Eating at Home

When invited to a home either for dinner or a neighborly drink, one should always bring a small gift of some kind. A bottle of wine, flowers, or a box of chocolates will always suffice, but one can be more inventive and choose candles or some other kind of small gift.

It is considered polite to use one's utensils in the European style of keeping the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left. When eating dessert, the fork is held in the right hand, and the left hand should rest on the table next to the plate.

When invited to dinner, one can expect the meal to consist of a soup dish as an appetizer, followed by a main course of some combination of meat, potatoes and vegetable. A sweet of some kind, either a tart or cake, will end the meal. Wine is normally offered, and as much as it is preferable to accept, it is not rude to ask for water or juice instead.