#134: Corey Mintz — Freelance Food Reporter for The New York Times, Eater and more, Hospitality Operations Advisor, author of ‘The Next Supper: The End of Dining as we Know It’

2024 is going to be remembered for a lot of things, one of them being that it was the year we finally moved past the COVID-19 Pandemic. Industries everywhere are claiming to ‘be back’ to pre-pandemic functions, with everything from return to office initiatives to the National Restaurant Association boasting that restaurants are back to 2019 rates of turnover. The problem is, the 2019 turnover rate for restaurants was 73%, which is insane. So rather than referencing some not-so-great statistics from the past, today’s guest Corey Mintz is looking forward to the future. Corey is a freelance food writer for everything from Eater to The New York Times, as well as an Operations Advisor for hundreds of restaurants across North America. He’s the author of two books, How to Host a Dinner Party and his most recent one, The Next Supper: The End of Dining as We Know It. In today’s episode Corey shares his experiences embedding himself within various communities revolving around the restaurant industry, from farmers in Florida to the line in high-end LA restaurants. He got to experience first hand, not just how restaurants adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic, but how they’ve integrated lessons learned from that time to make a more sustainable, and equitable restaurant industry for all. This is another episode you’re definitely not going to want to miss, so with that…let’s bring it in!