A moment of disconnection during the work day, a few minutes of chatting at your local bar or the perfect excuse to eat somewhere you fancy when you’re nearby: going out to eat alone is not just one thing, but an infinity. For a long time it has been considered more a necessity to satisfy hunger than a desirable experience – I read an interview years ago to the painter Ceesepe who said that when he did it “they looked at him as if he were a widower” – but more and more of us enjoy going out to eat alone.
Is this “the end of society as we know it”, “we are going from bad to worse” or “individualism knows no limits”? Not at all: precisely in a hyperconnected world, where we are constantly surrounded by people – even if they are people we love very much, like family – having a date with you, being able to improvise or break the routine for a while is for many and many a breath of fresh air. of fresh air, which allows us to resume the management of this long-distance race that is existence with renewed energy. I’ve talked to other people who also enjoy eating alone, and these are some of our favorite experiences and moments when we asked for “table for one, please.”
Citizens of a place called barra (and market)
To the gastronomic advisor Eva Hausmann Before she didn’t like going out alone to eat, but for a few years now she loves it, especially when she can sit at a bar. “It is a moment of disconnection and peace, I can also calmly observe how they work, take photos without anyone telling me anything or rushing me to start eating.” For Hausmann, it is a format that is very fun, not only to see how they work and start a conversation with the waiters, but because you can also end up having a pleasant conversation with someone in the same situation as you. “For my birthday, for a long time, he had breakfast giving me a tribute in the Quim de la Boquería I ate some fried eggs with whitebait and a glass of cava, and the day started off wonderfully,” a custom that he plans to resume at his next celebration.
I subscribe to the happiness of fork at the bar: those of many market bars, and others like the Montferry Winery or Ultramarinos Marín, have given me many lonely morning joys. The author of Collado and cafeteria manager +Bernat -located in the bookstore of the same name- Carles Armengol, who also enjoys eating alone at any time of the day, opts for the same bar or a discreet corner table, from where he can see well, “to be able to observe what is happening – the rhythm, the room, people-” without anyone seeing him. For the sustainable cuisine chef based in Baix Llobregat Susana Aragon, is when you most perceive the life of a restaurant. “When I was young and working in Barcelona, I would leave El Prat a couple of hours early to eat somewhere with market cuisine – literally, near a market – and see how things moved.” He still does it: “I sit down, order a couple of dishes and watch the movement, which I love,” he says.
Pim, pam, pum: let’s eat
To the winemaker, lawyer and daily menu guru Alberto García Moyano He loves going to eat in community, but also alone (especially in some circumstances). “I like to go try new places, because it is more agile: you save yourself from having to sort through restrictions or allergies, types of diet or affinity, in addition to that task of getting people to agree, because there is always someone who cannot ”. In his solitude and tranquility he practices the menu of the day: they don’t know him, he doesn’t know them, they feed him like at home, he slows down, he enjoys, he looks at everything and he has time to be in your world and only pay attention to what is happening. is eating. “It’s one of my favorite ways to escape from planet Earth for a while to settle into my own: the best.”
The luxury of not having to speak (or give an opinion)
Meetings in person or by video call, sharing topics with co-workers, audios from – and for – family and friends to quickly discuss life or leisure issues and, in general, managing that SME that is existence makes us talk continuously. Going to eat alone allows you to break this dynamic for a while and give your throat a rest, both in the moment and later. For Josep Sucarratsdirector of the magazine Arrels “There are things, like going to the movies alone, that save you from having to give a quick and concise opinion about what you just saw; and I have slower reactions, so I prefer to think about it later.” With restaurants, “especially if you dedicate yourself to this profession,” he clarifies, “it also seems that you have to speak out, tell quickly what you think and give a lecture.” You go alone, you enjoy it with yourself, no one bothers you.
And being able to listen
There is a type of people – which includes me – who don’t care about the lives and miracles of famous people, but they can spend two subway stops listening to a juicy conversation between two people you don’t know at all. Eating is not just the act of eating, and this is another point in favor of doing it alone: you can stop thinking about your things for a while to listen to those of others. Sucarrats tells it very well: “I’m a bit of a junker, the life of someone I don’t know can interest me quite a bit… and many things are told in restaurants,” he points out. “If you have a talkative couple or group nearby, you can always accumulate stories for that novel that perhaps you will never write, but for which it is always good to have the files.”
