The secret ingredient to Eating Out

In December I was fortunate enough to be in Dubai. When there, I spent a day in The Mall of Dubai… ironically not to shop, but to see what the biggest mall in the world had to offer – and literally the whole day was only just enough time!

My thoughts on the retail can wait for another time; what interested me most was what happened in the main food court… the word ‘court’ seems somewhat euphemistic… “Mega colossal food stadium” may have been more appropriate.

As with seemingly everything in Dubai, the food options literally spanned the globe. The famous and infamous western brands rubbed shoulders with eastern and unknown (to me) eateries.

Following common food-court conventions, the layout saw your options served from the perimeter, with the central space divided into an array of seating and table options.

I deliberately opted to have a McDonald’s; I wanted to see what the Dubai version was of this ubiquitous meal. I have always enjoyed seeing familiar icons and brands being fine-tuned to local cultures and languages.

I notice that when I am abroad, I speak a lot less; this allows me to watch, observe and listen more!! What struck me was who was eating what. It wasn’t so much that the kids wanted to eat junk, it was more that what they were eating looked so very different to what the ‘local’ adults were eating.

I sat opposite two local guys who were probably in their mid-30s. What they were eating had real provenience; foodstuff wrapped in cabbage leaves, soups and real vegetables.

What struck me most was how they literally broke and shared bread together. As they ate, they were not just physically sharing the same table, but they were sharing their food. I was instantly aware of how intimate this simple act made their time together all the more valuable than my ‘re-fuelling’ stop.

Compare this then to the group of kids to my right. Each had their separate Happy Meal with its contents individually wrapped in plastic, plus the all-important toy and ketchup.

Now, this is not meant to be a rant about the diets or exported food-types of the West. It is however, a criticism of the separation the big fast food chains seem to have exported – or perhaps the culture fast food seems to be synonymous with.

As I sat there, I became acutely aware of how important it is that any food occasion should be a chance to fuel togetherness, not just fuel individual bodies.

My outtake:

Busyness cannot be an excuse to make food so generically solitary. Yes, let me eat on my own. Let me not feel weird sitting on my own. But don’t design the entire experience around this lowest common denominator.

If I think of those that are re-defining fast food – from Leon and Wagamama to Nando’s – the one thing I believe they have at their heart is a preserved sense of intimate together-ness.

I think that just might be part of the secret ingredients to what makes ‘eating out’ work – whether it is fast or slow, casual or formal. Now, can I have one of your chips?