Dear Judy Ludy: 

Do you recommend a salad plate when you serve a dinner?  My husband and I are bohemians and throw all our food on one plate.  What should we do when we are trying to impress our guests? 

Signed:
A Bohemian
 

Dear Bohemian: 

Ah, a difficult question indeed, because how you and your husband dine alone during the week, may not be the best way to impress your dinner guests.  

I firmly believe that when you have guests over, especially guest you are trying to impress, you should set (or dress) a somewhat formal table, depending on the mood or theme of the evening.  Salad plates and/or soup bowls during the first course do this nicely.    I feel it’s always nice to have the table set before your guests arrive, that way they can appreciate the time and effort you’ve put into entertaining them for the evening. 

To dress the table, I usually start with individual place mats or a lovely table cloth; something that matches the dishes I’ll be using.  And if you wanted to really impress, you could set each place with a charger, which is often a round shallow dish or platter that fits under each dinner plate (click on link to show you examples from Crate and Barrel http://www.crateandbarrel.com/search.aspx?query=chargers )   Chargers REALLY complete a place setting, and are SURE to impress.  

However, if you don’t want to start with a charger, then start with a dinner plate and add the salad plate on top of that.  If you are serving soup, the soup bowl is then placed on top of the salad plate.  Silverware and cloth napkins next, (and even if you’re not having anything that requires a spoon, for god sakes, include a soup spoon at the setting anyway.  Nothing says uncouth more than a knife, fork and no spoon!), then place your glassware.  Typically, you’ll want to set a wine glass along with a water glass. 

As the meal begins, you will want to remove the salad plates from each guest, and plate the salad in the kitchen.  Return with each plated portion, and place on top of the dinner plate.  After the salad course is done, remove the salad plates and salad forks, along with the dinner plates, and plate the entrée in the kitchen.  Return each plated portion and place in front of each guest. 

Personal plating service such as this impresses even the most finicky of guests, and eliminates a lot of extra serving dishes on the table.  If your guests want seconds, you can ask them, then take their plate out to the kitchen, and start the entire process over again. 

If, however, you want to serve family style, you can place the entrée serving dishes on the table, AFTER you’ve had the soup or salad course, and have removed either the salad plate or soup bowl.     It may sound complicated and like a lot of extra work, but in the end, it’s so worth it, and your guests will be very impressed!  

Eating off one plate or balancing your dinner in your lap is fine if you’re alone with your husband or with close personal friends, but if you want to impress, bring on the fully dressed table; you’ll be glad you did!