http://www.nj.com/…

The napkins were creased neatly in their laps, the floral arrangements plunked squarely in the center of the two tables.

The guests — 21 Newark residents — chewed methodically, quietly and nervously through their three-course meal.

Sure, there was a faux pas here or there. One man speared his dinner roll as if it were a ribeye. Another woman shoveled too much food into her mouth.

But those blunders were corrected as Newark held its first-ever social etiquette class on fine dining.

The classes, offered for free by the city, steer residents through the dos and don’ts of dining at a five-star restaurant.

“Etiquette has been a lost art,” said J. Wesley Tann II, a former fashion designer who has been reintroducing fine manners across the region for more than a decade. “Ever since Dr. Spock wrote his book, people have gotten further and further away from etiquette.”

Granted, there are no five-star restaurants in Newark, a city where mayors have toasted the openings of an Applebee’s and a Subway sandwich franchise with fanfare and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

But refined manners, the city has decreed, are a fundamental life skill. And Newark is spending $9,300 for three separate classes for children, adults and seniors.

Yeah… cause this will make Brick City a better place.

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