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The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After
A searing expose of the restaurant industry, and a path to a better, safer, happier meal.
In the years before the pandemic, the restaurant business was booming. Americans spent more than half of their annual food budgets dining out. In a generation, chefs had gone from behind-the-scenes laborers to TV stars. The arrival of Uber Eats, DoorDash, and other meal delivery apps was overtaking home cooking.
Beneath all that growth lurked serious problems. Many of the best restaurants in the world employed unpaid cooks. Meal delivery apps were putting restaurants out of business. And all that dining out meant dramatically less healthy diets. The industry may have been booming, but it also desperately needed to change.
Then, along came COVID-19. From the farm to the street-side patio, from the sweaty kitchen to the swarm of delivery vehicles buzzing about our cities, everything about the restaurant business is changing, for better or worse. The Next Supper tells this story and offers clear and essential advice for what and how to eat to ensure the well-being of cooks and waitstaff, not to mention our bodies and the environment. The Next Supper reminds us that breaking bread is an essential human activity and charts a path to preserving the joy of eating out in a turbulent era.
In the years before the pandemic, the restaurant business was booming. Americans spent more than half of their annual food budgets dining out. In a generation, chefs had gone from behind-the-scenes laborers to TV stars. The arrival of Uber Eats, DoorDash, and other meal delivery apps was overtaking home cooking.
Beneath all that growth lurked serious problems. Many of the best restaurants in the world employed unpaid cooks. Meal delivery apps were putting restaurants out of business. And all that dining out meant dramatically less healthy diets. The industry may have been booming, but it also desperately needed to change.
Then, along came COVID-19. From the farm to the street-side patio, from the sweaty kitchen to the swarm of delivery vehicles buzzing about our cities, everything about the restaurant business is changing, for better or worse. The Next Supper tells this story and offers clear and essential advice for what and how to eat to ensure the well-being of cooks and waitstaff, not to mention our bodies and the environment. The Next Supper reminds us that breaking bread is an essential human activity and charts a path to preserving the joy of eating out in a turbulent era.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2021
51 people are currently reading
2406 people want to read
About the author
Corey Mintz
5 books8 followersCorey Mintz is a freelance food reporter (New York Times, Globe and Mail, Eater, and others), focusing on the intersection between what we eat with business, politics, farming, ethics, land use, labor (or labour, as it’s spelled in Canada), education and culture. He has been a cook and a restaurant critic. For his long-running column Fed, he hosted 192 dinner parties, featuring politicians, refugees, criminals, artists, academics, acupuncturists, high-rise window washers, competitive barbecuers, and one monkey. He is the author of two and a half books. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife, Victoria, and their daughter, Cookie Puss.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
March 29, 2022
It's no wonder so much excellent writing comes from the culinary world. Those who take up a career cooking for others care deeply about their art, and it makes sense that their passion, dedication, and attention to detail and truth telling would translate into their writing. Read just a few pages of the introduction to The Next Supper and you'll know without a doubt that Corey Mintz is a writer and foodie who has a direct line to the food world and much to say on a topic of more import than the average reader would guess. Simply put, if you eat, this book is for you.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging throughout the world, the myriad issues related to food--food insecurity, grocers and their employees, the viability of every sort of restaurant, and the ways and means food is sourced--animate cultural, political, and economic discussions. We all gotta eat, and whether we fill our bellies with nourishing homecooked meals, order out from our favorite restaurant, grab a cheat meal from a fast food restaurant, or splurge on a night out with friends at a posh upscale establishment, Mintz reminds us again and again that we need to care about the people who serve and prepare our food as much as the food itself.
The Next Supper is an exploration into the various ways the pandemic has and will alter the way we eat. The command, ease, and fluidity of Mintz's writing gives me the impression that this book was building within him for a long time, simmering like a hearty stew. Only the history-quaking event of COVID-19, which brought on long months of quarantine, the closure of many restaurants, a renewed interest in scratch homecooking, and a recognition that grocery store workers--along with doctors and nurses--were the true heroes of the pandemic, made it boil out of him. The best writers make their work seems effortless, and while Mintz acknowledges the many editors that helped him bring this book into the world, it was his reporter's mind and cook's flair for creativity and invention that lends the book its heart and soul.
The Next Supper takes readers on a tour through just about every aspect of food service. As someone who balances homecooking with dining out and ordering food from my favorite restaurants, I was surprised to learn about the ways staff are routinely subjected to verbal and physical abuse and wage theft. Of course, intuitively I was aware of this. Anyone who's read Kitchen Confidential knows that restaurants can be evil to their workers. But Mintz delves so deep into the level of abuses and exploitation--even slavery among workers who harvest shrimp and other seafood--his reporting can make readers feel guilty about ever dining out. He even uncovers the ways third-party delivery apps like Grubhub (my go-to) cheat drivers and restaurants.
Mintz is a staunch champion of oppressed workers and lobbies hard for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the industry. You can tell this is a man whose passion for food has opened his eyes to many injustices across the globe, and really that's the best thing food can do for us all. He leaves no sector of the industry unreported, and though it may seem that he's virtue signaling or shaming us all, that just isn't the case. Mintz loves all food, from spicy kottu roti to Big Macs, and he values it all. His goal is to encourage those within the industry and outside to use this critical moment in history to make changes for the good of the industry, the planet, and our health.
It's hard not to read a book like The Next Supper and be transformed by it. The stories Mintz relates can make readers feel that no matter what changes they make in their dining, ordering, shopping and cooking practices (not gonna lie, giving up GrubHub will be hard as hell for me), but even small changes, like tipping a dollar or two extra, gently inquiring where our meat and fish are sourced, and supporting small restaurants, immigrant restaurants, and ghost kitchens, can make a difference. A man who loves food as much as Mintz--he and his wife got married in a grocery store, for crying out loud--certainly wants us all to get and much pleasure from food as he does. The Next Supper merely informs and instructs us how to do it better.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging throughout the world, the myriad issues related to food--food insecurity, grocers and their employees, the viability of every sort of restaurant, and the ways and means food is sourced--animate cultural, political, and economic discussions. We all gotta eat, and whether we fill our bellies with nourishing homecooked meals, order out from our favorite restaurant, grab a cheat meal from a fast food restaurant, or splurge on a night out with friends at a posh upscale establishment, Mintz reminds us again and again that we need to care about the people who serve and prepare our food as much as the food itself.
