Dining In The Covid Era

Everything has changed since the pandemic. How we work and go ro school were greatly affected. What was the most affected area? How we eat. Restaurants have forever changed. Like it or not they're the face of the new normal.

Most of the contributors to the New York Times Food section weighed in. Yes, protocol  has changed tremendously. Priya Krishna weighed in on drive throughs which have always been big on the American fast food scene.Even fine dining restaurants like Carlos in Seattle There may even be a way of scanning in a license plate and suggesting dishes based on the drivers' past orders. As for actually dining in, say goodbye to those pretty menus.Tejal Rao predicts we scan in the QR or bar code on our phones and have the menus pop up on them.Patricia Farrell has noticed more eateries are accepting solo diners. Pre-pandemic there was a certain snobbery regarding a person eating. Not anymore. The less people in a place the better. Yurts are becoming a thing too according to Pete Wells.It turns out they're better than indoor dining There's more privacy and better for larger parties. Florence Fabricant noticed that utensils now show up in rolled napkins.

Have the actual food and drink changed?Yes. The chicken sandwich, namely from Popeye's has topped the hamburger in popularity according to Kim Severson.It was at its height during the first half of 2020 and even influenced Manhattan eatery Please to create a fourteen dollar version with the addition of a salted egg yolk.Plant based dishes were also popular, eclipsing meat ones.Again Tejal Rao weighed in on this. She noticed chefs like Jocelyn Ramirez of the vegetarian Todo Verde created ceviche with fresh hearts of palm and mushroom mole tacos. She even spiked mac and cheese with poblano chiles. Also more people are eschewing meats for either health, environmental and ethical reasons. Plus plant based meats like Beyond Burger taste just as good as the real thing.There are even vegan barbecue trucks like LA'sMo Better Brews run by Courtney and Chastitie Lindsey.Robert Simonson has noticed that cocktails are being served not in glasses bu branded flasks , coffee cups and even juice pouches.

Yes, how we eat has changed. We've adapted to it quite well though. These new habits and protocols will stay l,ong after Covid has finally gone.