The Admirable Art of Eating Alone
How to fly solo in the kitchen in style, a perfect autumn lunch dish for one, and a bedtime story (if you're still alone at that hour) with me...
When I gave a talk last week at the University of Toronto about “how the table can make you happy,” more than one person afterward raised their hand and asked, “But what if you always have to cook and eat alone?” (Apparently, about 30 per cent of the population are in this predicament.)
I sympathize. I’ve consumed enough solo meals to know that it’s not the best fun, unless of course you live in circumstances that never give you two seconds to yourself, in which case the novelty of being perched alone at a sushi bar can feel like heaven. Peter went away for a weekend recently, and I have to admit it was nice not to have to think about what to cook for two or more and simply sit down in silence with a plate of, say, some soft scrambled eggs or cheesy peas on toast. Bliss! For 48 hours, that is, then I’d had enough and wanted my dining companions back. So I can see how people who have to eat alone almost all the time could use some help.
