Table for one?
A new pop-up restaurant in Amsterdam only has tables that will seat one person. The founders hope their venture will break what's left of this social taboo.
Eenmaal is for "those who never go out dining alone, as well as an appealing opportunity for those who often eat alone at restaurants," designer Marina Van Goor told DesignTaxi.com.
In Dutch, "Eenmaal" means both "one meal" and "one time."
Some readers took the opportunity to criticize those who are too socially terrified to dine alone.
"What I see in restaurants are people who are unable to do anything by themselves, who dislike their own company," wrote one.
For many people dining alone is a regular affair, from business travellers to anyone running a long set of hunger-inducing errands. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman is a fan, pointing out that solo diners get to focus on the food rather than having to conjure conversation all through an expensive meal.
Still, other readers weren't sold on the solo-restaurant idea.
"If anything, this will only add more stigma. Earlier, loners went to a restaurant and sat alone, hoping that no one would notice. Now they will go to 'the place where loners go,'" wrote one.
And what if you want to have dinner with a friend? Well, like the countless restaurants that haven't always been too kind to lone wolves, Eenmaal may not be for you.
Would you eat solo in a glassed-in room full of other solos?
Zosia Bielski