Entertaining & Dining

So here are a couple of things you can feel excited about learning in this course:

1. You will feel confident that you know what you’re doing at even the most intimidating tables

2. You will know which knife and fork to use amongst the array of confusing cutlery

3. You won’t embarrass yourself by doing the wrong things in front of the right company

4. You will learn how to host the most enjoyable dinner parties for you and your guests

5. You will seamlessly entertain guests and business counterparts at restaurants

6. Learn how to eat properly with chopsticks

7. And finally, enjoy wine instead of feeling like you’re suddenly in an exam you haven't prepared for.

No longer will you need to worry about sharing someone’s wine glass with them, stealing someone else’s bread roll, or spilling the red wine across the table. You’ll soon be the coolest cucumber of them all.

Let’s take a quick look at just what you will learn:

The Entertainment & Dining course has been broken down into 6 useful chapters that will give you a complete understanding of the art of dining.

Chapter 1 - The Dining Tutorial

A full tutorial on how to enjoy different courses of a meal, how to hold your cutlery, what each piece is used for and how to set a formal or casual table.

Chapter 2 - Dining Manners

Everyone's dining experience comes with a set of good table manners, manners that show respect for yourself and for the other guests around you.

Chapter 3 - Asian Dining

The art of chopsticks and good dining manners around the Asian dining table.

Chapter 4 - Home Entertainment

Learn the seamless process for hosting dinner parties in your home.

Chapter 5 - Business Entertainment

Entertaining clients is one way to strengthen the relationship you have or even entice them to work with you. This chapter teaches you how to select restaurants, how to manage orders, and manage your business talk.

Chapter 6 - Wine

For the person who is new to wine, watching people order and enjoy it, can seem a little intimidating. This chapter teaches you about the rituals behind wine tasting, why people do what they do and how to get the most out of your tasting experience.

The Entertainment & Dining course will teach you everything you need to know about different dining styles, how to eat without embarrassing yourself, the proper dining manners to fit in with everyone else, and also the confidence to stand out.

You can feel rest assured you will have all the necessary dining skills to handle yourself like an all-time pro.

It’s no secret that many of us feel anxiety rising in our chests when we arrive at a high pressure dining event and we’re faced with cutlery that we have no idea how to use or when to actually use it. The automatic response within us is to dine and dash, get as far away from that table of potential disasters just waiting to prey on our clumsy nature. Well, you’re not alone in feeling that way, in fact you probably have more friends in that department than you realise.

So today’s chapter will focus on introducing you to what the different pieces of cutlery are used for, how to actually use them and when the correct time is to pick them up.

Why is this lesson important for you?

Well by the end of it, you will know what all the confusing cutlery is, whose bread roll belongs to who, whose wine glass belongs to who and how to eat like a pro in the next semi-smart and smart restaurant you walk into. In fact, I’m pretty certain that by the end of this chapter you will be pretty excited to head to a restaurant and practise your new found skill while looking cool as a cucumber.

Here are some important things to look out for in this chapter:

• Identifying different pieces of cutlery

• The correct way to use your cutlery

• Identifying who’s side plate belongs to who

• How to enjoy your bread roll

• Correct way to enjoy soup

• Definition of ‘Amuse Bouche’

• Why and when we have a palate cleanser

• How to set the table

• Correct order to use your cutlery in

Okay Dash, it’s time to do your thing...

In part 2 of your Dining tutorial, you will learn how to:

· Identify and Hold Cutlery

· Definition of ‘Amuse Bouche’

· Why and when we have a palate cleanser

· How to set the table

· Correct order to use your cutlery in

· Understanding your table setting as a map to your meal

· Setting the table for a 6+ course meal

Hey, you! Welcome to Chapter 2, what’s exciting about this chapter is that you’re learning how to handle yourself around the table so that you don’t feel the sudden urge to dine and dash.

That reminds me, Dash, you've probably learned some or all of your dining manners from watching other people, which is a pretty good rule of thumb, however, what may come as a surprise today is that they’ve probably been doing it wrong and so have you.

No worries though, after today you will look like the confident person at the table and everyone will begin copying you. In fact, you’ll look like the coolest cucumber of them all, laughing, chatting, charming, magnetizing, and leading the group.

In the last chapter, you learned about the different cutlery pieces, when to use them, how to use them correctly and how to lay the table for a number of courses.

This section is important because it will leave you with a sense of confidence that you know exactly what to do and that you can focus on the task at hand whether it be socialising or doing business. You will also start to spot the mistakes others are making, but of course, you would never dream of pointing them out because we never want to embarrass or make others feel any less about themselves, especially in public spaces. But spotting them definitely makes us feel pretty smart and capable.

