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Term: Communal seating arrangements.

Look: Long, uncomfortable and back in fashion.

The Return of Communal Eating? Not Again. The Sole Appropriate Location for Long Benches is the Cafeteria

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, it seems. According to data from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of gen Z diners say they enjoy shared seating, versus just six in ten of older generations".

A Sign of the Times. Before You Start Harrumphing About the Youth of Today

Group dining in nationalistic eateries was a big thing during the second world war, in fact – there were about 2,500 of them, supported by Winston Churchill.

It Was Logical When Food Was Scarce, What's the Appeal Today?

It’s an alien concept for you, admittedly, but shared dining can be fun! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "The excitement lies in not knowing your neighbor!"

The “Fun” of Having Dinner Interrupted by A Loud Conversation That Their Therapist Revealing They Are an Empath

Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "farmer’s carries"? Or a social media user filming you accidentally of their reel as they massacre a salad? You have to remember: young adults – the most digitally connected group, who came of age during the pandemic, and many of whom entered an almost exclusively digital workplace – love a structured communal activity. This same desire behind the rise of young people’s running clubs, hiking outings and crafting nights: they’re seeking real-world interactions.

I Prefer Dining in a Solo Ramen Stall Found in Japan.

You might not fancy it, but lots of young people are lonely (47% of them, as per an Oxfam survey released this summer). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 to 23 reported they had no contact outside their household in the previous seven days. Isn’t it a good thing they’re getting out and breaking bread with strangers?

Perhaps. Studies Indicate People Who Eat Socially More Often Feel Happier

Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Additionally the Resy survey highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d landed a date at a communal dining experience. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this offers a chance for a spontaneous "meet-cute".

That Joke Annoys Me Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

My work here is done.

Appropriate comment: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."

Don’t say: "It’s all fun and games until someone drops a katsu prawn on your Y2K baggy jeans."