The chef hands you a seven-course tasting menu at 1600 for a 2000 dinner. Before you polish a single glass you have to translate that menu into a cover: exactly which piece of cutlery, which glass and which plate sits in front of each guest, and in what order it will disappear.
Reading the menu to build the cover
The cover is derived from the menu, never from habit. Work through the menu course by course and lay the cutlery outside-in, in the order it will be used.
| Course | Cutlery | Glass |
|---|---|---|
| Amuse-bouche | Often eaten by hand, or a small spoon laid at service | - |
| Soup | Soup spoon, outermost right | - |
| Fish | Fish knife right, fish fork left | White wine |
| Main / meat | Table knife right, table fork left | Red wine |
| Cheese | Small knife, laid at service | Often the red continues, or a fortified wine |
| Dessert | Dessert spoon and fork, laid above the cover or brought down at service | Dessert wine |
| Coffee | Teaspoon on the saucer | - |
Laying the cover
- Work from a centre line: mark the guest's position, then build outward symmetrically.
- Cutlery is laid with handles a consistent distance from the table edge across the whole table, typically about a thumb's width, and every cover must match every other cover.
- Knife blades face inward, toward the plate.
- Glasses sit above the knives, ordered so the guest reaches the first-used glass first; water glass nearest the guest, wine glasses in service order behind it.
- Side plate to the left, butter knife across it.
- Napkin in the centre of the cover or on the side plate, folded to the yacht's standard.
- No more cutlery than the eye can take: if the menu runs long, lay for the first courses and lay the remainder during service.
Menu structure
A classical menu progresses from light to rich and back to light: cold before hot, fish before meat, and a sorbet or palate cleanser may sit between the fish and the meat. Cheese sits before dessert in the French tradition and after in the English; the yacht follows the owner's preference, so ask rather than assume.
Menu cards
- One card per guest, or one per two guests, placed on the cover or on the side plate.
- Correct language and correct spelling. A misspelled dish on a printed card is a permanent, photographable error.
- Wines are usually listed under the course they accompany.
- Cards are checked against the allergen and preference sheet before they go out: never print a menu that a guest at the table cannot eat without a discreet alternative already planned.
- Print a spare set. Guests take them home.
Onboard Notes
- Measure the cover. At senior level you should be able to walk the table with your eye at plate height and see one continuous line of cutlery; a crooked cover is visible from the doorway.
- Confirm the final menu with the chef in writing before you print. Menus change at 1700 and the printed card is the one thing that cannot change quietly.
- In motion, glassware placement matters: keep glasses inboard of the cover and consider fewer glasses on the table with a pour-and-clear approach.
- Never lay a piece of cutlery the menu does not need. Guests read the cover as a promise about how long dinner is going to be.