The University of Idaho Career Center will host the annual “Dine with Style” Etiquette Dinner for students to learn how to conduct themselves at a professional dining event from 5-8 p.m. April 2, in the Student Union Building Ballroom.
“It’s really great,” said Kylie Johnson, a sophomore who attended last year’s dinner and plans to attend this year as well. “I like learning what’s appropriate at professional dinners, because it will be such a big part of my adult life and it will be good to know how to act.”
The Etiquette Dinner begins with tray-passed hors d’oeuvres and beverages of polenta fritters with marinara sauce, jumbo stuffed olives and rosemary citrus spritzer, for students to learn how to mingle and network while eating, said Noell Kinyon, employer relations specialists for the Career Center.
During the rest of the evening, students will be seated at their dining table, she said. For the first time in the event’s history, instruction will be given to students during the dinner instead of before — so that students have a better chance of knowing exactly what to do, Kinyon said.
Students will learn which fork to use, how to pass the salt and pepper, how to excuse themselves, how to work with the dining staff to accommodate dietary needs, what to do if you knock over your water glass and even topics for dinner conversation that are safe and enjoyable, she said. The dinner gives students plenty of time to talk and practice the skills they learn as they dine over chilled roasted tomato-basil soup, flank steak spirals with balsamic glaze grilled asparagus, roasted potatoes and a desert of chocolate torte with raspberry puree.
Students are to wear business professional attire, she said.
Christa Strean, a frequent Etiquette Dinner speaker from Spokane, will teach her first dinner at UI, Kinyon said.
After dinner, students have the opportunity to fill out a survey and receive a pamphlet with all the tips and tricks they learned to help remember how to behave professionally during a dining event, she said.
“There have been many success stories from students who have graduated who felt they got the job because they felt more comfortable during their dining interview,” Kinyon said.
Tickets to the event can be purchased at the Career Center in Idaho Commons 334 for $20.
Half the proceeds will go to the family of Delia Advincula, who worked for UI Sodexo and was on the first Etiquette Dinner Planning Committee, Kinyon said. Advincula recently died and had a wish to be buried in her hometown in the Philippines. The proceeds from the Etiquette Dinner will help pay for travel and burial costs.
Emily Aizawa can be reached at [email protected]