The Etiquette Rule You Should Always Follow When Eating Bone-In Steak

A refined palate is not the only thing you need to have when dining out at fancy restaurants. There's also plenty of etiquette involved, ranging from table manners and proper attire to conversational rules and many, many others. Needless to say, the list of dining etiquette mistakes you should avoid is long and nuanced with seemingly minuscule yet crucial details. It extends even longer when you've got steak on the table. For example, when eating bone-in steak, the first thing to keep in mind is don't chew directly on the bone.

There's a special joy in digging straight into juicy meat with your bare fingers, or scraping up whatever's left of those decadent flavors still lingering on the bone. It's one of those things that you probably do quite often when eating at home or at regular cookouts with friends and family. However, with formal dining, this is (unsurprisingly) frowned upon. Watching someone gnaw on a bone might not straight-up ruin the dinner night, but it easily veers into unappetizing territory. Greasy hands, stained clothes, messy plates, and bits of meat stuck in teeth don't exactly scream sophistication and elegance, and this could easily affect the overall atmosphere of the dining table.

Much like with all the other different cuts of steak, you will fare just fine using only a fork and a knife. Start off by holding the utensils properly, because etiquette also matters a great deal when you're cutting steak with a fork and knife. Hold the knife in your dominant hand and on the other one, use the fork to hold down the meat. Don't grip the knife too tightly — keep a relaxed grip on it instead and gently slice using a zigzag motion.

For bone-in steak, in particular, you should cut along the bone until you have separated the meat from it. Then, identify the fiber lines that go from left to right on the meat's surface and cut across them. This is called slicing against the grain, which helps to break up the tough muscle fibers and give you perfectly tender meat. Make sure to do this one bite at a time instead of slicing everything off all at once, no matter how convenient that may seem. With the juice still kept inside and not running all over the plate, the meat remains juicy all throughout the dinner, not dry or tough and chewy. Plus, it's also a great way to savor the food, so you're not just rushing through the main course without appreciating the flavor and texture marvel in each and every bite.