Free Republic

Two months ago, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy cited spiking coronavirus infections in other states as a reason to postpone the return of indoor dining. As restaurants opened across the country, he said, it was clearly sparking new outbreaks. Now, as the state’s restaurant industry prepares to open indoor dining rooms on Friday, some fear the fate of their businesses will continue to depend on how others handle the pandemic.

Mayor Bill de Blasio suggested Tuesday he’s reluctant to restart indoor dining because it’s an activity for middle- and upper-income New Yorkers that clashes with his pledge to transform the Big Apple’s “tale of two cities” with progressive policies. At his daily press briefing, De Blasio was asked why public school students who return to classrooms this fall will eat their lunch inside while restaurants can’t reopen indoor dining. “I don’t think there’s a similarity at all,” de Blasio said.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is going to allow all restaurants in the state to reopen for in-store dining on Monday, although there will be some strong restrictions. McMaster made the announcement Friday afternoon during a news briefing. He said he would address "close contact" businesses such as barbershops, salons, and gyms on Monday. “As we gradually and methodically lift restrictions aimed at combating the coronavirus, it is incumbent upon South Carolinians to follow to the guidance and recommendations provided by our public health experts to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” said Gov. Henry McMaster....

US restaurants are opening WITHOUT dining rooms because so many customers are ordering food through delivery and pickup apps US restaurants are REMOVING their dining rooms because so many customers are ordering food through delivery and pickup apps A Chopt Salad opened in New York on Tuesday without tables or cash registers Customers can order and prepay online with the option for delivery or pickup Chick-fil-A Inc has similar sites in Nashville and Louisville More restaurants are turning to these so-called dark, virtual or ghost kitchens Restaurants are doing away with dining rooms as consumers increasingly order food deliveries through...

Artificial intelligence could be used to make your next pizza, if you order one at T-Mobile Park. A Seattle startup called Picnic has developed a machine capable of turning out hundreds of pizzas an hour. The CEO of the company said the machine can also help solve a staffing shortage in the food services industry. “You can make different pizzas, each one in a row,” said Clayton Wood, CEO of Picnic. The machine gets the pizza order from an iPad app that was developed in-house, at the company’s office and lab in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood.

The idea behind fast food is speed and efficiency. When it comes to fast-food chains, McDonald’s is always on the cutting edge of getting people fed quickly—too quickly, some say. In the rush to gobble down food, much of the joy of eating is lost. Fast food is a soulless commodity that neglects the spiritual appreciation of flavor and taste. It can turn what should be a dining place into a biological fueling station. The bad news is that it has just gotten worse. Just when you think the fast-food giant has reached a peak of efficiency, it comes out...

Supporters of POTUS Donald Trump are getting an assist from restaurant app that works similar to Yelp in that it identifies eateries that are “MAGA friendly.” According to The Daily Beast, the app helps Trump supporters locate places where they aren’t going to be accosted, yelled at, threatened, banned, or thrown out. The app, 63red Safe, was compared by the Beast‘s Will Somer to the “Green Book” guide that “listed safe establishments for African-American motorists in the South.”

The DC reader who sends this says the Schadenfreude is delicious. He is correct. Washington City Paper reports on the hilariously failed effort of Busboys and Poets, a local restaurant, to be racially woke. Excerpts: Sometimes you can have the best of intentions and still miss the mark completely. Such is the case with Busboys and Poets‘ “Race Card” initiative, which aims to foster discussions about race and privilege among its diners by handing out literal “Race Cards”—cards featuring larger questions about the state of race relations in America—to patrons as they enter. A recent Facebook post featuring one of...

A delicious novelty food with an ugly name Sharon OosthoekGreat minds do not think alike, and thatÂ’s why universities and colleges are the mother of inventions. Click here for the rest of our Bright Ideas series. Click here for the rest of our Campus Food series.Barry Saville: Trent UniversityBarry Saville has spent much of his career figuring out how to stop fungi from infecting food crops. But for the past three years, the Trent University professor has been deliberately infecting corn with a fungus that produces large, whitish-grey kernels he believes have potential as a niche product for market farmers....

