13 amuse appetizer table setting American overhead view. Still life with fruits, nuts, and large wheels of cheese.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. A full-course dinner is a dinner consisting of multiple dishes, or courses. A multicourse meal or full-course dinner is a meal of multiple courses, almost invariably eaten in the evening or afternoon. Most Western-world multicourse meals follow a standard sequence, influenced by traditional French haute cuisine. The meal begins with an hors d’oeuvre or appetizer, a small serving that usually does not include red meat.

In Italian custom, antipasto is served, usually finger food that does not contain pasta or any starch. This may be followed by a variety of dishes, including a possible fish course or other light fare. The number and size of these intermittent courses is entirely dependent on local custom. Following these is the main course. This is the most important course and is usually the largest. Next comes the salad course, although salad may often refer to a cooked vegetable, rather than the greens most people associate with the word. Sometimes, the salad also accompanies the cheese course.

The meal may carry on with a cheese selection, accompanied by an appropriate selection of wine. In many countries cheeses will be served before the meal, and in the United States often between the main course and dessert, just like in most European countries. In the UK, more typically the cheese course will follow dessert. The meal will often culminate with a dessert, either hot or cold, sometimes followed with a final serving of hot or cold fruit and accompanied by a suitable dessert wine. Meals like this are generally very formal as well as very expensive. In formal dining, a full-course dinner can consist of 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 16 courses, and, in its extreme form, has been known to have 21 courses.

In these more formalized dining events, the courses are carefully planned to complement each other gastronomically. In one modern version of service à la russe, courses are brought to the table in sequence. Only empty plates are set in front of each guest and guests make selections from a variety of dishes and fill their own plate. In another, common in restaurants, a filled plate is placed in front of a guest, pre-portioned away from the table. In service à la française, food is served “family-style”, with all courses on the table at the same time. Guests serve themselves so that all dishes are not served at their optimum temperatures. Alternatively, buffet style is a variation of the French service where all food is available at the correct temperature in a serving space other than the dining table.