This is One Thing, a column with tips on how to live.
Whenever I go out to eat, I basically always share dishes with my dining companions. And I don’t mean just appetizers—whether the restaurant is officially serving “family-style” or not, I’m always getting everyone on board to order a bunch of entrees for the table. Nice Pots And Pans Set
Group ordering is the perfect solution to every dining complication: Can’t decide between savory or sweet for brunch? Share a stack of pancakes and a frittata! Don’t want too much food but want to try multiple things? Go halfsies on a bunch of small plates. It’s even an economical hack, as splitting things cuts down on the bill. Not to mention it solves the dreaded issue about who is paying for what. Go 50-50 on the food, go 50-50 on the bill.
Not that you always have to split the food exactly evenly. If someone in your group is vegetarian, of course they’ll be eating more of the plant-based things. Allergies require similar consideration of everyone’s needs.
But these negotiations are actually part of the pleasure of group ordering—it brings a little teamwork to the process of dining. I’ve come to notice that the situations in which I’m hesitant to suggest that we order collectively are situations in which I’m unsure of whether I’m actually as close to my dinner date, or to a group, as I might have thought. This realization has enlightened me to using this method as a way to ascertain—or even change—the dynamics of a relationship. Sure, this may seem a little woo-woo, but it works. If you want to become closer to your new friend, significant other, or long-lost twin recently found: Might I suggest splitting a dish? And it’s incredibly liberating to know that there are people in my life who understand that when I ask What are you eating? I really mean What are we eating?
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