The Rise of “Cozycore Dining” Will Make You Believe in Eating Out Again
At last, a positive food trend I can actually get on board with
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It was the single carrot for $20 that broke the small plate dining spell for me.
I couldn’t help but giggle — literally — at the audacity of the restaurant for daring to put this dish on their menu. I mean, I know they advertise small plates but this was another level.
It wasn’t the first time I’d left a trendy restaurant heavy with hunger and lighter of wallet. If you’ve spent any time dining out in “nice” places during the last few years, you’ve probably had a similar struggle.
Tiny portions. Uncomfortable seating. Expensive but not-very-good wine lists.
It’s like restaurant owners have completely forgotten what eating out is actually about. They forget it’s their job to feed and nourish you, not to justify $30 for half a tomato and a squirt of herby sauce, with a five-minute speech about where the tomato comes from.
Whilst I adore a small plate restaurant when it’s done well (Spanish tapas is my jam) so much of it isn’t. So much of it is so small and so expensive that it makes dining out a stressful, famished experience.
But if food trends and critics are to be believed, it looks like small-plate dining is becoming overshadowed by a different type of restaurant.
Something heartier. Something more comforting. Something better.
Welcome to the world of Cozycore dining.
No one wants to sit on a stool eating dainty plates of food during the apocalypse
You want to be sitting on a plush, comfortable seat with a martini in your hand (if that’s your thing). You want to be perusing a menu you can actually understand. You want to feel like your last moments on earth were happy ones.