Tuesday, May 5, 2026
🍷 EntertainingToday's Tip
A French dinner table has: plates, glasses, cutlery, cloth napkins, and a single low arrangement. No placemats over tablecloths. No plastic anything. No centerpiece so tall you cannot see across the table.
Try This
For your next dinner, use a simple tablecloth or bare wood. Cloth napkins, even if they are mismatched. One small candle and a sprig of greenery in a glass jar. That is enough. That is elegant.
French table setting places the fork tines down (not up as in American style) and the knife blade faces the plate. Bread is placed directly on the tablecloth, never on the plate. There is no bread plate in traditional French dining. Water and wine glasses are always to the upper right.
One French lifestyle tip, every morning at 7am. Free — always.