I’m sitting on the MTA on my morning commute when, over my shoulder, I see someone with a copy of Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. Oooooh! I wanna read it. Have you heard of this book? Basically, it’s a collection of twenty-six stories about the good, bad and ugly of cooking and dining on your own. If you’re single — or, if you’re a business person who travels on your own quite frequently — you’re no stranger to the phrase, “Table for one, please!”
I must admit, in general, I rarely dine out by myself. Well, I mean, you know, unless it’s a special occasion or something. And, by “special occasion”, I mean: out and about walking around the city on a sunny Saturday afternoon and I want to sit, rest, read a book and sip wine with a nice midday meal. It happens. But, not often. I don’t think that eating by myself is automatically a bad thing. Hell, with that recent report letting us know that obesity might be contagious, eating alone might be a really *good* thing! ;) But, anyway, typically, if I’m hungry and on my own out in the city somewhere, I usually order my food “to go”.
Before I moved to New York, I was much more uncomfortable with the idea of waltzing into a nice restaurant and sitting at a table by myself for an hour or so. Now? I wouldn’t think twice about it. It’s not that moving to New York made me more comfortable with such things; it’s just that this city is actually much more conducive to single living and, by extension, single dining. New York restaurants are quite used to us single folks. More bistros and dinners. More smaller spaces. More shapeshifting tables that morph to accommodate 1,2 or 4 diners. Whichever you choose. Hmmm … I really want to read Alone in the Kitchen. I absolutely love it that someone (Jenni Ferrari-Adler) wrote this book!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
almost bought this book last night! but figured i’d get it from the library after i finish the srack of books already piled up. there was an american playhouse of a willa cather story called “paul’s case.” in it a young eric roberts runs away from his family and lives the high life in new york for a night. the scene where he eats out alone is so achingly elegant, proud, lonely and heartbreaking…
i like to eat alone in the same kind of circumstance you described… but i love to see movies alone!
xoxo,
d
My “to buy” list for books is ridiculously long. Too many great ones coming out. Not enough time or money to buy and read them all.
When I was between girlfriends a few years ago–and between friends, incidentally, since the last one had driven all my friends away–I did a lot of alone dining and even went to the movies by myself. I learned to like it. This is going to sound touchy-feely as all hell, but I got back in touch with myself and learned to listen to my inner voice. See? Told you it was touchy-feely. :)
Babes, never for one second did I doubt that you were a touchy-feely kind of guy ;)