Overview:
Finer Diner was created to increase the confidence of participants to dine in a variety of settings. These settings include all types of restaurants, buffets, picnics and formal dining opportunities.
The participant in the class must be willing to listen and be receptive to the instruction. The skills learned in this class will provide techniques to increase confidence whether the participant is a teen or in their elder years.
Overall Goal of Finer Diner:
- Ability to locate condiments on table
- Ability to locate food on tray or plate
- Proper use of utensils
- Strategies for scooping, spearing, cutting food
- How to tell the difference between condiments: salt, pepper, sugar and artificial sweetener
- How to avoid spills and safely explore table surfaces
- Restaurant outings: Planning, seating and lighting
- Using smart phones or technology to find information in advance about restaurants, hours, prices, etc.
- How to effectively communicate needs with restaurant employees
- Learn strategies for navigating menus
- Advocating needs-special requests such as requesting salads or meat be cut up in the kitchen before being served, food allergies.
- Tipping and gratuity
- How to handle buffets
- Formal place setting
- Proper utensil use
- Location of plates, cups, silverware
- Determining specific glass for each beverage
- Proper way to eat soup, butter bread and napkin use
- Demonstrate techniques to use when passing food at a buffet table
Finer Diner Skill List:
Cafeteria setting:
- Locating items on table and using techniques like “spider crawl” to prevent spills-participants utilize this technique in the first class.
- Identifying condiments-participant demonstrates non-visually which shaker is salt, pepper and which packets are sugar or artificial sweetener.
- Participant demonstrates how to tell which end of the milk carton is to be opened by feeling for fold lines.
Restaurants:
- Transportation-many participants utilize the various modes of transportation to travel to area restaurants while in training.
- Researching restaurant information in advance, if a participant has access to a smart phone, they demonstrate how the technology can be used to access information, if a participant does not have a smart phone, other strategies are discussed.
- Navigating to seat: participants are encouraged to always have cane visible and use skills learned in travel class.
- Seating and lighting suggestions are given for communicating needs to restaurant employees.
- Menus, Braille and large print, ordering food, food allergies or special requests-participants are encouraged to advocate for what they need and be polite and respectful of others.
- Orientation of food on plate-participant demonstrates understanding of this concept.
- Tipping-current rate, how to identify cash or debit/credit card.
- Participant learns they can request assistance from restaurant staff at buffets-they are encouraged to experience a buffet dining experience while in training or when home.
Formal dining:
- Proper silverware use, table setting, participant verbalizes and sets up formal table setting.
- Participants demonstrate how to pass item from one non-sighted person to another without spilling or dropping item
- Proper way to butter bread or eat soup, fold napkin, which glass to use for specific beverage.
- Participant demonstrates proper napkin use and identifies the proper glass for each type of beverage.
