The main course is finished. Eleven guests have laid their cutlery down and one is still talking with a fork in the air. You have a stack of plates forming in your head, dessert is coming, the table is covered in crumbs, and someone wants more wine. This is the part of formal service that separates a smooth room from a busy one.
The Order of Service
| Approach | Who is served first | Where you will meet it |
|---|---|---|
| Classical | Guest of honour, then ladies clockwise, then gentlemen, host last | Traditional houses, old textbooks |
| Modern common | Guest of honour first, then simply clockwise around the table, host last | Most yachts, most restaurants |
| Owner preference | Whoever the owner says, including the owner | The one that actually applies |
The principle underneath all three is precedence and consistency: someone is acknowledged first, the host is served last, and you go round in one direction so the room has a rhythm. Conventions about gender-based order have shifted, and many guests now find them awkward. Ask the chief stew what this boat does, and do that.
Clearing
- Wait until everyone has finished. Cutlery laid together on the plate is the signal. Never clear around a guest who is still eating unless they ask.
- Clear from the right, with your right hand, moving in one direction.
- Take no more than two plates in hand. First plate anchored between thumb and forefinger with the cutlery secured; second plate resting on the forearm behind it.
- Never stack, scrape or clatter in front of guests. Everything is dealt with in the pantry, out of sight and out of earshot.
- Clear the accompaniments: side plates, butter, condiments, salt and pepper, unused cutlery.
- Crumb down from the guest left, with a folded napkin or crumber, sweeping onto a plate held below the table edge, working away from the glassware.
- Reset: dessert cutlery brought down or laid, water topped, glassware straightened.
The Later Courses
- Cheese is offered from a board or trolley, presented from the left, cut correctly for its shape so the next guest gets a fair share of the rind and the centre. Offer accompaniments separately.
- Dessert is served with the cutlery already in place, and the table should be clean and bare of everything except glassware before it lands.
- Coffee and digestifs are served from the right. Cups placed with the handle at four o clock, spoon on the saucer. Offer sugar and milk, never assume.
- Water and wine are poured from the right, throughout. Never lift a glass from the table. White and rose to roughly two thirds, red to a third to a half of a large bowl, sparkling in two pours to control the mousse. Watch the levels, not the guests, and top up in the gaps in conversation.
Onboard Notes
- Nothing crosses a guest sightline that does not have to.
- Empty hands leaving the dining room are a wasted trip. Always take something out.
- Preparatory study only. Sequence is drilled at a real table, under a chief stew who will stop you mid-course.