The Next Supper is an exploration into the various ways the pandemic has and will alter the way we eat. The command, ease, and fluidity of Mintz's writing gives me the impression that this book was building within him for a long time, simmering like a hearty stew. Only the history-quaking event of COVID-19, which brought on long months of quarantine, the closure of many restaurants, a renewed interest in scratch homecooking, and a recognition that grocery store workers--along with doctors and nurses--were the true heroes of the pandemic, made it boil out of him. The best writers make their work seems effortless, and while Mintz acknowledges the many editors that helped him bring this book into the world, it was his reporter's mind and cook's flair for creativity and invention that lends the book its heart and soul.
The Next Supper takes readers on a tour through just about every aspect of food service. As someone who balances homecooking with dining out and ordering food from my favorite restaurants, I was surprised to learn about the ways staff are routinely subjected to verbal and physical abuse and wage theft. Of course, intuitively I was aware of this. Anyone who's read Kitchen Confidential knows that restaurants can be evil to their workers. But Mintz delves so deep into the level of abuses and exploitation--even slavery among workers who harvest shrimp and other seafood--his reporting can make readers feel guilty about ever dining out. He even uncovers the ways third-party delivery apps like Grubhub (my go-to) cheat drivers and restaurants.
Mintz is a staunch champion of oppressed workers and lobbies hard for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the industry. You can tell this is a man whose passion for food has opened his eyes to many injustices across the globe, and really that's the best thing food can do for us all. He leaves no sector of the industry unreported, and though it may seem that he's virtue signaling or shaming us all, that just isn't the case. Mintz loves all food, from spicy kottu roti to Big Macs, and he values it all. His goal is to encourage those within the industry and outside to use this critical moment in history to make changes for the good of the industry, the planet, and our health.
It's hard not to read a book like The Next Supper and be transformed by it. The stories Mintz relates can make readers feel that no matter what changes they make in their dining, ordering, shopping and cooking practices (not gonna lie, giving up GrubHub will be hard as hell for me), but even small changes, like tipping a dollar or two extra, gently inquiring where our meat and fish are sourced, and supporting small restaurants, immigrant restaurants, and ghost kitchens, can make a difference. A man who loves food as much as Mintz--he and his wife got married in a grocery store, for crying out loud--certainly wants us all to get and much pleasure from food as he does. The Next Supper merely informs and instructs us how to do it better.
May 4, 2022
This is Nonfiction/Food & Drink. This one was definitely food for thought. The author covered a lot of tangents in the food industry. Usually that kind of motion comes across as being unfocused but I found that it worked here and it kept the momentum at full throttle.
I wasn't bored at all. Overall, I enjoyed the journey of this one. It caused me to pause and think about things I've never considered before. So 4 stars.
I wasn't bored at all. Overall, I enjoyed the journey of this one. It caused me to pause and think about things I've never considered before. So 4 stars.
April 26, 2022
Wow! I loved this book! It took me over a week to read - but not at all because I wasn’t loving it. I made way too many notes - way too many!! - and I really needed - wanted - to concentrate - to focus my undivided attention - while reading… which limited my reading opportunities this past week. The other reason it took so long is that I ended up going down so many rabbit holes while I was reading this - exploring and investigating many things/people/places that he discusses - looking at website, watching videos, reading other articles. I learned so much from this book that wasn’t ‘in’ the book.
One other proviso… in the way of a disclosure: I was primed to love this. Food, and everything about it - from start (as in the seed in the ground, hello Vandana Shiva) to finish (as in on your plate) - was a huge component of my life teaching World Issues for over 20 years - and in my own life personally (I am vegan and I have always concerned myself with where my food comes from even before it was trendy. I still boycott Californian wines - not that I drink these days - because of Cesar Chavez and the grape boycotts). If I were still in the classroom teaching World Issues - part, or all, of this book would become required reading for the course. (I also miss reading Corey Mintz in my Toronto Star…. Just saying…)
This is about food - but it’s about so much more than food… it is a great big huge critique of our global supply chain, and our social, economic and cultural - and hence political - values, priorities and policies - as explored through the lens of food and restaurants.
Corey Mintz does not hold back. He dives deep into everything that ails us - but he also proposed innovative and creative ways in which we can act - individually and collectively - to use our relationship with food - and the people who grow it, sell it, and serve it - to re-invent the world into a place that is more socially engaged and responsible… with all of the positive benefits that flow from that.
He starts his story in Immokalee, FL… I’ve been there - I chatted with the workers - on a field trip - an Environmental Studies exchange with a partner school in Florida - back in the mid-1990’s. The description he gives is heartbreaking but really it’s hard to do justice - in words - to the inhumanity and indignity of the conditions in which the workers lived and worked.
If reading this book converts even one more person to thinking differently about any of the people employed along the supply chain that brings their food to their table, then this book is an overwhelming success.
If you are reading this then you need to help make sure that it is more than one person….Corey Mintz makes what are sometimes really complex discussions palatable - digestible - to the everyday reader.
Read this book!! And pass it along to a friend. Then go out and find some really great food!!
One other proviso… in the way of a disclosure: I was primed to love this. Food, and everything about it - from start (as in the seed in the ground, hello Vandana Shiva) to finish (as in on your plate) - was a huge component of my life teaching World Issues for over 20 years - and in my own life personally (I am vegan and I have always concerned myself with where my food comes from even before it was trendy. I still boycott Californian wines - not that I drink these days - because of Cesar Chavez and the grape boycotts). If I were still in the classroom teaching World Issues - part, or all, of this book would become required reading for the course. (I also miss reading Corey Mintz in my Toronto Star…. Just saying…)
This is about food - but it’s about so much more than food… it is a great big huge critique of our global supply chain, and our social, economic and cultural - and hence political - values, priorities and policies - as explored through the lens of food and restaurants.
Corey Mintz does not hold back. He dives deep into everything that ails us - but he also proposed innovative and creative ways in which we can act - individually and collectively - to use our relationship with food - and the people who grow it, sell it, and serve it - to re-invent the world into a place that is more socially engaged and responsible… with all of the positive benefits that flow from that.
