The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants as We Knew Them, and What Comes After

Former cook and restaurant critic Corey Mintz wants to “find a better way for eating out” without supporting horrific business practices common to the dining industry. COVID-19, of course, devastated the industry and supermarkets rushed in to fill part of the void as meal providers. This further crippled struggling restaurants, as did food delivery services. The latter often reduce meager profits for restaurants rather than increasing them.

Mintz exhaustively covers the problems and issues that plague restaurants. In this respect, he continues the work begun by the late Anthony Bourdain. As he well illustrates, these problems can be made worse by customers who are not alway right. Fortunately, this is not one of those nonfiction books intended to create massive feelings of guilt and powerlessness in its readers. Mintz optimistically believes that there’s a better future for restaurants and seeks to enlist every one of us in making that future a reality.

As restaurants and supermarket chains compete, they create and respond to consumer needs and demands. Informed customers can demand improvements that benefit both food workers and the American public. The Next Supper serves as more than a depressing expose. It charts out a path for a better tomorrow.