Feeding Frenzy: Buffets, Consumerism + the Allure of Overabundance!

COVID killed the all-you-can-eat buffet, right? With fogged sneeze guards, giant shared tongs and serving spoons, communal cheese boards, bread baskets and chocolate fountains, buffet line etiquette issues, and the threat posed by double dippers…the all-you-can-eat-buffet suddenly became a high stakes game of food roulette forcing us to become amateur epidemiologists. But wait, post COVID, America’s appetite for all-you-can eat gluttony has apparently returned - perhaps bigger than ever. Really, no really! We had to find out the reasons for the resurgence of the buffet and the complex relationship between food and desire. And to help explain the buffet’s renewed appeal, economics, and practicalities, we enlisted one of the country’s most knowledgeable restaurant experts… Restaurant Business Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Maze. Jonathan is a longtime industry journalist who writes about restaurant finance, mergers and acquisitions and the economy, with a particular focus on quick-service restaurants. He writes daily about the factors influencing the operating environment, including labor and food costs and various industry trends such as technology and delivery. He writes a weekly blog, “The Bottom Line,” and is the host of the weekly podcast “A Deeper Dive.” IN THIS EPISODE: • Secrets of the buffet. • A good deal for the consumer? • The origin and appeal of unlimited gorging. • Surprise, the reality of what restaurants do with repurposed food. • Why we are consumed with consuming. • Buffet horror stories you won’t believe. • Buffets: How safe are those oysters? • The hottest new restaurant trends including Eatertainment! • QUIZ: Top 20 buffet items – can you name them all? • Googleheim: Is it pronounced boo-fay or buh-fay? FOLLOW JONATHAN MAZE: Web: Restaurant Business Magazine Podcast: A Deeper Dive Blog: The Bottom Line Instagram: @jonathanmaze X: @jonathanmaze TikTok: @jonathanDmaze Facebook: Jonathan Maze FOLLOW REALLY NO REALLY: www.reallynoreally.com Instagram YouTube TikTok Facebook Threads X (Twitter)

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