He starts his story in Immokalee, FL… I’ve been there - I chatted with the workers - on a field trip - an Environmental Studies exchange with a partner school in Florida - back in the mid-1990’s. The description he gives is heartbreaking but really it’s hard to do justice - in words - to the inhumanity and indignity of the conditions in which the workers lived and worked.
If reading this book converts even one more person to thinking differently about any of the people employed along the supply chain that brings their food to their table, then this book is an overwhelming success.
If you are reading this then you need to help make sure that it is more than one person….Corey Mintz makes what are sometimes really complex discussions palatable - digestible - to the everyday reader.
Read this book!! And pass it along to a friend. Then go out and find some really great food!!
January 26, 2022
Lots of interesting ideas but I found the book just goes in way too many directions, focusing on one issue, then another, talking about the Canadian situation interspersed with the American one. By the end, I had read a lot of things - some interesting and some not - without really having much depth on any of them.
November 30, 2021
I've read nearly 200 nonfiction books this year and this is definitely one of the most interesting. Mintz provides an in-depth summary on many aspects of the restaurant industry that I had never given much thought -- the often-poor working conditions and culture of abuse inside the kitchen, the evolution of third party meal delivery services from potential restaurant allies to profit scavengers, the pitfalls of franchising vs. the difficulty of surviving as an independent restaurant in the age of social media, the climate for food critics and food reporters, the complicated history of tipping, the ethics of food sourcing, and more. And of course, the elephant in the room -- the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the future of the industry. I haven't seen all of these elements come together so cohesively in a book before, and while I didn't entirely agree with all the conclusions, I appreciated the education.
February 7, 2022
I was drawn to this book by its subtitle. Unfortunately, that's not what the book is about. Actually, it is mainly a long list of truisms about what's wrong with the restaurant business in the US.
From tipping, to delivery charges, wages, hostile work environments, rants on social media, high costs, dominance of chains, the American palate, waste, disconnection from food sources and more, the reader is presented with examples and details on concerns we largely already know.
There is some value in seeing the broad array of issues for restauranteurs in one place. But there is little this reader could see about "what comes after".
From tipping, to delivery charges, wages, hostile work environments, rants on social media, high costs, dominance of chains, the American palate, waste, disconnection from food sources and more, the reader is presented with examples and details on concerns we largely already know.
There is some value in seeing the broad array of issues for restauranteurs in one place. But there is little this reader could see about "what comes after".
April 15, 2022
When I started this I was going to not finish as the premise was based on the current first year Covid lockdown which went on long beyond the author's imagination could comprehend (and then inflation!). BUT the information revealed about life in a restaurant was so shocking I decided to read on. The details of the various types of restaurants was interesting. I had no idea until I thought about it set up the way the author did. I am going to read this one again at a later date to compare my thoughts now and later as I experience more restaurant dining in the coming months.
HPL
HPL
February 26, 2022
The author worked in the restaurant industry for many years and eventually became a food critic in Toronto. So his perspective is appreciated but his skill as a writer is undercut by a tendency to jump around flailing about too many topics at once.
In his quest to address what's wrong with dining categorically, he also fails to really spend much meaningful time talking about how to improve the problem. I found it helpful to learn various tidbits about how tipping worked and why many workers are so underpaid. However, I felt that Mintz could have been more focused on fewer issues and outlined several streams of through on how to improve the overall situation for both workers and diners.
** Random Facts
McDonald's was founded in 1943 but didn't add dine-in seating until 1963.
McDonald's is the world's largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes.
Chef Boyardee was founded by Ettore Boiardi.
More than half of Chinese restaurants in America are focused on takeout with fewer than 10 seats. "They're like ghost kitchens. They depend on delivery rather than foot traffic."
As of 2019, there were 657K food and drinking establishments employing 12M people.
14% of all US companies are founded by immigrants but for restaurants that is 29%.
Immigrants are twice as likely to start a restaurant business and these account for a quarter of all new businesses each year.
Estimated 20% of all restaurant cooks are undocumented.
Pandemic job loss ranged from 1.7% for college graduates to 25% for those without a HS degree.
In-N-Out was founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948. Their granddaughter Lynsi Snyder oversees 358 locations today.
** Dining Apps
In Q1 2020, Grubhub made an average profit of $4 per order from independent restaurants but $0 for "partnered national brands."
Research of 3K respondents that the largest group that used delivery apps over a 90 day period earned less than $10K.
Description of Korea's shibal biyong, loosely translated as a "frustration expense."
** Minimum Wage
Federal subminimum wage is $2.13 which is unchanged from 1991.
Workers on subminimum wage are twice as likely to live in poverty versus the national average.
The idea that some owners are expanding the definition of jobs that receive "tips" in order to pay them this lower wage.
** LA Times
Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the paper and then Jonathan Gold died of pancreatic cancer in 2018 (at the age of 57).
Kimi Yoshino was hired as Managing Editor.
Patricia Escarcega was hired to join Bill Addison to replace Gold.
** Fast Food
Along with fast casual, QSR accounts for half of all sales in the restaurant industry.
According to the CDC, on any given day 36% of Americans eat fast food.
In 2020, there were 4.2M workers with a median salary of $23K. As of 2013, a fifth of them lived below the poverty line.
Average of 1 mistake in 25 orders for QSR restaurants. Pal's Sudden Service has a limited menu with standardized rules and their average is only 1 mistake in 3600 orders.
** Groceries
Historically a model of specialist purveyors of a specific ingredient or item (e.g., butcher, baker, etc.).
Michael Cullen was a regional manager for Kroger and opened a King Cullen in 1930 which was a 6K square foot store in Queens.
The shopping cart was created in 1937 for Humpty Dumpty stores but were rejected by men as too effeminate and too similar to a baby carriage. The inventor needed to pay hired models to use them and that is how they were eventually adopted en masse.
Walmart, Albertsons and Kroger control over 40% of the market.
