I relate so much to this, as I, too, am a frequent solo diner and generally have the most positive experiences. When I saw Tommy Tomato, I cringed for dear Carrie. My biggest pet peeve is when they insist on whisking away the other place setting (which they also did in the scene) as if we're contaminating the cutlery with our aloneness — and don't even get me started on when they won't give you a table if you're "only one"; suggesting you go to the bar instead. This happened to me last year in Greenport; glad you were treated better across the way on Shelter Island. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the bar, but sometimes I want to spread out! Tables for One FTW!
Beautifully written as always and I love the way you seamlessly weave in the story of Gianna…brava!
Andrea - Your writing is always excellent and sometimes inspiring, but this is utterly beautiful and moving.
I relate so much to this, as I, too, am a frequent solo diner and generally have the most positive experiences. When I saw Tommy Tomato, I cringed for dear Carrie. My biggest pet peeve is when they insist on whisking away the other place setting (which they also did in the scene) as if we're contaminating the cutlery with our aloneness — and don't even get me started on when they won't give you a table if you're "only one"; suggesting you go to the bar instead. This happened to me last year in Greenport; glad you were treated better across the way on Shelter Island. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the bar, but sometimes I want to spread out! Tables for One FTW!
That Tommy Tomato pissed me off! I love this. And I love dining out or having a drink alone. Substack writer (and canoe friend) Sari Botton wrote this a week or so ago—an interesting take on this: https://open.substack.com/pub/oldster/p/all-the-young-dudes?r=ry7fm&utm_medium=ios.