CHAPTER XXVI
IN THE RESTAURANT
THE woman who, for the first time, is taken to dinner in a large restaurant is naturally slightly confused by the experience. She needs, however, to know only a few essential points in order to be able to conduct herself with propriety and to enjoy her evening. She and the man who has taken her will leave their wraps in charge of the maid or hat man at the door. If she has worn a hat, she will retain this, but if she has gone in a carriage or a car with only a light scarf about her head, she need not be embarrassed, for many of the women in the room will be without head-gear. In this country, it is not customary for women dining in public places to wear gowns cut more than slightly low.
When the two are shown to their table, the woman should remove her gloves, keeping them in her lap or perhaps putting them on an empty chair that is near. Neither the gloves nor a hand-bag should ever be placed on the table. The man should do the ordering, but as he will consult his guest’s wishes, she should be prepared to express these definitely and with sufficient promptness not to keep the waiter standing too long. Unless something very elaborate is desired, a plate of raw oysters, a little fish or a bit of bird, a salad and a sweet with coffee, with the things that go with them, will suffice. The custom as to ordering is not the same in all restaurants and if two women be alone, the one who is acting as hostess should ask whether the waiter wants the entire order at once or not. Usually a slip of paper and pencil are given which saves the possibility of mistake on the part of the waiter. Frequently, the portions of meat and salad and of some other dishes are abundant for two persons, but it will be well to make a friend of the waiter to the extent of asking if this is the case.
The habit of certain fussy people when eating in a restaurant of wiping off their plates before they are served is intolerable—and foolish. It is unpleasant for other people,—besides, if the plates are not clean, there is no ground for faith in the napkins.
To snap the fingers at a waiter is to stamp one’s self as a vulgarian.
A MODERATE ORDER
Order within your means and display no anxiety when toward the end of the meal the waiter lays your bill face downward on the table. When you are ready to pay it, satisfy yourself that it is correct and place on the waiter’s tray a sum sufficient to cover it and the amount of the tip custom says you must give. If a mistake has been made, a quiet word will usually prove a sufficient remedy.