In his quest to address what's wrong with dining categorically, he also fails to really spend much meaningful time talking about how to improve the problem. I found it helpful to learn various tidbits about how tipping worked and why many workers are so underpaid. However, I felt that Mintz could have been more focused on fewer issues and outlined several streams of through on how to improve the overall situation for both workers and diners.
** Random Facts
McDonald's was founded in 1943 but didn't add dine-in seating until 1963.
McDonald's is the world's largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes.
Chef Boyardee was founded by Ettore Boiardi.
More than half of Chinese restaurants in America are focused on takeout with fewer than 10 seats. "They're like ghost kitchens. They depend on delivery rather than foot traffic."
As of 2019, there were 657K food and drinking establishments employing 12M people.
14% of all US companies are founded by immigrants but for restaurants that is 29%.
Immigrants are twice as likely to start a restaurant business and these account for a quarter of all new businesses each year.
Estimated 20% of all restaurant cooks are undocumented.
Pandemic job loss ranged from 1.7% for college graduates to 25% for those without a HS degree.
In-N-Out was founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948. Their granddaughter Lynsi Snyder oversees 358 locations today.
** Dining Apps
In Q1 2020, Grubhub made an average profit of $4 per order from independent restaurants but $0 for "partnered national brands."
Research of 3K respondents that the largest group that used delivery apps over a 90 day period earned less than $10K.
Description of Korea's shibal biyong, loosely translated as a "frustration expense."
** Minimum Wage
Federal subminimum wage is $2.13 which is unchanged from 1991.
Workers on subminimum wage are twice as likely to live in poverty versus the national average.
The idea that some owners are expanding the definition of jobs that receive "tips" in order to pay them this lower wage.
** LA Times
Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the paper and then Jonathan Gold died of pancreatic cancer in 2018 (at the age of 57).
Kimi Yoshino was hired as Managing Editor.
Patricia Escarcega was hired to join Bill Addison to replace Gold.
** Fast Food
Along with fast casual, QSR accounts for half of all sales in the restaurant industry.
According to the CDC, on any given day 36% of Americans eat fast food.
In 2020, there were 4.2M workers with a median salary of $23K. As of 2013, a fifth of them lived below the poverty line.
Average of 1 mistake in 25 orders for QSR restaurants. Pal's Sudden Service has a limited menu with standardized rules and their average is only 1 mistake in 3600 orders.
** Groceries
Historically a model of specialist purveyors of a specific ingredient or item (e.g., butcher, baker, etc.).
Michael Cullen was a regional manager for Kroger and opened a King Cullen in 1930 which was a 6K square foot store in Queens.
The shopping cart was created in 1937 for Humpty Dumpty stores but were rejected by men as too effeminate and too similar to a baby carriage. The inventor needed to pay hired models to use them and that is how they were eventually adopted en masse.
Walmart, Albertsons and Kroger control over 40% of the market.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2022
This book really makes you think about some of the aspects of the restaurant and food industries that are really out of sight, out of mind for most consumers! Definitely will make you think about where you go next for dinner!
Read
May 9, 2022This was about what’s wrong and what’s already happened with the industry, not what’s coming next.
June 21, 2024
This one took me a long time to get through but gave me a lot to think about. Mintz wrote this book during the pandemic when the restaurant industry was in turmoil. He looked at celebrity chefs, the idea of the elimination of tipping, the immigrant restaurant and why it has to struggle more, the influence of food writers, and how we can affect change in the food industry. It was a lot.
Interspersed with earnest musings about various topics regarding the past and future of restaurants he tosses in some humor. I loved the line, when he was writing about tomatoes growing in Florida and how it is a very inhospitable growing environment for them where he says "Retired New Yorkers belong in Florida more than tomatoes do."
He gave me something to think about when he compared the trend of online shopping for food competing with supermarkets and how will that end with the demise of the Mom and Pop specialty stores when supermarkets came about. Shopping carts I learned were invented in 1937, which were first deemed too effeminate for men because they seemed like baby carriages, but they hired models to push them around and they took off, meaning people could buy more at a time because they no longer had to carry around baskets. Then, the automobile with it's big trunk gave room to transport to your house. And of course the fridge came along when before you had to buy sparingly because you only had an ice box.
His statistic of how over half of fast food workers require public assistance, so taxpayers are subsidizing lousy wages to the tune of $152.8 billion a year should make us think. Food prices go up. Federal minimum wage is stagnant at $7.25 per hour. But CEO's are making obscene amounts of money. And he tells us how.
There has been a trend since the pandemic of machines asking for tips everywhere. Should you tip someone when you had to go to the counter, order, pick up your food at the same counter, then bus your own table? The first time I was presented with this option I was surprised and tipped. Then I got annoyed and refuse to tip in this instance. Mintz mentioned that in some places, where servers earn less than minimum wage and depend on tips managers can categorize those that are at the counter as servers and pay them in that way! Who knew?
Tipping! Every restaurant has it's own system. Does the money all get pooled? Does the server get their whole tip? What about the staff in the kitchen who is sweating and cutting themselves and under constant pressure? Is it fair that servers make more than them??
Which QSR's are the most ethical, in terms of how they treat their employees? I won't be eating at Wendy's again. But I will happily patronize In and Out.
So much to think about. If you like food, if you love going out to eat, if you've never thought of these issues, this is a really interesting book.
Interspersed with earnest musings about various topics regarding the past and future of restaurants he tosses in some humor. I loved the line, when he was writing about tomatoes growing in Florida and how it is a very inhospitable growing environment for them where he says "Retired New Yorkers belong in Florida more than tomatoes do."
He gave me something to think about when he compared the trend of online shopping for food competing with supermarkets and how will that end with the demise of the Mom and Pop specialty stores when supermarkets came about. Shopping carts I learned were invented in 1937, which were first deemed too effeminate for men because they seemed like baby carriages, but they hired models to push them around and they took off, meaning people could buy more at a time because they no longer had to carry around baskets. Then, the automobile with it's big trunk gave room to transport to your house. And of course the fridge came along when before you had to buy sparingly because you only had an ice box.
His statistic of how over half of fast food workers require public assistance, so taxpayers are subsidizing lousy wages to the tune of $152.8 billion a year should make us think. Food prices go up. Federal minimum wage is stagnant at $7.25 per hour. But CEO's are making obscene amounts of money. And he tells us how.
