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February marks the month of my least favorite holiday of all time: Valentine’s Day. So fraught with expectations, so impossible to get right, so burdened with Meaning and Importance that it winds up feeling more like a grueling chore than a celebration of love. I don’t celebrate it myself, and working in restaurants has made me like it even less. There’s nothing wrong with people going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day, and I love the fact that people choose to come to Dirt Candy to celebrate a day that means a lot to them, but every Valentine’s Day I bust my butt to make sure that everyone’s meal goes flawlessly and yet diner expectations are so high (“This is the most important meal of our lives!” I was once told) that I feel like I fail just as many times as I succeed.

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So this month, I’m doing something different. This month, I’m holding a week-long Solo Diner’s Week as an antidote to Valentine’s Day.

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For the week of Tuesday, February 21, if you’re a diner flying solo I want you to know that not only are you welcome at Dirt Candy, you’re appreciated. The bummer about dining alone is that you don’t get to try enough of the menu. I love going out to eat in groups so I can try everyone’s food, allowing me to taste a little bit of everything on the menu, but when you’re eating by yourself you don’t get that advantage. Now you can. Between Tuesday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 25 I’ll do a prix fixe meal for solo diners only:

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- $47 gets you -

- a mini-order of hush puppies

- a choice of any of the four appetizers

- a choice of any two entrees (each entree will be a mini-version of itself)

- a choice of desserts

- coffee and tea

- a half-glass of wine

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So make your reservations fast and come on down for Solo Diner’s Week and taste more of my menu than you’d normally be able to do on your own. And remember: you’re not eating alone, you’re choosing to go on a date with the coolest person you know – yourself.

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As every lady and every gentleman knows:
dining alone is a privilege.

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