Michelle Obama has given a touch-up to the White House State Dining Room, the latest interior design change that will endure long after she leaves the building at a cost of $595,000. Her modest changes to the room where many dinners and other events are held follow this year´s more dramatic remake of the Old Family Dining Room and the unveiling of the Obama china service. The change, which has been years in the making, comes just months after head florist Laura Dowling quit her post and was escorted from the building by security. Scroll down for video -DailyMail.com reported

Morton's The Steakhouse, a high-end restaurant chain, is responding after a firestorm of complaints on social media about how it treated a cancer patient dining at its Nashville location over the weekend. A man undergoing chemotherapy treatments says he was asked to take off his hat because it violated the restaurant's dress code. Robert Chambers says he put on a beanie to keep him warm --combating the side effects of his chemotherapy treatments. Chambers says a waitress then told him to take off the hat because it was against dress code. After explaining that Chambers had cancer, a manager came...

A man who has sampled many of Gloucester’s restaurants then ducked out before paying his bills was arrested in a final fiasco at Azorean Sunday night. Steven Davis, 50, had allegedly left Tom Shea’s in Essex without paying the tab, hopped into a taxi cab for an unpaid trip to Azorean in Gloucester, then downed a drink at Azorean without paying up before police arrived about 10 p.m. and ended the spree with his arrest. This came after a 7:30 p.m. trip to Short & Main the same day, a restaurant not far from his Main Street home.

Matt Miller, an Idaho-based science writer with The Nature Conservancy, says rodents and other small livestock represent a low-impact meat alternative to carbon-costly beef. Miller, who is writing a book about the ecological benefits of eating unconventional meats, visited Colombia several years ago. At the time, he says, conservation groups were expressing concern about local ranchers clearing forest to provide pasture for their cattle — activity that was causing erosion and water pollution. "They were encouraging people to switch from cattle to guinea pigs," Miller says. "Guinea pigs don't require the land that cattle do. They can be kept in...

There's one for Michael Savage to comment on. Seriously, that city is disgusting. Potholes, junkies, bums, naked gay men walking around everywhere, etc.Yuck.

Sometimes, food alone cannot make a meal. Your overall enjoyment in a restaurant can be radically enhanced by the right atmosphere and setting. For example, many believe that fish and seafood taste better in view of water. It's not that the composition of the food is actually any different, but rather that when your brain is stimulated your reception to seafood is altered...

Two Muslim inmates in the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, Washington have filed suit alleging that their religious rights aren’t being respected. Inmates Raymond Wesley Garland and Larry Edward Tarrer are being assisted by the ACLU in pursuit of their case. While the jail is providing halal compliant meals and is allowing time for the five daily prayers required of Muslims, the plaintiffs contend that this is insufficient. “We are still compelled to dine amongst unbelievers,” Garland complained. “This is forbidden by sharia law.” “If we are in our cells when it is time for prayer there is no problem,”...

JUSTICE IS BLAND: I eat Nutraloaf, the all-in-one "disciplinary loaf" served at Cook County JailInmates at Cook County Jail are allowed three privileges: television, books, and food. The staff has no compunction about denying its most difficult residents either of the first two, but under the Constitution, correctional facilities can’t withhold food. Nothing in the Eighth Amendment, however, says the food has to taste good. “This is not the Four Seasons,” says Tom Dart, the Cook County sheriff. “Inmates who are injuring people in jail will get their nutritional needs met, but we will not cater to their culinary desires.”...

Animal rights campaigners have criticised the Chinese over their extreme eating habits after a video of diners eating a live fish became a hit on the internet. The film, in which a part-fried fish is shown breathing and wriggling on a plate as it is being slowly eaten alive in a restaurant, has been posted on the video-sharing website YouTube. In order to keep the carp alive chefs cook its body but wrap its head in a wet cloth to keep it breathing, before covering it in sauce and serving in on a plate. The YouTube video shows diners, who...

Situated in a tiny town that you'd miss if you blink, I have found the best sandwich I've ever eaten in my life! We were coming home to Cypress from a weekend in Austin, and decided to take a detour and drive down some country roads to do some exploring. We stumbled upon Royers Round Top Cafe in Round Top, Texas (population 77) near Brenham. The sandwich that I have fallen head over heels in love with is called The Grilled Shrimp BLT with a special OMG next to the title

Much to my disconcertment, last night (Wednesday night), a local dowager had complained about my "bad manners" of reading while dining with nine other people; not to me--she had complained to friends of mine. I was reading the Encyclopedia Americana, specifically the entries about the silkworm industry in France during the 1840s, while everybody else was yik-yakking away. Of course, there's a practical matter here; too many people, too much light and movement, too much color, which to me is "noise," and so I can't keep track of what's being said, or what I think's being said. What is one...