In the Kitchen with: Jenni Ferrari-Adler (Editor, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant)

Whether we wish to accept it or not, many of us nowadays find ourselves eating alone, be it at home, or a restaurant. Do you feel dining alone is looked down upon? What would you like your readers to take away from your book?

I think dining alone is pretty accepted. Remember: Other diners aren’t giving it the amount of thought you are. I just did a whole week of dining alone in some intense restaurants for a magazine article that I hope will be running soon.

I absolutely loved the part in your introduction when you said that a good meal is like giving yourself a present, and yet many of us shy away from cooking for ourselves. What would you like to say to readers who find themselves staring at the refrigerator night after night, only to walk away from the kitchen without cooking anything?

We don’t generally give ourselves presents, although the truffled egg toast in Amanda Hesser’s piece would be a nice way to start. Or Nora Ephron’s buttery mashed potatoes to be eaten in bed. Cooking for yourself allows you to be decadent, luxurious, and strange.

What is your fondest memory of dining by yourself?

Once I started working on the project I fully embraced salads with cheese, eaten with chopsticks.

When was the last time you dined out by yourself? What did you eat?

Just the other day I accepted a job and took myself out for a celebratory lunch at Osaka, a Japanese restaurant near where I live. Sushi restaurants are very conducive to dining solo. I had the lunch special with vegetable rolls, and toasted myself with green tea. Then I had a piece of tobiko and a piece of tamago.

What do you most often cook for yourself when you’re alone?

I now always make black beans according to Jeremy Jackson’s recipe in the book. Lately it’s all about salads and ice cream. Did I say lately? I mean every summer.