Please Don't Make This Amateur Mistake When Dining At A Steakhouse

Dining comportment, sometimes known as etiquette, can be opaque. Sure, there are some non-negotiables, such as not being rude to restaurant staff regardless of whatever slight you believe you have perceived. Unless you're an actual baby, keep your shoes on, a guideline, believe it or not, we have seen flouted in one of New York City's best steakhouses. Yet there are also gray areas where behaviors may not hurt or unsettle anyone but don't exactly do you any favors either.

Cutting your steak up all at once by slicing it into tiny cubes or strips before you so much as have a taste is one of those mostly harmless little foibles that you still don't want to be caught committing. For one, it undermines another best practice: Sampling whatever you've ordered before taking any ancillary action, whether that's adding a little salt and pepper, dipping a bite into those terrific steakhouse sauces, or, yes, hacking into those chateaubriands, filet mignons, T-bones, and porterhouses straight away. Immediately disassembling the cut can also make it slightly more challenging for the back of the house to box up any leftovers. Seconds matter in busy restaurant kitchens, so if you can make their job even a little easier, it is literally the least you can do.

This should really go without saying (for many it will), but do not seat yourself. Plenty of restaurants have a proper host stand front and center, but the absence of a formal gatekeeper is not an opportunity for you to claim a table like some hospitality pirate. Should someone appear and tell you to sit anywhere, go nuts, but try to control yourself until that happens. Another hopeful given: Be polite and patient. If you have the discretionary income to pay a markup for life's wonderful inessentials, such as dining out, you may as well be royalty. Act graciously, not entitled. Drinks, utensils, and checks slow to arrive? Someone is still serving you like you're nobility — be noble.

In addition to its opacity, etiquette is also a double-edged sword. Has your dining companion made cattle confetti out of their meal? Unless they're among your true intimates, there is no need to call attention to the beefy blunder. Lead by example, and they may take a more measured approach next time. Making people feel comfortable, welcome, and at ease is, after all, the true height of decorum.