There has been a trend since the pandemic of machines asking for tips everywhere. Should you tip someone when you had to go to the counter, order, pick up your food at the same counter, then bus your own table? The first time I was presented with this option I was surprised and tipped. Then I got annoyed and refuse to tip in this instance. Mintz mentioned that in some places, where servers earn less than minimum wage and depend on tips managers can categorize those that are at the counter as servers and pay them in that way! Who knew?
Tipping! Every restaurant has it's own system. Does the money all get pooled? Does the server get their whole tip? What about the staff in the kitchen who is sweating and cutting themselves and under constant pressure? Is it fair that servers make more than them??
Which QSR's are the most ethical, in terms of how they treat their employees? I won't be eating at Wendy's again. But I will happily patronize In and Out.
So much to think about. If you like food, if you love going out to eat, if you've never thought of these issues, this is a really interesting book.
January 4, 2023
There is food for thought in The Next Supper, none of which satifies a hunger for solutions - Could Have Been, Should Have Been A Column Article.
(Please allow me to note that I am a professional chef, owned my own business, been a bartender, consultant, and had worked in the hospitality industry in Philadelphia and New York; both in front of the house and back of the house. THUS, I write with all that in mind and perhaps that audience in mind and my scrutiny thus is higher.)
The amount of black letter facts and information could have fit into the average Atlantic article; and the overall message of the book would have been better for it. Ultimately the author never quite lays out in any affirmative reason for why restaurants as we knew them ended nor explains what comes next. Rather, Mintz harangues, pontificates and spends pages exposing a laundry list of contemporary service industry business strategies; in the end leaving the reader to piecemeal together “what comes after.” Hence, where the shortcomings of this book rest; it should have been a series of blog posts, probably was going to be a series of blog posts, but ultiamtely became a book.
Moreover, if you are looking for nuanced perspective about how the restaurant industry will rise from the ashes of COVID and reinvent itself; the author will let you down. Mintz, is more a tour guide. He leads the reader around all the subjects, informs, and then moves on. With that said, if the reader is ignorant of restuarant industry history and it’s contemporary strifes then this book will likely be enjoyable and informative. It gives a broad overview of the many complexitites of the service industry, provides good primary source material, and will leave the reader likely more learned than they were prior to reading.
In conclusion, the book is a let down based on the title alone. It is not clear that restaurants as we knew them are over, nor did Mintz provide any asnwer as to what comes after. To provide an analogy; its like reading a dish on the menu. You read the name, the way it is prepared, what it comes with - the sides, the sauces, etc. - then it arrives and it lacks any real depth of flavor.
Thus, if you are truly interested and are looking for solutions to this problem, it would be my recommendation to put down this book and pull up a barstool at your favorite local eatery. Talk with the owner, the manager, the chef, or the staff and you’ll be better off for it; and at least you’ll get a bite to eat as well.
(Please allow me to note that I am a professional chef, owned my own business, been a bartender, consultant, and had worked in the hospitality industry in Philadelphia and New York; both in front of the house and back of the house. THUS, I write with all that in mind and perhaps that audience in mind and my scrutiny thus is higher.)
The amount of black letter facts and information could have fit into the average Atlantic article; and the overall message of the book would have been better for it. Ultimately the author never quite lays out in any affirmative reason for why restaurants as we knew them ended nor explains what comes next. Rather, Mintz harangues, pontificates and spends pages exposing a laundry list of contemporary service industry business strategies; in the end leaving the reader to piecemeal together “what comes after.” Hence, where the shortcomings of this book rest; it should have been a series of blog posts, probably was going to be a series of blog posts, but ultiamtely became a book.
Moreover, if you are looking for nuanced perspective about how the restaurant industry will rise from the ashes of COVID and reinvent itself; the author will let you down. Mintz, is more a tour guide. He leads the reader around all the subjects, informs, and then moves on. With that said, if the reader is ignorant of restuarant industry history and it’s contemporary strifes then this book will likely be enjoyable and informative. It gives a broad overview of the many complexitites of the service industry, provides good primary source material, and will leave the reader likely more learned than they were prior to reading.
In conclusion, the book is a let down based on the title alone. It is not clear that restaurants as we knew them are over, nor did Mintz provide any asnwer as to what comes after. To provide an analogy; its like reading a dish on the menu. You read the name, the way it is prepared, what it comes with - the sides, the sauces, etc. - then it arrives and it lacks any real depth of flavor.
Thus, if you are truly interested and are looking for solutions to this problem, it would be my recommendation to put down this book and pull up a barstool at your favorite local eatery. Talk with the owner, the manager, the chef, or the staff and you’ll be better off for it; and at least you’ll get a bite to eat as well.
January 3, 2022
I finished reading this book just on time to give it to my son (who works in the restaurant industry) for Christmas... but I may just have to go and get my own copy of this book, because I keep thinking about it and it would be good to have a copy around. Yes, this is a must read for anyone who likes to eat in restaurants! Or even who gets takeout food to eat at home. Don't use those third-party delivery apps! Order directly from the restaurant whenever you can! A truism I have learned from my son is that "The nicer a restaurant is, the less the cooks are paid – sometimes not at all." And it was to further explore that conundrum that the author wanted to write this book about the restaurant industry; when he pitched the idea "Half of the room didn’t believe me. The other half told me that young people need to pay their dues." and then of course the global covid-19 pandemic hit, and the research the author did for this book ended up being even more far-reaching than paying a living wage for people in the kitchen, and the whole question of tipping and how that works. He writes about immigrant restaurants, and connects fast-food restaurants to the need to grow vast quantities of tomatoes in near slavery conditions in Florida (this was the one in-person trip he managed to make before the pandemic hit), to tying restaurant economics to housing prices and how that works in neighbourhoods, to the relatively new idea of "grocerants" (dine-in in grocery stores, juxtaposing places where you buy food to take home with places where you eat food away from home). So many things to think about. The author is Canadian, but writes about both the US and the Canadian experiences, and as a Canadian I found myself unfamiliar with some of the American references (which is why I have to get my own copy of the book and re-read it). But there is something here for everyone - even some tips on how / what to order to get the best Sri Lankan food in Toronto!
