NEW YORK (AP) — Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a large circle of friends. But once or twice a week goes to a restaurant alone.
Imanirad said eating alone gives her time to think or read. She tries not to touch her phone and enjoys the silence. “It’s like a spa, but different,” Imanirad said recently over a solo lunch at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco.
Imanirad is not alone in her Desire to be aloneAccording to restaurant reservation site OpenTable, individual reservations in the US have increased by 29% over the past two years. In Germany they have increased by 18% this year and in the UK by 14%.
In Japan, there is even a special expression for solo dining: “ohitorisama,” which means “alone,” but honorifics are used before and after the word to make individuals feel less hesitant. In a recent survey, Japan’s Hot Pepper Gourmet Eating Out Research Institute found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018.
For this reason, many restaurants in Japan and elsewhere are organizing new seating areas, changing their menus, and adding other special touches to appeal to solo travelers.
“Even so-called family restaurants offer more seating at the counter for solo travelers and offer smaller courses so that a solo traveler can have a choice of dishes,” says Masahiro Inagaki, a senior researcher at the institute.
CEO of OpenTable Debby Soo thinks Remote work is one reason for the increase, as guests are looking for a break from their home office. But she believes there are deeper reasons.
“I think there is a broader movement of self-love and self-care and truly enjoying one’s own company,” Soo said.
The pandemic has also affected social interactions less feasible and therefore less important when eating out, says Anna Mattila, a professor of hospitality management at Penn State University who has studied dining alone. And smartphones help some restaurant diners feel connected to others even when they’re alone, she says.
“Social norms have changed. People no longer see guests eating alone and think, ‘You must be a loner,'” Mattila said.
The growth is due to the fact that more and more people Living aloneIn 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single-person households now make up a third of all households, and that share is expected to rise to 40% by 2040, according to government data.
Increasing interest in Solo travel – especially for travellers aged 55 and over – also leads to more meals alone.
On a recent solo trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, Carolyn Ray was stunned when the hostess led her to a beautiful lake-view table that was set for one and even included a small vase of flowers. Ray, the CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a website for women over 50 who travel alone, said other restaurants have tried to seat her further back or specifically asked if anyone was joining her.
Ray advises women who want to eat alone to go elsewhere if they are treated rudely or are assigned a bad table.
“It’s almost as if the world hasn’t yet internalized the idea that we’re on our own because we want to be on our own and be independent and self-determined,” she said. “We can go to any restaurant we want and get a table for one and feel good about it.”
Shawn Singh, a Houston-based content creator and restaurant critic, said he eats alone about 70% of the time. If the idea of venturing out to eat alone intimidates you, he suggests going for lunch instead of dinner — when tables are usually busier with groups — or going early on a weekday.
“The best way to visit a restaurant you’ve been wanting to see is definitely to go alone,” Singh said. “If I go at 5 p.m. and alone, I’ve never been turned away.”
Restaurants are not always happy to seat a single guest at a table that could accommodate more. Michelin-starred London restaurant Alex Dilling, in the Café Royal hotel, caused a stir last year when it began charging single diners the same as two guests. Its eight-course tasting menu, which includes Cornish caviar and squid, costs £215 ($280) per person.
The restaurant, which has only 34 seats, did not respond to a request for comment, but its website does not allow reservations for fewer than two people.
Other restaurants say it’s worth seating just one person at a table for two because solo diners are often loyal repeat customers.
“While there may be short-term losses there, I think we’re planning for the long term and want to establish ourselves as a really special place,” says Drew Brady, chief operating officer at Overthrow Hospitality, which operates 11 vegan restaurant concepts in New York.
Brady has a Increase in solo travellers since the pandemic and says they are evenly split between men and women. At the company’s flagship restaurant, Avant Garden, they make up as much as 8% of guests.
In response, the restaurant partnered with Lightspeed, a restaurant technology and consulting company, to develop a solo dining program. Avant Garden now has a spacious table for solo diners, with a $65 four-course meal designed like a passport to enhance the sense of adventure. When solo diners order a cocktail, a bartender mixes it tableside.
Mattila, of Pennsylvania State University, says restaurants may need to consider other changes. Her research has shown that solo diners prefer square shapes – such as lamps, tables and plates – to round ones, which are more associated with group cohesion. They also prefer slow music.
Jill Weber, the founder of Sojourn Philly, a Philadelphia company that owns two restaurants and a wine bar, said she sets up a communal table at special events like wine tastings so people have a place to gather. She also doesn’t offer two-person specials.
Weber, who is also an archaeologist, likes to eat alone when traveling.
“There’s something special about not having to agree on where you’re going and everything that comes with it. You have the freedom to stay as long as you want, order what you want and sit down with those things,” she said. “Sometimes it feels brave.”
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Durbin reported from Detroit. Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Kelvin Chan in London and Haven Daley in San Francisco contributed.
