Trends

Is the Internet Shrinking Our Plates?

Houlihan's bruschetta
Houlihan’s bruschetta Photo: Indianapolis Restaurant Examiner

Chain restaurants like Houlihan’s and California Pizza Kitchen are offering up cheaper, shareable small plate options, in a nod both to budget-consciousness and to the wider tapas craze that hit the coasts ca. 1996. Now Salon looks at the trend and comes up with some high-minded hooey about how small plates and sharing food has something to do with the “fragmentation of information,” asserting that “just as the Internet has ruined our ability to focus on large, sustained ideas, books and long articles,” it’s also ruined our ability to concentrate on a single dish of food. Whatever, guys. Nice try.

How the Web is changing the way we eat [Salon]
Earlier: Restaurant chains roll out small bites at small prices [USA Today]

Is the Internet Shrinking Our Plates?