Connecting through food

Creating emotional ties and helping people connect through food is going strong. Communal tables, small plates, food halls, farmers markets, bar dining (today’s bar food is on par with the best restaurant kitchens) and Yelp.com meet-ups have all play a role.  Above all, sharing is a common link. Conversations and communities are created when people seek out others with similar tastes and outlooks on sourcing, cooking and serving food.

The heart of New York’s Ace Hotel beats in the lobby, with its long reading-room tables, lit by brass lamps and a bar that serves up food, beer, coffee and chatting, There’s something very cozy and communal about it.

We’ve seen communal dining and chef’s tables before, but an amalgamation of both is new: a large communal chef’s table inside one of the busiest kitchens in Miami. Table 40, a new hideout for kitchen-adjacent wining and dining, now open at Indigo at the InterContinental. And while the room fits 14, you can actually reserve it for just two.