continental size flatware

I picked up a box of Gourmet Settings flatware at Costco two weekends ago -- the 52 piece Soprano set. I needed a set of flatware to go with my non-existient dining room table, so I picked up the first box I saw. The design looks great, which is why it caught my eye to begin with, but I noticed that everything in the set seemed unusually large compared to the flatware I'm used to seeing. The box is labeled Continental Size and I had no clue what that meant, so after bringing it home, I started researching to find out what continental size flatware actually is.

Turns out there's not a whole lot of agreement on the Web as to what the various sizes of flatware are, but for the purposes of this blog entry, there are three sizes: place, dinner, and continental. Place size flatware is the standard size we are used to seeing here in the US. Dinner size flatware has a larger fork and knife than place size, and is considered a little more formal than place size. Continental size is larger than both place and dinner sizes (about one inch longer than standard), so it has slightly different proportions that I think looks cool. Continential size is traditional in Europe, but is apparently gaining popularity in the US. Who knew?

So there you have it, I go buy a box of flatware and next thing you know, I'm researching and sharing a flatware lesson with my readers.