Comments on: Solo dining in a social country

By: Bells

Bells — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:09:17 +0000

i always like the idea of eating alone more than the reality but I’ve lately become very comfortable with knitting alone at cafes – having something in my hands is probably the equivalent of a paper or book yeah? It really works for me but I’m yet to try it at a meal. A challenge!

By: History is dead, Italy is alive! » Tammi Tasting Terroir

History is dead, Italy is alive! » Tammi Tasting Terroir — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:17:41 +0000

[...] for most travellers – how to penetrate the self-contained extant social groups of the locals? My thoughts on dining alone and Michael’s on why don’t we break down more social barriers when sharing a table in [...]

By: luigi

luigi — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:58:04 +0000

Very nice article!
hope you are enjoying sicilia,

Luigi

By: Sharing candy with a stranger

Sharing candy with a stranger — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:35:22 +0000

[...] just read Tammi’s post regarding the role that food and eating out takes in Italian social interactions got me questioning our own society. How do we interact with others during food. What about these so [...]

By: Caveat Calcei

Caveat Calcei — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:56:25 +0000

Eating alone carries with it a series of strange customs and smokescreens to make loneliness. The newspaper crossword, the Twitter engagement, once upon a time the cigarette enjoyed with a cup of coffee (and the Grappa).

Thank you for this – you’ve seen and shared things that not everyone can. I might even head out for a solo cup of coffee in a strange suburb & work my way up from there.

By: Ev

Ev — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:37:57 +0000

Hi Tam,

I want to go to Italy!

I too have wrestled with the ‘dining alone’ while I was living in a share house in Marrockville for a while. The dining there was mostly very informal Vietnamese, but it still felt weird.

In the mornings it was okay; reading the paper over breaky is totally legit. Lunch the paper is still viable, or work notes. But dinner, for some difficult to determine reason, was always difficult. I usually ended up buying takeaway and sneaking home, rather than sit in public solo and eat. Maybe I needed a moleskin? Or maybe I just needed Grappa? But you’re definitely right, there are some (perceived) weird social conventions around eating alone. Good luck with it.

By: Tweets that mention Solo dining in a social country » Tammi Tasting Terroir -- Topsy.com

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:13:36 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tammi Jonas, ross karavis. ross karavis said: RT @tammois: My thoughts so far on food culture in Bologna and eating alone: http://bit.ly/aTaVkO [...]

By: Ross Karavis

Ross Karavis — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:38:01 +0000

Lovely piece of observational writing. Deft writing and analysis

By: Paolo Scimone

Paolo Scimone — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:42:38 +0000

Hi Tammi, gee you’re making me really jealous. It’s been twenty years since my last trip to Italy, but Italy, it seems at least to some extent, has come to Australia.

I celebrated a friends birthday at Moretti’s in Leichardt where I ordered a pizza with zucchini flowers. And I do occasionally eat tortellini with butter and sage, one of my favourite dishes. I remember a childhood friend asking me to make some butter and cheese pasta once, and I was offering him any sauce he wanted but he was adamant about “butter and cheese”. Sage makes it all the nicer.

Are you actually learning a bit of Italian formally or are you just picking up some along the way?

Interesting comments regarding eating out at bars, which, I might add, are every second shop in Italy; I doubt that’s changed.

Have a great time, and if you get to go anywhere near Recco, near Genova (Genoa), you must try “focaccia al formaggio”, you won’t regret it. It will undoubtedly be one of the nicest things you have ever eaten. Very simple and very nice. Only 20 miles away from there, it tastes nothing like the original, only Recco and its immediate surrounding towns.

Ciao, Paolo