What Is Fine Dining? A Detailed Guide

What is Fine Dining?

Fine dining is when you visit a high-end restaurant that offers a fancy experience, including the food, ambiance, and service. All three components are taken to the next level to give you the highest quality restaurant experience.

The Fine Dining Experience

                      Let’s talk about the 3 components we mentioned at the beginning.

Ambiance 

You'll notice the atmosphere when you step foot in a fine dining restaurant. 

• Fine dining restaurants typically have dimmer, romantic lighting to make you feel special.
• The internal decor is always well thought out and matches the restaurant’s cuisine and services. 
• Background music, usually classical, can also enhance the overall ambiance. 

Service

You should expect top-tier service in a fine dining restaurant. 

• On entering, you will be seated at your table by a host. 
• After that, you will be greeted by a server. Servers are menu experts and can answer any questions about the dishes and help with recommendations. 
• Throughout each step of your dining, you'll receive personalized attention.

Cuisine

The heart of the fine dining experience is, of course, the cuisine. 

• Chefs in fine dining restaurants are masters of culinary art. 
• Expect your food to be made with premium quality ingredients. 
• No matter what cuisine you choose for your dining, menus are thoughtfully made to present the highest quality food with a variety of flavors and textures.

What Makes a Restaurant Fine Dining? 

The most noticeable thing about fine dining is the attention to detail. Fine dining restaurants have more staff members per guest than other casual restaurants to ensure that you receive attentive service throughout your meal. 

What are Michelin stars?

Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants that meet the highest standards of quality, creativity, and consistency. Having one or more Michelin stars is a sign that a restaurant offers an exceptional dining experience with a combination of flavors to present the cuisine as authentic as it gets.

Fine Dining Etiquette

Dress code for guests

• Check the restaurant's policy for the dress code. Many don’t have a strict dress code, but it is always good to know beforehand. Some fine dining restaurants in the US may require formal attire, while the majority accept smart casual.
• Avoid swimsuits, flip-flops, sweatpants, or anything super casual because fine dining restaurants can reject guests who do not follow the bare minimum for the dress code.

Behavioral etiquette

• Punctuality is a big factor. Make sure you are on time. In case you’re running late, call the restaurant to let them know.
• When you get seated, don’t use your phone too often on the table. It's better to put it in silent mode to be attentive and enjoy the experience wholeheartedly. 
• Speak softly in a fine dining restaurant to maintain a peaceful setting. Even at your table, talk with others in a soft tone to not disturb the environment.

How much to tip

• Some fine dining restaurants include gratuity in the bill. If you want to get an idea beforehand, check out the restaurant’s online website or social media.
• If not included, a 15-25% tip of the total bill before tax is considered polite in the US.
• Adjust your tip based on the quality of service, if you are extremely satisfied with it, 25% of the bill is a generous tip. Please note that it's rare to tip below 15% in fine dining settings.

How to Read the Table Settings

If it's your first time at a fine dining restaurant, table settings can be confusing. But there’s no need to get intimidated.

• When using silverware, start with the utensils placed on the outermost edges and work your way in with each course.
• Water glasses and wine glasses are different. They are placed either to your left or right. If you can’t decide by looking at them, ask your server to guide you.
• Always use your napkins by placing them on your lap once seated. If you leave temporarily, put it on your chair.
• Start eating only after everyone at your table is served.
• When you are done with a meal, place the utensils on your side. Don't forget to say please and thank you to your server.

Multiple resources on the internet teach you table settings in fine dining. Do a quick Google search or watch this video.

Dining Etiquette: how to master the basic table manners

Fine Dining Restaurant Staff

The staff at the fine dining restaurant are experts in their field of work. They go through professional training to meet the standards of the industry.

• Back-of-House (BOH): Includes the Executive Chef, Sous Chefs, Line Cooks, Prep Cooks, and Dishwashers.
• Front-of-House (FOH): comprises Hosts/Hostesses, servers, and sommeliers.

Fine Dining Food

You'll find these 3 types of menus in fine dining restaurants.

A la carte menu

À la carte" is a French phrase that translates to "according to the menu." When you choose each dish from a list of separately priced menu items, that means you order à la carte. When ordering, you are not bound to a sequenced course, you can mix and match menu items to your liking.

For example, if you go to a Chinese restaurant, you can pick gravy as the main dish and then order rice, noodles, and salad separately to make your meal.

Tasting menu

A tasting menu is what you imagine a typical fine dining menu to be. It offers a series of small portions of several dishes as a single meal. The dishes come out in a sequence, already decided by the chef so you cannot choose what comes next.

For example, when you eat at a fine dining restaurant, you might be served a seven-course meal that includes a soup, a salad, two different appetizers, a fish course, a meat course, and a dessert. The portions are small so you don't get full early on in the course.

Prix Fixe menu

Prix fixe is also a French term meaning "fixed price." This menu type offers a multi-course meal at a set price. Imagine it just like a tasting menu but instead of a seven-course meal, you have a 3 or 4-course meal(an appetizer, main, and dessert or sometimes soup ), but you get the option to choose from the given options.

For example, in the prix fixe menu, you can select one appetizer from three listed and the same with the main dish and dessert as you go on in the course. The entire set has a total fixed price no matter what option you go for.

Comparing 3 menu types

Let's compare these three menu types :

Popular Fine Dining Restaurants in the US

POS Systems in Fine Dining Restaurant

Fine dining restaurants use POS systems to make the checkout process suitable for all customers.

• With handheld mobile POS systems, servers can take the bill to the customer’s table, providing convenience to the guests. Since fine dining restaurants are all about catering to the customer’s needs, your fine dining restaurants might need one of these.
• Kitchen display systems are also useful in establishments like fine dining restaurants. These screens display orders to the kitchen staff directly, and when making 7-course meals, efficiency is a must.
• A POS system for restaurants should be inclusive and accept transactions from more than one stream, cash, all types of card payments, digital wallets, and QR code payments.

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