Send a Message
Book A Call
Spotify Facebook Envelope Instagram Youtube Linkedin Tiktok Whatsapp
Contact us
A grand dining room laid for a formal dinner
The British School of Excellence
The British School of Excellence

The Art of
Fine Dining

A Live Online Etiquette Course

Candlelight, crystal, a table laid for eight — and you, entirely at ease. Ninety minutes with a British etiquette trainer is all it takes to dine like this for the rest of your life.

Duration
90 Minutes
Format
Live Online
Investment
£195
Course Overview

Never guess at a table again

Six glasses. Nine pieces of silver. A room full of people who all seem to know something you don’t. It is the one setting where accomplished people still feel eight years old.

This masterclass removes that feeling permanently. In a single unhurried 90-minute session, live online, you learn the small handful of things that matter — and discover how quickly uncertainty turns into ease.

You will learn to read any table at a glance, handle cutlery and crystal as though you always have, move through every course at the right pace, and carry yourself with quiet authority from the moment you arrive.

We also cover the things people are too polite to ask about: posture, conversation that flows, dress codes deciphered, the duties of host and guest — and exactly what to do when something goes wrong.

A full formal setting — gilt china, crystal, silver and roses by candlelight

“Etiquette was never about rules. It is about being so at ease that everyone around you is at ease too.”

Ideal For

Written for you if…

❧ Executives and founders whose most important conversations happen over lunch and dinner
❧ International guests who want to move through British and European dining customs without a second thought
❧ Young adults stepping into their first formal dinners, interviews and university life
❧ Hosts and hostesses who would like their table to be the one people remember
❧ Anyone with a wedding, a members' club, a Michelin table or a milestone dinner in the diary
❧ Anyone who has ever hesitated over a glass, a fork or a napkin — and decided never again
Learning Outcomes

What you will carry with you

Ninety minutes from now, you will be able to:

01 Read any table at a glance and know exactly where to begin
02 Reach for the right glass and the right fork every single time
03 Hold and rest your cutlery with the ease of someone who has always known
04 Use your napkin so quietly that no one notices — which is the point
05 Move through bread, soup, starters, mains and dessert without a flicker of doubt
06 Sit with the kind of posture that makes people listen before you speak
07 Recover from a spill, a bone or a wrong fork with unhurried grace
08 Hold conversation that guests remember long after the plates are cleared
09 Host with generosity and be the guest everyone hopes to seat again
10 Leave the small anxieties behind and simply enjoy the meal
A formal dinner table laid with gilt china, crystal and roses
❧

“You will leave able to sit down at any table in the world — and think about nothing but the conversation and the food.”

Session Topics

Course Content

I

Why the Table Still Matters

Deals are agreed, friendships made and reputations quietly settled over dinner. We begin with what fine dining really asks of you — and why a little knowledge turns a daunting occasion into one you look forward to.

II

Reading the Table at a Glance

Learn to look at a laid table and see a map rather than a maze. Formal and informal settings, what each piece of silver and crystal is promising, and how many courses lie ahead — all before you sit down.

III

Cutlery, Mastered

Outside in, and everything that follows: how to hold a knife and fork so they feel weightless, the resting and finished positions that speak to staff without a word, and the cutlery code used at the finest tables in the country.

IV

The Napkin, the Bread, the Soup

Three small moments that quietly reveal everything. The napkin from arrival to departure, bread torn and buttered correctly, and soup taken without a sound — done well, they set the tone for the whole meal.

V

Course by Course, with Ease

Starters to dessert at exactly the right pace. Handling a menu with confidence, ordering well, keeping company with the table, and signalling to staff with nothing more than a glance and a rested fork.

VI

Glassware, Wine and the Toast

Which glass, held where, and why it matters to the wine. Navigating the tasting, the pour and the toast with poise — and choosing beautifully when you are not drinking at all.

VII

Presence and Conversation

Posture, eye contact and the art of listening. How to open a conversation with a stranger, keep it generous, steer it away from trouble, and be the guest people are glad they were seated beside.

VIII

The Host, the Guest, the Farewell

Who leads, who orders, who pays — and how. What to do when something goes wrong, how to thank a host properly, and how to leave a table so gracefully that the invitation comes again.

