Two burrito bowls with a side of guilt, please |
Delivery orders account for a huge slice of the hospitality ecosystem in Canada, writes Marsha Lederman.David Zalubowski/The Associated Press
It started with Order-In Thursday. This COVID-19 initiative was meant to inject some weekly fun into the slog of pandemic meal preparation – especially as the week wore on, grocery supplies became depleted and the meal prep kits used up – along with my energy and will to carry on.
Our Thursday food delivery tradition remains. But order-in creep has set in. “Order-in Monday?” my teenager will suggest, knowing I will easily succumb, even though the chicken is sitting right there, in the fridge, spiced and marinated and waiting for me to shove it into the oven.
The possibilities beckon from my phone: an Indian feast, avocado sushi, burgers or, yes, chicken. And the greatest possibility of all: not having to get up from my desk (or couch) and deal with the raw chicken.
During the pandemic, ordering in was the Right Thing To Do. We were helping our local food service industry. We were all in this together! But long after life has normalized, we remain Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats and DoorDash frequent fliers.
“Craving something new?” the phone notification entices. Not really. But we are craving something: a break.
And with these........