Etiquette Question: You are sitting on a table with other 5 people. When should you start eating your dinner?
When the host begins to eat. (It’s bad manners to dig in before everyone else is served and the host/hostess has begun to eat. In very formal settings the sign that it is okay to eat comes when the hostess unfolds her napkin and places it on her lap.)
Posted by Karin Schroeck-Singh at 20 Jan 2010, 11:49 PM 
Categories: Dining Etiquette, Etiquette Questions
Tags: manners table manners etiquette dilemma dining etiquette dilemma Karin Schroeck-Singh dining etiquette etiquette etiquette questions
Categories: Dining Etiquette, Etiquette Questions
Tags: manners table manners etiquette dilemma dining etiquette dilemma Karin Schroeck-Singh dining etiquette etiquette etiquette questions
Not to put too fine a point on the answer; however, napkin placement is not so much a signal by the hostess to begin eating. It signals others to place their own napkins on their laps. When the hostess begins eating, others may do the same.
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