Soup Etiquettes

More and more job interviews and business meetings take place over brunches and lunches, and what most people are slow to figure out is that a person's dinner companion is watching to see how their business associates conduct themselves and that includes that person's table etiquettes. One tricky and potentially dangerous type of food to negotiate is soup. Whether thick, or thin, vegetable or cream, most people do not want to find themselves with soup down the front of their suits. Here is how a person should eat soup everywhere:-

When eating a spoonful of soup make sure that the soup is taken away from the outside of the bowl or plate-away, not towards you- so that should a drop of soup should fall it would land in the bowl, therefore not on you.
There are different rules for eating clear soups with "objects" in them like meat and vegetables. When eating clear soups, it should be eaten from the side of the spoon. For soups with "objects' in them a person should eat them from the front of the spoon.
There are varying opinions about drinking from a soup bowl, but when it comes to business lunches and drinking out of a bowl, it is something an individual may never want to attempt. But if chooses to do so, here is some advice, if the bowl has handles and the soup is clear then you may drink. When drinking from a soup bowl make sure to tip the bowl away instead of towards you.
Where to place the soup spoon is an important bit of information to know. Between sips, the spoon can be placed in a plate or in the bowl. When completely finished eating, the spoon should be placed on the saucer's left side, beside the bowl or the lower right hand side. If the soup is served in a shallow soup plate or dish leave the spoon in the soup plate when you have finished.
So as not to inconvenience the wait staff it is best to place the soup spoon on the right side for easy removal. If the soup is served in a narrow soup cup, place the spoon on the saucer between spoonfuls to avoid having the spoon standing straight up in the cup.

Tips for eating bread

When eating bread at business lunches, break it up into bite size pieces. The bread or roll and butter should be placed on the left side of your plate setting. If there is no bread plate given put your bread on an entree plate. When buttering your bread, first tear off a bite size- piece of the bread or roll, butter, and then eat it. A definite no, no, is to never break the bread in half, never completely cover it in butter, and never stuff it all in your mouth all at once. Another, rather surprising etiquette fact, is that a person must never cut his bread in half.