February 23, 2022
See my full review here.
In this unflinching expose, food writer Mintz tackles every aspect of the restaurant world, from family-owned diners in some out-of-the-way strip mall to luxurious Michelin star meals, from food trucks to fast food to chain restaurants. He explains how workers are paid sub-minimum, how tipping hurts workers and why North American diners don’t like restaurants that ban tipping. He delves into the food supply chain, and the toxic practices that keep prices artificially low. He examines a number of ethical, socially responsible restaurant experiments, and explores why they are struggling. Finally, he exhorts us to choose our meals away from home with care, with compassion for workers, and with respect for those who are trying hard to change the system. It’s a big book and Mintz tries to deliver a lot of information. I kept having to put the book down, to let the ideas percolate, as there’s a lot to (sorry!) digest. It’s a big topic, all intertwined, and it can easily overwhelm, as Mintz himself admits. But it certainly informs, and while it was a lot to take in, I found the entire thing quite interesting. My thanks to Perseus Books for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
In this unflinching expose, food writer Mintz tackles every aspect of the restaurant world, from family-owned diners in some out-of-the-way strip mall to luxurious Michelin star meals, from food trucks to fast food to chain restaurants. He explains how workers are paid sub-minimum, how tipping hurts workers and why North American diners don’t like restaurants that ban tipping. He delves into the food supply chain, and the toxic practices that keep prices artificially low. He examines a number of ethical, socially responsible restaurant experiments, and explores why they are struggling. Finally, he exhorts us to choose our meals away from home with care, with compassion for workers, and with respect for those who are trying hard to change the system. It’s a big book and Mintz tries to deliver a lot of information. I kept having to put the book down, to let the ideas percolate, as there’s a lot to (sorry!) digest. It’s a big topic, all intertwined, and it can easily overwhelm, as Mintz himself admits. But it certainly informs, and while it was a lot to take in, I found the entire thing quite interesting. My thanks to Perseus Books for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
February 7, 2022
An excellent overview of the North American restaurant industry, from chef-driven halls of epicurean delight to Fast Casual/Fast Food chain driven monsters, Mintz covers them all. The pandemic serves as a backdrop to explain that we're at an inflection point in the industry, where all the previous years' concepts and assumptions on how a restaurant should be run are being challenged, head on. Food sourcing, serving, knowledge transfer, tipping, wages, work environments - its all here and should be essential reading for anyone who likes restaurants to not only understand the challenges of today, but also, armed with that knowledge to help change the future of the industry. If only we can get this book into the hands of the policy-makers to stimulate them to work with the industry to introduce some real changes to the industry, it would be a huge stride forward. My only criticism is that Mintz focused a lot on the US, and very little on Canada (as he is Canadian), and even less on Quebec, which is a bit of an outlier on a number of fronts. Not an issue overall as these differences can be exposed over time. A great read, and a valuable contribution to the post-pandemic pantheon of work that we need to make our society a better place.
April 6, 2022
This is sort of all over the place, with sections I thought were really important and interesting and others that are already out of date or weren’t necessary to begin with.
Overall, I think it’s a solid read. As someone who grew up on working farms and started at a produce farm at the age of 11 before heading into restaurants and then hotels, a lot of this strikes true. I had a job so toxic that my endocrinologist theorizes it’s what activated my autoimmune disease. That restaurant, famous for its local and farm-to-table menu, is still on all sorts of “where to go in Vermont” lists.
So much of this seems naive though and while Mintz tries to check his privilege over and over, it’s clearly written for an affluent audience. I wanted more about the groups working to improve working conditions and less about grocery stores. But can one book be everything to everyone? Surely not. There’s a lot here that will be eye opening to folks who haven’t worked in ag, restaurants or grocery and I think it’s valuable for that alone. And there are bits of advice that will be useful for folks in urban and suburban areas. (If you’re rural, the advice to head to the edges of the city for the best immigrant restaurants is… irrelevant.)
If you’re a foodie, this is a great starting point.
Overall, I think it’s a solid read. As someone who grew up on working farms and started at a produce farm at the age of 11 before heading into restaurants and then hotels, a lot of this strikes true. I had a job so toxic that my endocrinologist theorizes it’s what activated my autoimmune disease. That restaurant, famous for its local and farm-to-table menu, is still on all sorts of “where to go in Vermont” lists.
So much of this seems naive though and while Mintz tries to check his privilege over and over, it’s clearly written for an affluent audience. I wanted more about the groups working to improve working conditions and less about grocery stores. But can one book be everything to everyone? Surely not. There’s a lot here that will be eye opening to folks who haven’t worked in ag, restaurants or grocery and I think it’s valuable for that alone. And there are bits of advice that will be useful for folks in urban and suburban areas. (If you’re rural, the advice to head to the edges of the city for the best immigrant restaurants is… irrelevant.)
If you’re a foodie, this is a great starting point.
July 8, 2022
Food critic who has logged a lot of time working in restaurants as well, and he made good use of the pandemic shutdown to express his ideas about needed changes in the FAFH (Food Away From Home) business. Each chapter is almost a stand-alone essay, some more interesting than others. I don't for instance need a lot of persuading that third-party delivery apps are a bad deal for restaurants, or that glorifying celebrity chefs known to be difficult to work for or even abusive is nonsense......
.......and I've read/thought a lot about the problems associated with tipping (maybe because a lot of college students work part-time in restaurants, tipping is a go-to topic of their papers in my ethics class).....
....but other issues I had thought/heard less about, e.g., internships ("staging" with the a pronounced as in melange) for aspiring chefs, with resulting class bias/barriers to entry, problems for restaurant workers stemming from "customer is always right" ethos, "grocerant" trend of grocery stores aiming to get you to eat while shopping, etc.
His own persona is front and center throughout, which often annoys me in nonfiction books but not so much in this case, which I guess means I found his humor and edgy point of view simpatico.
.......and I've read/thought a lot about the problems associated with tipping (maybe because a lot of college students work part-time in restaurants, tipping is a go-to topic of their papers in my ethics class).....
