"Just you?" the host asks, directing you to the bar, where you'll join the other losers slouching over bowls of ramen with I'll-die-alone tears in their eyes. This is a typical scene at a crowded restaurant. But not at Eenmaal, a pop-up eatery in Amsterdam that claims to be the world's first to cater exclusively to solo diners. Eating alone at Eenmaal isn't inglorious, but rather, the height of hip.

With its sleek, sparse design, Eenmaal, which translates to "one-time" and "one meal" from the Dutch, only sits tables for one in the belief that eating alone is one of life's simple pleasures and a chance for "temporary disconnection". Founder and director Marina van Goor told Bloomberg Businessweek she started the restaurant because she "wanted to show that a moment of disconnection, by eating out alone, sitting alone, can be attractive, especially in our hyperconnected society".

