How to French Fold a Napkin and Formally Set a Table With It

This is normally used in Europe more common in France, it is an amateur setting used often among family or 2-3 starred restaurants, I hope you enjoy doing this, i have always enjoyed setting tables and elaborate napkin designs, but this one is a good simple one.

· Cutlery= soup spoon, dessert spoon, knife, main course fork and salad fork.

· Plates=main course plate, salad plate, soup bowl, bread plate.

· Glasses= wine glass and water glass.

· Cloth napkins thatare foldable but also crisp.

Lay the napkin flat out fold it in half (hotdog style, vertical) fold it in half again (burger style, horizontal) you should now have a square. Turn it one side turn to the right.

Peel back the first layer of the napkin from the top right hand corner gently pull it down to the bottom left hand corner and smoothly flatten it, take the second layer from the top right hand corner tuck part of the edge underneath the first diagonal fold and do the same to the third layer (the edge goes underneath the second layer.)

Flip it over, fold the left side over about an inch to the right you’ll know you did it right because you will see triangles, fold the right side over top so it’s about three centimetres from the left, and flip it back over.

You should be able to find three pockets, starting from the top right hand corner down to the bottom left hand corner.( We only use two of them) Stick your knife in the middle pocket. Blade facing left, close to the left also. In the second pouch beside the knife place your soup spoon (to the right side of the knife). The bottom pouch you slip in the main course fork (between the knife and soup spoon. To the right of the fork you place the salad fork. (Try resting it on top of the soup spoon it might be hard, if so just place it to the right of the spoon). Remember the forks go in the bottom pouch.

You place your main course plate on the bottom, on top you put the salad plate, and on top of your salad plate you place your soup bowl. Have them centered. In your soup bowl place your (French folded filled of cutlery napkin.) It can be any way but some people consider it rude if it is completely sideways, the more original and common way is centered and facing upright. Across the top of the plate sideways place your butter knife, the blade facing towards the plates and handle end to the right. Then your dessert spoon behind the butter knife the bowl of spoon facing left and upright. (The bowl of the spoon is what holds your dessert.) To the right of the end of your dessert spoon and butter knife you place a wine glass, beside your wine glass place a water glass, to the right of your water glass place your bread plate.