Categories: News

Is this the end of bottomless butter chicken?

In an essay for The New York Times, Raj Tawney writes about his connection to Indian buffets, wondering if they’ll survive the pandemic. When he was growing up in Commack, New York, going to an Indian buffet was an essential and comforting activity. Many of his favorite restaurants have offered takeout and outdoor seating, but he says none of them have tried to reconfigure the concept of a buffet. Tawney (who’s of Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian descent) writes that Indian buffets are a gateway into the unknown; the encounters there remind us of our commonalities. “Where else could you, for $10 to $20, step up to a variety of offerings of your choosing?” For his family, these memories and experiences can’t be replaced by delivery, although it may be years before any of us feel comfortable eating at buffets again.

Related Post
The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

2 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

2 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

2 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

2 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago