Table Setting Checklist

Pre-service table-setting workflow run by FOH staff before doors open. Covers linen and tableware inspection, place setting layout to the house standard, glassware, napkin folds, and the manager walkthrough that signs off the section.

Use this workflow
1

Linen and Tableware Inspection

  1. Inspect linens for stains and burn marks
  2. Check plates and chargers for chips
  3. Polish silverware with a vinegar-water cloth

    • Use the white polishing cloths kept in the silver drawer, not service napkins. Hold each piece by the handle, polish the bowl/tine surface, and rack into the burnished caddy. Watermarks and dishwasher film are the most common reasons silverware gets re-marshaled at pre-shift.

  4. Inspect glassware under the service light

    • Hold each stem up to the candle or service spot — overhead dining-room light hides film and lipstick that the guest will see at the table. Refire any glass with spotting or etching through the dish pit before placing.

    Collects list
2

Place Setting Layout

  1. Confirm tonight's service type

    • Lunch and brunch use the abbreviated cover; dinner uses the full cover with bread plate; tasting menu adds the multi-course flatware march and pairing card. Get this right before laying flatware — re-marshalling a 60-cover dining room is a 30-minute setback.

    Collects list
  2. Set the charger or base plate

    • Charger centered on the cover, logo facing the guest, one inch from the table edge. The charger anchors the rest of the setting — get this off-center and every piece around it looks wrong from the guest's seat.

  3. Place the dinner fork and salad fork

    • Forks to the left of the charger, tines up. Salad fork outside, dinner fork inside, aligned at the bottom one inch from the table edge. Outside-in matches the order courses are fired.

  4. Set the knife and spoon to the right

    • Knife closest to the charger, blade facing in. Soup or teaspoon to the right of the knife. Aligned at the bottom with the forks across the cover.

  5. Position the bread plate and butter knife

    • Bread plate above the forks. Butter knife laid across the top of the bread plate, blade facing the guest. Skip for lunch covers — only set for dinner and tasting service.

3

Glassware and Napkin Setup

  1. Place the water goblet above the knife tip
  2. Set wine glasses for the BTG lineup

    • Confirm tonight's by-the-glass list with the bartender or sommelier before pre-setting stems — a list change between the print menu and the floor is common. Whites to the right of the water goblet, reds to the right of whites, descending toward the table edge.

  3. Fold napkins in the house standard

    • House fold is the diamond pocket for dinner, the simple bishop for lunch. Reference the laminated fold card at the host stand if you're new on the floor. Uniformity across the room matters more than the fold itself — every cover should look identical from the door.

  4. Place the napkin on the charger or fork's left
4

Tasting-Menu Additions

  1. Lay out the multi-course flatware march

    • Six- or eight-course tasting requires the full march pre-set: amuse spoon, fish knife and fork, dinner fork and knife, dessert spoon and fork above the charger. Outside-in by course. Confirm course count with the chef before placing — substitutions for allergen guests change the march.

  2. Place the menu card and wine pairing card

    • Printed menu card centered above the charger, pairing card to its right. Verify tonight's print run matches the kitchen's actual progression — last-minute 86s on a tasting course are reprinted, not crossed out.

5

Final Walkthrough and Sign-Off

  1. Align chairs to the table edge

    • Chair seat front flush with the tablecloth drape, not the table edge — guests pull out from the drape line. Banquette covers: align the chair across from the banquette to the cover, not to the banquette seam.

  2. Walk the section from guest sightlines

    • Crouch to seated eye-height at three covers in the section — front, middle, back. Misaligned flatware, off-center chargers, and napkin fold variance show up from the guest seat in ways they don't from the floor manager's standing walk.

  3. Manager signs off the section

    • Floor manager or AGM walks the section, photographs the finished standard for the shift binder, and signs off before the host stand seats the first cover. Photo becomes the reference image for the next opening shift.

    Collects list Collects image Collects signature