Chicago etiquette luncheon builds confidence while covering bread buttering, fork usage as part of a mentorship program, young girls of color are taught the dos and don’ts of dining to help ease their way in any space.
On a late Saturday morning in February, a group of girls and their moms sat with their hands in their lap, nary a cell phone in sight, at a long table at Bronzeville Winery on Chicago’s South Side.
All eyes were on Rica Cuff, an elegant woman dressed in a white sweater studded with pearls and rhinestones around the collar.
“We can spend a lot of time looking at what the most fashionable things are, but those things — even money — are not going to get you into places where manners and displaying good etiquette are going to get you,” Cuff said to the girls, whose ages ranged from 11 to 15.
Along with her daughter, Bronzeville Winery co-owner Cecilia Cuff, Rica Cuff was leading a Mommy & Me Etiquette Lunch for Polished Pebbles, a mentorship group for girls of color.
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