A small confession: Although they may be the least useful posts I write for you, my monthly challenges are the most helpful posts I write for myself. So when I am (ahem) 20 days late posting my challenge for the month, you know I've been sidetracked. My sidetracks this month have been plenty: a new job reaching its busy season, moving from downtown back to Beechview, and a more general sense of distraction.

When you are working 10-14 hours every day and preparing to move, there are lots of reasons not to cook. My challenge to myself is to make sure that I am still eating well, even if I am not cooking for myself. That will frequently mean eating out. Alone.

One of my favorite episodes of Sex and the City ended with Carrie confronting one of the single gal's big fears: dining alone without "armor" - no book, no phone call, no notepad. Of course, in the show, it's about being ok being by yourself. And while I'll certainly go on for hours about how the meals we share are the essence of culture and family and so on, I'd also like to take this chance to profess my belief in the power of dining alone as a way to investing in the sensory experience of food and as a truly decadent way to pamper yourself.

Here's the part I like the best: there's no one to squash my choice of restaurant. I want Italian? I get Italian. Or better yet: I want fancy? I get fancy! If you're covering your own bill, no one can make the "sheesh, that's expensive" face at you. I get to set my own pace. I can be chatty with the wait staff or aloof (although I generally tend toward chatty). I can close my eyes and concentrate on the flavors and textures if I want to. And if I feel a little conspicuous, well, I'd rather be conspicuous as the single diner having an amazing time than as some pathetic sadsack shoveling a burrito down her gullet at light speed. (Oh wait... that was Monday.)

So my challenge to you, dear readers, is to treat yourself to a solo dinner at a nice restaurant sometime in the next two months. Take your time, order something decadent and savor your own company.


The photos in this post are from a solo lunch I enjoyed in New York at La Bonne Soupe, a delightful little French bistro around the corner from MOMA. For $16, I got an amazing deal: wine, bread, salad, soup and dessert. I sat at the authentic French zinc bar and watched the hustle of the Sunday afternoon crowd as I chatted with the bartender. Tonight, back in the 'Burgh, I treated myself to dinner at Sonoma Grille, a downtown wine bar. I had a truly inspiring spiced-honey-and-soy marinated bass with tamarind sauce over a bed of cucumber-cream and pea shoot pappardelle, with a blueberry-scented petite sirah. It totally turned my day around.