Full-course dinner

A full-course dinner is a meal with 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. It commonly begins with an appetizer, followed by the main course, the salad course, and eventually the dessert, but the exact sequence varies widely. Full-course dinners are generally very formal as well as very expensive, and can have as little as 3 or as many as 21 courses. Some major styles include service à la russe and service à la française.

The idea of traditional, ritualized multi-course meals dates back to at least Ancient Rome, where the meal began with the gustatio, a variety of herbs and hors d'ouvres, then continued to three main courses, and finished with a dessert.