The Buffet Is Dead. Long Live the Buffet!

The Swedes Have the Smorgasbord; Americans, Vegas and Sizzler. Can All-You-Can-Eat Return Responsibly?

Growing up, few things loomed quite as large as a trip to the buffet. I say the buffet because the chafing dishes all blur together—part and parcel of one great, endless table; a physical manifestation of the infinite scroll before the infinite scroll had even been invented. To call it a meal would feel disingenuous; nothing short of “trip” captured the feeling of the experience, which stretched time and space and stomachs.

I’ve been thinking about buffets lately because, if you haven’t heard, they are back. The pandemic is far from …

Bite-Size Shanghai

Mi Young is a Chinese Canadian illustrator currently based in New York City. Young, who often draws from her own experiences as a global citizen, loves to explore characters and their interactions …

Is Black Veganism the Future of Soul Food?

What Animates the Cuisine Isn't the Chicken or the Hog—It's the Spirit of Preservation and Promotion of Black Identity

Soul food is famously revered for pork and barbecue, for savory side dishes cooked in lard. I am a Black man who grew up loving my mother’s cornbread dressing and …

Where I Go: Foraging for Wild Mushrooms  | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Where I Go: Foraging for Wild Mushrooms 

Chanterelles in the Market? $24.99 Per Pound. In the Forest? Priceless 

Sandwiched between shitakes and oyster mushrooms, I spot them: the golden treasures of the forest. Piled indecorously in a standard box that fits a standard shelf, they’re selling at a …

Why Americans Still Eat Barbecue on July Fourth | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Americans Still Eat Barbecue on July Fourth

More Than Two Centuries Ago, Roasted Meat Met Independence Day and Hasn’t Left the National Consciousness Since

Dearly beloved, we are gathered in this moment to celebrate the culinary union of barbecue (a.k.a. barbeque, bar-b-que, bar-b-q, and BBQ) and Independence Day (a.k.a. July 4 or “the Fourth …

How Concentration Camp Prisoners Found Comfort in Imaginary Feasts

From Ravensbrück to Mao's Labor Camps, Inmates Recited Family Recipes to Preserve Their Humanity

When the Soviet Union sent Dmitri Likhachev to an offshore detention camp in February 1928, the Russian scholar was crammed onto a train car with other prisoners and handed a …