....but other issues I had thought/heard less about, e.g., internships ("staging" with the a pronounced as in melange) for aspiring chefs, with resulting class bias/barriers to entry, problems for restaurant workers stemming from "customer is always right" ethos, "grocerant" trend of grocery stores aiming to get you to eat while shopping, etc.
His own persona is front and center throughout, which often annoys me in nonfiction books but not so much in this case, which I guess means I found his humor and edgy point of view simpatico.
July 14, 2022
A very thought-provoking exposé about America’s hospitality industry and food world. My mind is boggled at all of the subtopics related to food/restaurant culture that Mintz covers. The evils of 3PD (Third Party Delivery) apps; comparing the origins of the supermarket in the 1930s to Amazon; prejudice and cultural assumptions in health inspectors; the pros. vs. cons. of automation/AI in the hospitality industry; and how the custom of tipping stemmed from slavery. These are just a few examples of the fascinating–yet equally depressing–arguments covered in this book. I highly recommend this book for someone who is looking to dip their toes into the politics of food.
My only critique is that for consistency’s sake, Mintz should have chosen one country to focus his thesis on. Some examples related to an argument are within a Canadian setting/economy (Mintz lives in Canada), but the majority of the book deals with statistics based on The United States.
There is a lot of flip-flopping between the two countries for data…even within the same example. I don’t think Canada and The United States can be successfully categorized together, because a) The U.S.A.’s population greatly outnumbers Canada’s, b) USD is worth more than CAD, and c) free healthcare in Canada...for now...
My only critique is that for consistency’s sake, Mintz should have chosen one country to focus his thesis on. Some examples related to an argument are within a Canadian setting/economy (Mintz lives in Canada), but the majority of the book deals with statistics based on The United States.
There is a lot of flip-flopping between the two countries for data…even within the same example. I don’t think Canada and The United States can be successfully categorized together, because a) The U.S.A.’s population greatly outnumbers Canada’s, b) USD is worth more than CAD, and c) free healthcare in Canada...for now...
June 2, 2021
There is SO MUCH to digest in this book. In a good way, though! With this book, I was hungry to find out more about the apps driving not only our food, but also our restaurants, I wanted to satiate a craving for knowledge that I had, and hoped it wouldn’t leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
I realized very early on that I was going to be in for quite a shocking adventure. Right away, The Last Supper made me think twice about ever using a third party food delivery app again. I felt an anger welling within me at certain points of the book, as though I had been cheated by these delivery apps. But like Corey says, we learn as we go.
It’s clear from The Next Supper that Corey Mintz has an incredible wealth of restaurant industry knowledge. I gained insight into a topic that I had no idea about before, taking something away with me from each chapter.
I experienced a lot of emotions while reading this book. Mostly I was shocked. I was extremely moved. I deleted the Uber Eats app from my phone and vowed not to use it again.
Absolutely worth the read.
www.avocadodiaries.com
I realized very early on that I was going to be in for quite a shocking adventure. Right away, The Last Supper made me think twice about ever using a third party food delivery app again. I felt an anger welling within me at certain points of the book, as though I had been cheated by these delivery apps. But like Corey says, we learn as we go.
It’s clear from The Next Supper that Corey Mintz has an incredible wealth of restaurant industry knowledge. I gained insight into a topic that I had no idea about before, taking something away with me from each chapter.
I experienced a lot of emotions while reading this book. Mostly I was shocked. I was extremely moved. I deleted the Uber Eats app from my phone and vowed not to use it again.
Absolutely worth the read.
www.avocadodiaries.com
December 3, 2021
I read this book because I recently had a terrific meal at Dirt Candy and joined their e-mail list. A few weeks after that meal this book was recommended via that list and I said "why not"?
There's a lot of good information in the book, and I think people who want to be "conscious eaters" or whatever the term is for people who care about where there food comes from will learn a thing or three.
There are also some cringe-worthy moments that bordering on justifying the stereotypes often thrown at the political left. Probably the worst moment was when being someone who is uncomfortable eating unfamiliar cuisines was equated with being racist in a section about Kansas City on page 152 - "The thing I hear people say here, which I think is thinly veiled racism is "I'm more of a meat and potatoes kind of person"". Yikes. And there are some twee "new dad has to move out of the big city to get help raising a kid" anecdotes and a few other Portlandia-ish moments.
All of that aside, this book is still worth reading. It's thoroughly researched and well organized and makes good suggestions for how the food system can change and how consumers can instigate that change.
There's a lot of good information in the book, and I think people who want to be "conscious eaters" or whatever the term is for people who care about where there food comes from will learn a thing or three.
There are also some cringe-worthy moments that bordering on justifying the stereotypes often thrown at the political left. Probably the worst moment was when being someone who is uncomfortable eating unfamiliar cuisines was equated with being racist in a section about Kansas City on page 152 - "The thing I hear people say here, which I think is thinly veiled racism is "I'm more of a meat and potatoes kind of person"". Yikes. And there are some twee "new dad has to move out of the big city to get help raising a kid" anecdotes and a few other Portlandia-ish moments.
All of that aside, this book is still worth reading. It's thoroughly researched and well organized and makes good suggestions for how the food system can change and how consumers can instigate that change.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2021
This book was received as an ARC from Perseus Books, PublicAffairs in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
I am a huge supporter of restaurants especially local restaurants and now with COVID-19 just ending, it's so important for the restaurant industry to keep on growing and be resilient as ever. Corey Mintz does a phenomenal job telling the story of some restaurants suffering because of the rise of DoorDash and Curbside Pickup and being forced to close and/or only remain takeout made the industry take a major hit. I also love the tips Corey suggested to make sure that the chefs and waitstaff know that you have their full support and help restore the restaurant industry to its former glory. I myself along with my husband try to support the local restaurants as often as we can and now after reading the Next Supper, I am inspired to continue showing my support.
We will consider adding this title to our Business collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
I am a huge supporter of restaurants especially local restaurants and now with COVID-19 just ending, it's so important for the restaurant industry to keep on growing and be resilient as ever. Corey Mintz does a phenomenal job telling the story of some restaurants suffering because of the rise of DoorDash and Curbside Pickup and being forced to close and/or only remain takeout made the industry take a major hit. I also love the tips Corey suggested to make sure that the chefs and waitstaff know that you have their full support and help restore the restaurant industry to its former glory. I myself along with my husband try to support the local restaurants as often as we can and now after reading the Next Supper, I am inspired to continue showing my support.
