Saturday, July 19, 2008

Eating Steak Alone



My hair was curled and my dress was freshly ironed. I even forced myself into a pair of alligator skin stilettos. It was Saturday night and I was all ready for a big night out.

But instead of meeting someone for a date, I was dressed to the nines for, that's right, dinner by myself.

Eating alone is something I've always enjoyed doing. I love food for the taste and the experience of eating. If I can't find a partner to go to dinner with me, I would rather just go out alone and not miss the opportunity to try delicious food.

I picked Ruth's Chris Steak House on 148 W 51st Street as my first experience as a solo diner for this blog because it is a traditional steak house where people go for dates or special occasions. Although I did not have a reason to eat steak, I thought "why not" and decided to make this night a celebration of my first blog assignment.

I paused for a minute before opening the gold plated doors because I was nervous. A lady dressed in a black suit greeted me at the reception desk. "Party of one, for dinner," I said confidently. She took my last name and led me to a nice table in the middle of the restaurant.

Two minutes later, Cindy Lou, my waitress, greeted me. "Good evening Miss Cheng,"she said. It made me feel special. At that moment, I knew I was going to be comfortable at this restaurant.

I ordered a glass of Shiraz and a medium rare petite fillet with a side of creamed spinach. As I ate, I looked around the restaurant and noted that most of the patrons were either on a date or out with clients for a business dinner.

Marie Carey's song "Always Be My Baby" played in the background and it made me think about two childhood friends. We performed a song and dance routine to that song but changed the words from "baby" to "mummy." It was fourth grade and we were studying Egyptian culture.

Cindy Lou, a waitress at Ruth Chris for 13 years, was the perfect waitress for a solo diner. She did not ignore me or hovered over me. She came by to check on my three times (in my opinion, the perfect amount). Overall, I would recommend Ruth Chris as a restaurant for a single diner. It made me feel comfortable and allowed me to return to childhood memories while cutting into a nice fillet.

2 comments:

jerseygirl52 said...

I couldn't help but wonder whether the waitress and restaurant staff thought you were a food critic, and that was partially why they were so courteous? The only thing that might have thrown them off was how you had your picture taken (which is lovely by the way!)...

swingnow said...

what a great idea candy. your blog is making me hingry.