"A good friend of mine, Fiona Symington, is planning to write an article on women eating alone in public. She has some questions (below) she would like women to answer by the end of December.
I would be grateful if you could circulate her questions to your networks and ask them to send their responses directly to her:
As background, OpenTable in July this year reported a 110% increase in UK reservations for tables for one. Fiona is curious about this - who is dining more, how are we dining, and has social media become our surrogate dining companion versus dining solo as an opportunity to unwind and enjoy the pleasures of the table.
Her questions are:
- Have you dined alone, and if so, was it be choice or by necessity?
- If by choice, how frequently do you dine alone? (how many times a month/year?)
- Do you dine alone in the city where you live or when you are travelling for either work or pleasure?
- What do you most enjoy about the experience?
- Do you take a book/ magazine/ kindle with you?
- Is it easier to dine alone that it was five years ago?
- Do you think the experience of dining alone as a woman is different from men?
- What is your favourite place (including city) to dine alone?
- Do you have a favourite place to dine - restaurant/ cafe etc?
- Where do you like to sit?
- What do you think is key to enjoying yourself when dining alone?
- Did you book a table somewhere in advance, or turn up and eat?"
Many thanks
Virginia