Things to look out for in this chapter:

• Cutting and Conveying Food

• Understanding Silent Signals

• Dining Do’s and Don’ts

• Hands on or off the table

• Taking your Seat

• Excusing yourself from the table

• Things to avoid at the table

• Foods you may eat with your hands

Righty ho, it’s time to go!

You will learn the following in this chapter:

· Silent signals

· Rest Position

· I am finished position

· Napkin Etiquette

I assume you're dining like a royal after that last lesson, no doubt you’re the coolest cat at the table and you’ve probably even noticed people taking note of your great table manners. In the last lesson, you learned about cutting and conveying food, understanding silent signals, dining do’s and don’ts, taking your seat, and excusing yourself from the table. All pretty useful things to make you look like the cream dream supreme at the table. In this next chapter you are going to be learning about Asian dining, the correct table manners and even how to use chopsticks- woop woop!

But why is this chapter important?

Since Asia’s reach on the globe is becoming more established and far-reaching, Asian dining and entertainment become key places for entertainment and deal-making. Knowing how to handle yourself at the dining table allows you to focus on the job at hand instead of thinking, ‘How am I going to eat all this rice with these two thin chopsticks?!”

Look out for chopstick education so that it doesn’t look like you’re trying to tame a Praying Mantis at your next event and take note of the dining do’s and don’ts. The Chinese are incredibly superstitious about certain things, whilst the Japanese are very particular about showing respect. Make sure you get these dining do’s and don’ts down so that you don’t cause any disrespect in the midst of a wonderful meal.

You will learn the following:

· How to use chopsticks

· Entertaining an Asian delegation

· Asian dining manners

· Dining taboos

· Sushi Etiquette

You have just about made it through your entire course and we are starting to see the fruits of your labor. In the last section, you learned about how to entertain your guests in a restaurant. Things like which restaurant to choose and where to sit, how to handle the bill, how to handle the menu and a couple of other ‘secret secrets’ that not many others know.

Well, there’s not much more to go now. In fact, you've arrived at one of my favorite chapters and certainly one of my favorite things to enjoy, Wine!

This chapter is pretty outstandingly cool because you get to learn:

1. How to enjoy wine, and

1. How to do that without looking like a complete amateur

   
   

You are going to learn things like:

• Why do you allow the wine to breathe

• Why do people sniff the wine

• Why do they swirl the wine around the glass

• What glass is meant for what wine

• And a whole host of other delights

  
  

This chapter covers the following:

• Pairing & Selecting wines

• Understanding glasses

• The correct way to hold your glass

• Wine Tasting

  Swirling the wine

  Hue of the wine

  Tasting the wine

  Nosing the wine

  Allowing wine to breathe

So all that’s left to say is

Cheers! Sante! Salut! LeChaim!

In the last chapter you learnt about Asian dining and how to master the art of chopsticks. I’m hoping that you should be able to eat a whole meal with your chopsticks by now. I usually practice with popcorn to start and then move onto those slippery little suckers like saucy noodles and sashimi.

In this next awe inspiring chapter I will be teaching you the art of entertaining in your own home.

Many people believe hosting a dinner party in one’s own home is a seriously stressful affair whilst other people think it’s the most wonderful thing to do. I must admit, I’m one of those people who think it's the most wonderful thing to do. The difference between me and the other person probably stems from two things:

1. If your family entertained a lot, you learned this art from them pretty seamlessly. In saying that, you did not need to learn this skill from your family alone to love it or be good at it.

2. Most importantly, the feeling of being prepared especially if you’re a highly strung individual or an A type personality Having 75% of the meal prepared before the arrival of your guests can leave you feeling calm and ready to enjoy the evening and it’s only taken me 12 years to figure that out. So enjoy the short cut!

Why is this chapter important for you?

It will teach you the little tips and tricks to help you prepare in advance so that by the time your guests arrive you look and feel great and ready to entertain.

And remember, the more you host, the better you will become.

But most of all, enjoy doing it!

Things to keep an eye out for in this chapter:

• What to prepare before your guests arrive

• What to do when your guests have arrived

• How to signal the end of the evening

Cheers to a wonderful evening and the Hostess with the Mostess!

In the last chapter, you learned about the preparation phase for hosting a meal in your own home and how to make your guests feel completely comfortable (P.S if you don’t remember, you do this by ensuring that you are having a good time. Remember the guests take their cue from you.) This next lesson will look at how we entertain people at a business meal in a seamless and easy way, whilst giving off an air of calm confidence. It’s pretty amazing how many simple tips I’m going to give you that will make your entertaining affair that much easier and smoother. We’ll also give you a couple of tips to remember if you are the guest attending a business meal.

Things to keep an eye out for:

• How to select the right restaurant

• Table selection in a restaurant

• The strategic placement of your guest

• How to indicate your spending limits

• How to manage the bill at the end of the meal and avoid awkward arguments

• Host Duties

• Guest Duties

Cheers to the successful completion of all future business deals made around the dining table.