When “only” has a trick
Sometimes
going to eat without meeting anyone does not necessarily mean being alone; For those days there are your favorite bars or restaurants, where they greet you by name and you know that in addition to eating you can catch up with a staff that almost counts as friends (if time, literally, allows it). Mónica Cabo has more than one regular customer at her AlNorte bar who goes to grab a bite to eat and sits with the newspaper at the bar, alone but accompanied. “There are also people who come to have a wine and chat for a while… I think there are bars to go to alone and others that I would never enter without company,” she reflects.
When Susana Aragón ran the Cèntric “there were many people who came alone both for the lunch menu and for dinner, and on weekday nights, as the services were less intense, in the end it gave you time for some customers to tell you their story – and you give them yours-, and in the end we made good friends.” This closeness is also key for those who do not eat just because they want to, but because they have no choice (and also spend more time alone than they would like).
Read at the table: yes, thank you
“When I can eat alone I try to look for a rather informal place – from a tavern to a bistro – because part of the pleasure of eating alone is… reading while I eat,” confesses our Italian-Galatian foodie Anna Mayer. “Something that was prohibited in my house – it was allowed at breakfast, I imagine because it was not intended for us to talk when we woke up – and now that I am an adult I understand that it is something that is not done, however it gives me immense pleasure.”
Without any shame, I support his habit with an added pleasure, that of going out to eat when a book makes me hungry – be it tripe reading a Carvalho by Vázquez Montalbán or ramen with gluttony by Asako Yuzuki – and continue reading while I eat the dish in question. More advantages? You certainly won’t get bored. “I eat peacefully and calmly, and right now I really want to go eat alone,” laughs Mayer.
From a snack in the neighborhood to three Michelin stars
Quick midday snacks at the bar with a few straws are “magical” for Carles Armengol, who also uses them as a cutting tool to get out of the loop when he feels uninspired, or as a tribute to turn around a bad day. “Where I wouldn’t go is to very gastronomic places, with a high ticket, like 50 or more… I prefer to share that.” To Iñaki Aldrey, chef at the restaurant TimeOn the other hand, he is also passionate about eating alone in so-called “gastronomic” restaurants because it allows him to reflect and analyze everything that happens more calmly. “When you go with someone you obviously have to pay attention to them and dedicate time to them, because that’s why you go with them,” she laughs. “Going alone, whether it is a place with many stars or none, allows you to have a 360 view of what is happening at the table, in the room and everywhere.” Another advantage of going to eat alone at a starred restaurant is that – for purely logistical reasons – you can end up at the famous “chef’s table”, and see the kitchen in action from the front row.
A park and a container is also eating out
Having a nice place with grass or trees and a hint of nature where you can sit for a while is also a way of “eating out” that I love, even if there is no bar or service involved. When you work in a closed place, a moment of natural light, surrounded by plants with a delicious container or a good sandwich can also brighten your existence (for an experience deluxe, you can carry a sarong in your backpack, perfect as an improvised tablecloth and also to lie on afterwards if you have time). The beach – out of season and on a windless day – can perfectly fulfill that function.
Rice and other limitations
The dreaded warning that “the rice is prepared for two people” and the large portions, designed to be shared, are some of the big “buts” that we solo eaters encounter. The first is increasingly avoidable, since many restaurants already offer individual paellas, and those that do not – normally because it is a dish that is prepared on demand, and they have fewer fires available than diners – can make exceptions on fewer days. job.
The places that offer half portions are perfect for eating with yourself and being able to try more things, in addition to the already mentioned menus of the day (which, in more and more places, are also offered at night). Bars that offer a variety of tapas – for example, their different salads – or croquettes, Asian restaurants with assortments of dumplings or taquerias that serve individually are also good places to ask for a table for one. When Mónica Cabo has doubts about the quantities – not to go overboard or fall short – she asks the staff directly: “It’s great when you don’t know the place and they help you fine-tune, as happened to me recently in Santornemi; where of course I will return.”
The rural difference
Cabo also loves going out to eat alone to disconnect from the city. “I only have one day off, and starting it by taking a drive to have breakfast somewhere on the Garraf highway gives me a lot of peace.” Take the opportunity to see a town and have her eat one day a week, to vary her role. “Many times I prioritize the landscape or the route that I want to take, and I look for a traditional food place where I can eat well, and there is always one.”
Eating in non-urban environments is different, because in town dining rooms there is more of a sense of community, both among customers who are already regulars and when you are the stranger. “If you arrive at a hostel or inn with an authentic spirit, of which there are still some, and you like to talk, it can be a fantastic moment,” says Sucarrats, “because they will be curious, they will ask you about yourself, you will be able to talk a lot and , depending on how, you will also make friends.”
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