4:00p.m. 3rd September 2008

| Megan Sippel

Peter Morris does not mind dining alone and loves Bella Venezia restaurant at Mooloolaba. Photo: Nicholas Falconer/177161

There's a cautious pause, a nervous look, and an almost apologetic tone. Stepping up to the counter, the customer leans in and says softly: “Do you have a table for one?”

With an easy smile and a friendly response, Gordon Lightfoot leads the diner to a table for what he says can be one of the best ways to enjoy a restaurant.

The floor manager of Mooloolaba Italian restaurant Bella Venezia sees many people walk through the doors alone – businesspeople who may be having their thousandth meal on their own, holidaymakers looking for a quick escape from the family, those eating on the run, or people who have never dined by themselves before and feel a little uncomfortable about the whole experience.

But Gordon said they needn’t worry as there were plenty of benefits to dining solo, not the least being the indulgence of enjoying good food and not having to wash up afterwards.

“When you are alone, you can eat what you want, choose your own wine, sit for as long as you want, and you become more aware of your surroundings, the atmosphere – you’re more into the restaurant than when you are in a group,” Gordon said.

Some of the best conversations he has at work are with solo diners, who are more inclined to move past the small talk with wait staff and learn a bit about the restaurant or the area itself if they are from out of town.

For regular Bella Venezia diner Peter Morris, who travels the world on business trips and, more recently, opened a furniture store here on the Sunshine Coast, eating out alone has become a frequent occurrence over the years.

The owner of Sitting Around, which specialises in bar stools, chairs and tables, has stores in Brisbane and the Gold Coast and launched his third location in Maroochydore six months ago.

This has meant many trips away from his wife and son on the Gold Coast and he says it’s important to “get a good meal at the end of the day”. While he used to take a newspaper along to keep busy, Peter is now more inclined to simply enjoy the experience.

He dines out about two to three nights a week at different locations and said the wait staff always made him feel welcome.

Preferring to eat early, he said this left more of a chance for conversation as the restaurant wasn’t as busy. He will never say no to a good steak but Peter also let the secret slip that it’s easier to indulge a little more when you are out by yourself. He said he often opted for a nice entree and a good drop when he was eating alone.

His solo nights out also give him the chance to scope out the best restaurants. “If I have been there by myself, then I am comfortable to take my importers and suppliers there,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than when you are unsure about a place.”

Peter said dining alone offered the opportunity to meet many different people and even forge new friendships.

Gordon said that on many occasions he had seen groups of people invite solo diners to join them and, while they might be reluctant to do so, they often went on to have a great night.

He said it was this same apprehensive nature that caused many customers to walk up to the restaurant’s takeaway counter, intending to take a meal across the road to eat at the beach.

“But I ask them, ‘Why don’t you come in and have a seat and a nice meal?’, and often they do,” Gordon said.

He said there was no need to be scared or embarrassed to venture out on your own, as he had seen tables for one increase in popularity over his many years in hospitality.

“People sometimes say, ‘Oh it’s only me’, like they don’t want to impose and take up a table for two or four,” he said.

“A lot of people have this thing where they’re scared to go out on their own, and it’s not just for dining but maybe the movies. But you can enjoy it – treat yourself to a night out on the town.”