A Tryst with Single Dining

April 5, 2017

Ordering in and pigging out on the couch are no longer your only options for dining solo. Whether you’re grabbing a quick bite before a business meeting, gobbling a hurried breakfast or treating yourself to a leisurely seven-course meal; a table for one is a now savvy choice.

Walk into a quaint bistro in Kalyani Nagar famous for its delectable pizza and you bump into Rehana. This sexagenarian is a former IIT professor who enjoys treating her refined palate frequently to gastronomical delights.

Travelling all the way from Salunke Vihar, it comes as a surprise that biting into a mouthwatering, fresh pizza is her only agenda.

“After all, single dining is a relatively recent concept.”

The bespectacled lady smiles, confessing to having ardently followed food blogger Karen Anand’s column to guide her across the city on a delicious restaurant pilgrimage.
Intrigued, we want to know more. The silver-haired epicurean obliges while expertly digging into her piping hot pie. Since her friends don’t share her insatiable appetite for the city’s latest foods, she explains that her passion has her dining solo.

Jyoti Nahak, on the other hand, has struggled with eating alone. “I found myself apologetically glancing at my phone or fending off awkward small talk from fellow diners who felt compelled to engage me in a conversation.

“Why can’t a strong independent gal treat herself to a nice dinner without people assuming she has been stood up?” Asks Jyoti

Kapil Srivastava, an architect is another who often travels solo on his food journey. “I find it peculiar that restaurants are solely deemed perfect sites for dates or business meetings”.

“People are now forgetting that the primary purpose of such an establishment is to appease locals with tantalising tidbits. Pune has such a diverse array of options for every kind of foodie”

I find that saddling yourself with a partner often limits your dining options or merely forces you to split a dish you don’t even want. “Besides, eating alone is also easy on the pocket, as I don’t have to foot her bill,” he reveals with a conspiratorial whisper.