to the left of the dinner fork. All spoons that are to be used for the main meal should be placed to the right of the plate and all forks should be placed to the left. The only exception to this rule is the cocktail or seafood fork which, if it is put on the table at the start of a meal, is placed to the right of the plate.
When it became painfully obvious to me that Americans did not know even the most basic rules of dining etiquette, I wrote a booklet, “Tips on Modern American Dining Etiquette.” I followed this booklet up with a second titled, “Tips on Modern American Wedding Etiquette.” I have since produced three videos on etiquette and I am presently working on a fourth.
I also have an Etiquette Column on my Web site, ModernEtiquette.com.
— Ruth L. Kern
![At a recent wedding reception in Chicago, guests gathered to toast the newlyweds at the bar. Glasses were lined up in front of them, but no alcohol was poured. Instead, marijuana vapor was pumped into the upside-down glasses, which were then lifted and inhaled in unison. “A lot of people were surprised,” bride Aja Heinlein said. “They didn’t even know that was something they could do.” In the new world of cannabis, consumption at private events like weddings, holiday parties and corporate events is becoming more common. The state law that legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ctc-L-Illinois-marijuana-wedding15_187593870.jpg?w=525 "At a recent wedding reception in Chicago, guests gathered to toast the newlyweds at the bar. Glasses were lined up in front of them, but no alcohol was poured. Instead, marijuana vapor was pumped into the upside-down glasses, which were then lifted and inhaled in unison. “A lot of people were surprised,” bride Aja Heinlein said. “They didn’t even know that was something they could do.” In the new world of cannabis, consumption at private events like weddings, holiday parties and corporate events is becoming more common. The state law that legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and […]")
