Tricky Foods: Eating Bread - The Correct Way

Ah, bread - the single most incorrectly eaten food in a restaurant. Fortunately though, as so many other people are doing it incorrectly, it is quite likely there will be very few people who actually realize anyone is making a mistake!

Ask any Maître D' and they will tell you it is the number one thing wait staff notice about patrons' dining etiquette. So if you know what you are doing, you will certainly have a BIG advantage over MOST people in a restaurant! And at the end of the day, you are always far better off knowing exactly what to do, than not knowing what to do - especially given bread really is such a simple item to master.

Okay, here's a brief overview of how it goes:

1. Once the bread is placed on the bread and butter plate to your left, you should use your butter knife to transfer a small portion of butter onto the side of this plate. This step can be skipped altogether and the bread buttered directly, in which case, jump to step 3.
   
2. Return your knife to its correct position on the bread and butter plate (the right hand side of the plate, lying along the 1 to 5 o'clock position (i.e. slightly off-center), the tip facing 1 o'clock).
   Next, break off a small, SINGLE bite-size portion of the bread, and butter this portion with the butter transferred to your plate in the earlier step.
   
3. If there is an oil condiment for the bread (olive oil for example), the same principles apply - always tearing off small bite-size portions of the bread and applying your oil to that bite size piece of bread.
   
4. NEVER butter the whole piece of bread - this is a BIG no-no, and the most common mistake made by people at a restaurant!
   
5. NEVER eat your bread without breaking off a small piece first - this is the other common mistake made.

There is one exception to rules above: if you are served a hot roll, it is permissible to tear (not cut) the whole roll lengthwise down the middle and place a pat of butter inside to melt. But again, break the bread into small, bite size portions to eat.

I hope this gives you an idea of how to correctly deal with bread. You see, bread, like a lot of other foods, has very specific protocol and if you don't know what that protocol is, you can end up looking like the proverbial fish out of water! The more you know about these foods – and the greater the number of tricky foods you know how to eat properly, the more relaxed and confident you will be in any dining etiquette situation. Imagine not being afraid of ANY dish at a restaurant or a dinner party – because you know how to correctly handle them ALL!

Make sure you have all the knowledge you will ever need to successfully navigate ANY tricky dish you will ever face again - get your very own copy of my concise dining etiquette manual: Dining Etiquette – The Concise Guide For Everyone! which will have you a master of tricky foods in no time! To get your very own copy, or for more information, simply click here.