The full setting in silver — everything in its place
The full setting in silver — everything in its place
Every glass you will meet, and what belongs in it
Every glass you will meet, and what belongs in it
Silver, crystal and white linen at a private dinner
Silver, crystal and white linen at a private dinner
Gilt china by candlelight — the most formal of tables
Gilt china by candlelight — the most formal of tables
Placement, and the place card that decides your evening
Placement, and the place card that decides your evening
Silver service, moving quietly around the room
Silver service, moving quietly around the room
The briefing before service begins
The briefing before service begins
Your host for the evening
Your host for the evening
Butlers at work — how a great room is run
Butlers at work — how a great room is run
Cheese knives — one for every kind of cheese
Cheese knives — one for every kind of cheese
Blue, and how to cut it so the next guest is happy
Blue, and how to cut it so the next guest is happy
Snail tongs and fork — less daunting than they look
Snail tongs and fork — less daunting than they look
Spaghetti, turned neatly against the fork
Spaghetti, turned neatly against the fork
The formal place setting — read it at a glance
The formal place setting — read it at a glance
Glassware, in the order it will be poured
Glassware, in the order it will be poured
Cutlery, laid in the order you will use it
Cutlery, laid in the order you will use it
A table laid for four courses
A table laid for four courses
Four folds for four kinds of evening
Four folds for four kinds of evening
Black tie, correctly understood
Black tie, correctly understood
White tie — the most formal invitation of all
White tie — the most formal invitation of all
Specialist silver, and when it appears
Specialist silver, and when it appears
Shellfish and caviar, taken without hesitation
Shellfish and caviar, taken without hesitation
Lobster — the pick, the crack, the composure
Lobster — the pick, the crack, the composure
The cheese course, cut correctly
The cheese course, cut correctly
Dessert, and the two pieces of silver above the plate
Dessert, and the two pieces of silver above the plate
The toast — held at the stem
The toast — held at the stem
Placement at the private table
Placement at the private table
The room you will walk into with ease
The room you will walk into with ease
The full setting in silver — everything in its place
The full setting in silver — everything in its place
Every glass you will meet, and what belongs in it
Every glass you will meet, and what belongs in it
Silver, crystal and white linen at a private dinner
Silver, crystal and white linen at a private dinner
Gilt china by candlelight — the most formal of tables
Gilt china by candlelight — the most formal of tables
Placement, and the place card that decides your evening
Placement, and the place card that decides your evening
Silver service, moving quietly around the room
Silver service, moving quietly around the room
The briefing before service begins
The briefing before service begins
Your host for the evening
Your host for the evening
Butlers at work — how a great room is run
Butlers at work — how a great room is run
Cheese knives — one for every kind of cheese
Cheese knives — one for every kind of cheese
Blue, and how to cut it so the next guest is happy
Blue, and how to cut it so the next guest is happy
Snail tongs and fork — less daunting than they look
Snail tongs and fork — less daunting than they look
Spaghetti, turned neatly against the fork
Spaghetti, turned neatly against the fork
The formal place setting — read it at a glance
The formal place setting — read it at a glance
Glassware, in the order it will be poured
Glassware, in the order it will be poured
Cutlery, laid in the order you will use it
Cutlery, laid in the order you will use it
A table laid for four courses
A table laid for four courses
Four folds for four kinds of evening
Four folds for four kinds of evening
Black tie, correctly understood
Black tie, correctly understood
White tie — the most formal invitation of all
White tie — the most formal invitation of all
Specialist silver, and when it appears
Specialist silver, and when it appears
Shellfish and caviar, taken without hesitation
Shellfish and caviar, taken without hesitation
Lobster — the pick, the crack, the composure
Lobster — the pick, the crack, the composure
The cheese course, cut correctly
The cheese course, cut correctly
Dessert, and the two pieces of silver above the plate
Dessert, and the two pieces of silver above the plate
The toast — held at the stem
The toast — held at the stem
Placement at the private table
Placement at the private table
The room you will walk into with ease
The room you will walk into with ease
Also Covered

The details everyone else gets wrong

Drawn from our fine dining teaching library — the questions guests whisper to each other in the cloakroom, answered plainly and elegantly.

Black tie & white tie decoded Napkin folds Specialist silverware Notoriously tricky foods The cutlery code Wine service & tasting Toasts Seating & placement The cheese course Leaving the table
Course Format

How the session runs

Format Live online class, taught in real time
Duration 90 minutes, start to finish
Delivery Small, interactive and unhurried
Includes Teaching, demonstration and open Q&A
Certificate Awarded on attendance
Course Includes

Everything you receive

✦ One live 90-minute masterclass with a British etiquette trainer
✦ Beautifully produced digital course notes to keep
✦ Real dining scenarios — the awkward moments, solved
✦ Guidance for both sides of the table: guest and host
✦ Live Q&A, where no question is too small to ask
✦ Certificate of attendance from The British School of Excellence

Private group sessions and one-to-one coaching are also delivered live online on request. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Investment
Live Online Session
£195
Per person · 90-minute live online session, including digital course notes and a certificate of attendance.

Book your place

Places are limited so that every guest can ask, practise and be answered. Take yours and dine differently for the rest of your life.

Book Now
Next sitting · October 2026 · Live online

Explore Partnership Opportunities

Download our partnership overview by filling in your details. Gain access to collaboration benefits today.