Dining Alone, Luxuriously.
The first time I ate dinner by myself in a restaurant I cared about, I was in Santorini, at a table for one at Botrini's. It was a tasting menu, it took three hours, and for the first ten minutes I was sure the whole room was looking at me. They weren't. After ten minutes dinner was just dinner. That ten minutes is the thing almost nobody writes about, and it's the reason a lot of women eat room service on a trip they saved a year for. Not because they can't get a table. Because of the small voice that asks whether it's odd to sit alone. So this is where I put everything I've learned about the other side of that ten minutes. How to book the table. What to say when they ask how many. Where to sit, and how to ask for it. What to do with your hands before the food comes. And the cities where I've actually done it, one night at a time.
Every post below is a real night in a real restaurant that I sat in by myself. I don't write a dining-alone post for a city I visited with company, because the whole point of this is that I was there.
Where I’ve dined alone
Santorini, Athens, Corfu, Zakynthos, New York, Miami, Tampa, Amsterdam, Panama City, and a secluded island in Panama that you reach by boat. Paris, London and Barcelona are not on that list, and they're not going to be until I've had dinner there by myself. I went to those cities with friends.
FAQs
Is it safe for a woman to dine alone while traveling?
1
In the places I've done it, yes, and the practical answer is that safety is mostly about the walk home, not the meal. Book somewhere you can get back from easily, tell the hotel where you're going, and ask the concierge to call ahead so the restaurant knows you're coming.
What do I say when they ask how many?
2
“One." Say it plainly and keep walking. The pause you're worried about is one you're adding yourself.
Do I need a book or my phone?
3
Bring one, use it for the first ten minutes, then put it away. The food is better when you're actually eating it.
What if I get seated badly?
4
Ask to move, once, politely, before you sit down. A good restaurant will move you. A restaurant that won't has told you something useful about itself.