First course: Appetizer/shellfish Second course: Soup Third course: Fish Fourth course: Roast Fifth course: Game (for a 5 course meal, the fourth/fifth courses are combined as the entrée of choice). Sixth course: Salad (yes, salad really does come after the entrée) Seventh course: Dessert Eighth course: Fruit, cheese, and coffee (optional) Ninth Course: Nuts and raisins (optional).
Each course is brought out of the kitchen on its own dish, so don’t worry about providing the dishes in the setting. Prepare cloth napkins with napkin rings as an additional decorative element on the table.
When you remove plates before the entrée, leave the charger and take just the empty plates. You should have an assortment of bread for your guests to eat, which is the purpose of the bread/butter dish. Your cloth napkin should be placed on top of the charger.
Each utensil will be removed from the table once it has been used. If you’re not serving fish, then there is no need to place a fish fork and fish knife on the table. If you serve shellfish as an appetizer, a shellfish fork should be placed to the right side of the soup spoon. This is the only fork that may be placed on the right side of the table. Each of the utensils should be evenly spaced from each other and the charger.
Similar to the utensils, your glasses should be placed in order of use. Water is often served already in the glass, while wine and champagne are poured during the courses. If you choose to serve coffee (as in a nine course meal), the coffee should be brought out in a demi-tasse (a type of espresso cup) at the end, and removed with the fruit/cheese plates.
The plate, bowl, and spoon should be removed from the table after the first course. The bread and butter dish should remain on the table, even if they were used with the soup.
