Solo eating - not so awful after all

Funny thing about New York City (which, as far as I am concerned, is all about love and couples) is that people seem perfectly content being alone.

Take my favorite petite French Bistro, Le Pain Quotidien – which serves the most outstanding organic wheat bread at communal tables.

Jess and I opted to sit side-by-side at a long, wooden communal table in the center of the restaurant. After walking for 3 hours through the museum, tartines, or open-faced sandwiches, were just what we were looking for. Not able to chose just one plate, Jess and I decided to share. I ordered the chicken curry salad tartine with side of harissa-cranberry chutney. Jess chose the ricotta tartine with mission figs, black pepper & organic acacia honey. Between the two dishes, we were stuffed and pleasantly satisfied.

While we giggled over stories from the night before as we ate, we looked around us and realized that we were being boisterous. Though we were only whispering, practically no one else was talking. It was then that we realized that most people were eating alone – an undertaking (more like a chore) that Jess and I would never regularly fathom.

Across from us: A European man who cut his sandwich with a knife and fork and then proceeded to eat it with a fork; a totally distraught woman blabbing to the waitress a-mile-a-minute about her life; a beautiful, blonde hopeful (talk about a Rembrandt) eating a muffin and tartine while finishing today’s crossword.

Though we were dumbfounded, we both conceded to the fact that if the food tastes that delicious, it's totally worth eating alone.