We will consider adding this title to our Business collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
December 4, 2021
Before reading this book, I had no prior knowledge of how the hospitality industry is full of toxic practices and exploitation. Watching Joe Rogan where a couple restauranteurs shared their survival stories during the pandemic made me wonder how current policies have ignored keeping individually run food services running, while benefited food industries with monopolistic power. One takeaway from reading this book which the author emphasized is that the thin profit margin of restaurants results from lowering wages of their workers that makes food prices lower for customers. It is upsetting to see that current policies do not have hospitality-specific restrictions that prevent the hostile work environment that workers are suffering in. The pandemic caused massive layoffs in this industry without any substantial safety net, and now is the end of turning a blind eye on this corrupted infrastructure. The political effort to protect businesses and people has been significantly overdue, and we all must take responsibility in making our modern food culture transparent and moral.
March 9, 2023
Dudes a foodie
What my 👂 heard below
I don't know how to financially carry on
That makes sense on the page, is it true?
Outside the doorbell
The bad news is we're losing momey the good news revenue is up
Self medicate with spicy noodles
Find a way to deal yourself a better hand
Vertical integration
When does earning 32,000 a year end?
There's a high chance you have some form of undiagnosed PTSD you're not even aware you're in the cycle of trauma
How far are you down the who cares rabbit hole?
Canada's population is just under the population of California and is about equal size of the United States
He's becoming
I'm acquisition hungry
You rent stocks for an inflection point
What does any of that word salad mean?
Eliminate panicky short-sightedness mom
I find myself repeating the same talking points with every friend
I'm not appreciating to the unconverted
I hope you find the change transformational
What my 👂 heard below
I don't know how to financially carry on
That makes sense on the page, is it true?
Outside the doorbell
The bad news is we're losing momey the good news revenue is up
Self medicate with spicy noodles
Find a way to deal yourself a better hand
Vertical integration
When does earning 32,000 a year end?
There's a high chance you have some form of undiagnosed PTSD you're not even aware you're in the cycle of trauma
How far are you down the who cares rabbit hole?
Canada's population is just under the population of California and is about equal size of the United States
He's becoming
I'm acquisition hungry
You rent stocks for an inflection point
What does any of that word salad mean?
Eliminate panicky short-sightedness mom
I find myself repeating the same talking points with every friend
I'm not appreciating to the unconverted
I hope you find the change transformational
April 14, 2022
Informative overview of the restaurant industry, how it changed because of COVID, and what might come next. Mintz interviews various people involved in the US and Canadian food world - everyone from celebrity chefs, immigrant restaurant owners, and agricultural workers who pick tomatoes. He also offers suggestions for how to improve restaurants from asking where food ingredients come from to patronizing immigrant restaurants to avoiding apps that don't pay restaurants fairly when getting take out. My only quibble is that his imagined audience seemed to be hip, white urbanites with disposable income who will seek out restaurants that offer fish caught by companies who practice sustainable fishing, which is only a small slice of the population.
November 25, 2023
This was probably the first time I have determined a category/ industry I wanted to read about and then searched for a book off that. While this maybe wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it's still an interesting read and activates the consumer activist portion of the brain.
Started slow and, looking back, I feel the first couple chapters didn't really grip me the way the rest of the book did, but the immigrant restaurant chapter hooked me and the rest of the book followed suit.
The biggest thing this book did provide is a lengthy list of additional reads. Looking forward to exploring more academic deep-dives into the restaurant hospitality industry and overall food supply chain.
Started slow and, looking back, I feel the first couple chapters didn't really grip me the way the rest of the book did, but the immigrant restaurant chapter hooked me and the rest of the book followed suit.
The biggest thing this book did provide is a lengthy list of additional reads. Looking forward to exploring more academic deep-dives into the restaurant hospitality industry and overall food supply chain.
January 14, 2023
It's a good book, but it does suffer from a bit of disorganization in the presentation of the material (repetition, chunks of info that seem plunked haphazardly amidst something unrelated). There's also an intense "time capsule" and dated feeling to the book despite being published merely one year ago but having been written throughout the pandemic. Lots of references to "when we have a vaccine" and "when it's safe to dine out in groups again" that just brought me back to a place I'd rather soon move on from. Overall though it was an interesting read!
September 2, 2021
Read if you: Want a no-holds-barred look at the restaurant industry, including the problematic apps, kitchen culture, immigrant restaurants and the assumption that servings should be cheap and plentiful, the impact of COVID-19, tipping, and the industry's future.
Librarians/booksellers: Purchase for readers that enjoy books on contemporary culture/business.
Many thanks to Perseus Books/PublicAffairs for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Librarians/booksellers: Purchase for readers that enjoy books on contemporary culture/business.
Many thanks to Perseus Books/PublicAffairs for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 5, 2022
I honestly expected to read the first chapter of this and move it off my tbr list, but it was really wonderful. The writing is so good, the author makes boring history and repetitive themes seem interesting, new, and important each time. I also loved his flair for describing food. The book is a nice balance of reporting and personal writing, and I love how he breaks each concept down into macro and micro level choices for change. A really awesome read!
May 6, 2022
(Full disclosure, Corey is an Internet acquaintance.)
This book is important and has a lot of points that diners need to take seriously about how food connects to labour, ethics, health, safety, capitalism, inequality and much more. I think the author could have used fewer metaphors to get these points across (I am glad you like comics and infuse that in your writing tho). Still an essential read for every “foodie”.
This book is important and has a lot of points that diners need to take seriously about how food connects to labour, ethics, health, safety, capitalism, inequality and much more. I think the author could have used fewer metaphors to get these points across (I am glad you like comics and infuse that in your writing tho). Still an essential read for every “foodie”.
December 3, 2022
I learned quite a bit from the book. How various types of restaurants work. Some of the seedier details of the industry. It is unfortunate that this was written during the pandemic though, because it seems, looking back, that the shifts to restaurants, like everything else, are not as profound as they may have seemed in the midst of lockdown. The book is replete with lessons that seem a little outdated now that we are out and about again.
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