Late Summer 2019: Table for One

In this issue, our writers reflect on the solo meal from many angles. From the wilderness sandwich to the urban happy hour, from the institutional grounds of senior living facilities to home kitchens, these essays highlight the many meanings of the solitary meal and its power to bring health and healing into our lives. We also offer recipes for cooks beginning to fend for themselves in the kitchen, and we hear from award-winning cookbook author—and New Mexican—Deborah Madison, who revisits her book, What We Eat When We Eat Alone, on its tenth anniversary.

So much of the conversation around food revolves around its ability to create community, to bring people together over a shared meal. Indeed, few, if any, of us would argue against the many virtues of sharing a meal with others. Discussed less often is the reality that we eat many of our meals—close to half, according to recent studies—alone. Often, discussions and studies about solo dining concentrate on its pitfalls, such as correlations with higher instances of metabolic syndrome, loneliness, and, at least for men, obesity. Without dismissing these concerns, this issue of edible approaches the solitary meal a little differently: as an opportunity. Throughout these pages, we embrace the ways eating alone can bring nourishment, creativity, and joy to the little moments, too often dismissed, that shape our days. 

Catering to solo diners has grown in recent years, from meal kit companies offering single-serving portions to restaurants specializing in tables for one. In 2018, chef Anita Lo’s best-selling cookbook, Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One was heralded as the “Best Cookbook of the Year” by Eater and the Washington Post, among others. These trends suggest not only that Americans’ eating habits are becoming more solitary, but that there is also less of a stigma surrounding the practice.

In this issue, our writers reflect on the solo meal from many angles. From the wilderness sandwich to the urban happy hour, from the institutional grounds of senior living facilities to home kitchens, these essays highlight the many meanings of the solitary meal and its power to bring health and healing into our lives. We also offer recipes for cooks beginning to fend for themselves in the kitchen, and we hear from award-winning cookbook author—and New Mexican—Deborah Madison, who revisits her book, What We Eat When We Eat Alone, on its tenth anniversary.

As these stories show, eating alone can be less of a symptom and more of an experience. It might be a good time to try out a new recipe or cooking technique, a chance to indulge in a guilty pleasure, or a stolen moment to savor an incredible meal without distraction. We hope that by celebrating our solo meals we might better appreciate their worth and our own.

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