When multiple courses are served, have the plates and flatware removed from each placesetting before bringing out the next dish.

2torial #0608: Learn2 Set a Table (Continued) Master the standard placesetting It may take a bit of fussing around the first few times out, but nothing impresses a guest so easily as a perfectly set table. Chalk it up to the communal nature of mankind, or synchronicity or tribalism or whatever, but a precisely set banquet of multiple settings creates a wonderful atmosphere. Even if it's just you and a guest, a placesetting helps you feel important on that special occasion when you turn off the television set and eat in the dining room. If you have placemats: set each one square to the edge of the table where each chair will be. The bottom of the placemat (the side closest to the chair) should be about an inch (2.5 cm) from the edge of the table. Although this distance may vary from occasion to occasion, every placesetting at a table or banquet should be exactly equal to every other placesetting. The dinner plate (the big one) goes dead center in the middle of the placemat, or put the bottom of the plate two inches (8 cm) from the edge of the table if you are using a tablecloth. The napkin goes lengthwise on the left side of the plate. Fold square napkins once to make them rectangles, then lay them in the same direction the utensils will go. The crease goes next to the plate. Each utensil should be about a half-inch (2 cm) away from the plate and from each other. The fork goes on the left, tines up (the pointy ends), on top of the napkin; the knife goes on the right, cutting-edge towards the plate. Place the spoon next to the knife, parallel and to the right. The drinking glass goes above the knife, about two inches away from the tip. Step 4