Elegance can be learned.Ease can be felt.

Elegance at table means being discreet and at ease, never rigid. The great traditions, from the continental style to the American one, and the posture that makes every gesture look calm.

The welcome, the cloakroom, and who walks in first. Where each guest sits, when to sit down, and why the phone, the bag and the keys never touch the table.

Find your bread, your glasses and your cutlery at a glance. The outside-in rule, the dessert cutlery above the plate, and what each plate on the table is for.

How to hold the knife, the fork and the spoon, and the silent language of cutlery: resting or finished. The special ones, from oysters to cheese, and the mistakes everyone notices.

Hold a stemmed glass, a water glass, a flute. Being served, declining a wine, toasting or not, and the napkin: when to unfold it, how to use it, where it goes when you leave.

The rhythm of the meal and the size of each bite. Bread is broken, never cut. And what to do with oysters, asparagus, pasta, a fish bone or a fruit stone.

Read a menu and understand its terms. Speak with the waiter and the sommelier, follow the tasting ritual, and order for a whole table without a second of doubt.

Which aperitif goes with which starter, and the principle behind every pairing: match, contrast, intensity, region. A full table of pairings, and the moment champagne belongs.

Sweet wine with dessert, the digestif that follows it, and the mignardises that close the meal. And yes, you can order a coffee without making the whole table wait.

Conversation that flows, and the subjects to leave aside. How to call a waiter, who pays and how to ask for the bill, tipping by country, and taking your leave with elegance.