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Term: Shared tables.

Look: Lengthy, awkward and back in fashion.

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

What kind of adult chooses to dine alongside strangers? Gen Z, it seems. Research indicates from the restaurant reservations company Resy, "90% of young adult patrons say they like communal tables, versus just 60% of boomers".

I’ve Never Felt More Out of Touch. Before You Start Harrumphing Regarding Younger People

Communal eating in patriotic “British Restaurants” was a big thing during the second world war, actually – there were about two thousand five hundred of them, backed by Winston Churchill.

I Suppose It Made Sense During Times of Rationing, What's the Appeal Today?

It’s an alien concept for you, I know, but shared dining can be fun! As the Resy CEO explains: "Dinner becomes a collective event," and "You never know who you’ll be seated next to; that’s the fun of it!"

The Enjoyment From An Interrupted Meal by Someone Explaining Loudly That Their Therapist Says They’re “a Highly Sensitive Empath”

Or sitting beside a fitness enthusiast chomping chicken breasts to fuel his "workout routines"? Or a social media user capturing you in the background in their video as they massacre a salad? Consider this: gen Z – the most online generation, 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, group hikes and crafting nights: they’re craving offline social connection.

I’d Rather Eat in a Solo Ramen Stall Found in Japan.

This may not appeal to you, but many youths feel isolated (Nearly half of them, as per an Oxfam study published in June). A recent American study , one-third of men aged between 18 and 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?

I Suppose. Studies Indicate Those Dining in Groups Report Greater Happiness

Conversing with new people is good for us, too: it enhances our feeling of community. Plus the Resy data highlights an additional benefit: one in seven survey respondents said they’d found a romantic partner at a shared meal event. Given gen Z have gone off the apps, this gives them a shot at a unplanned "meat-cute".

I Hate That Pun Almost as Much as I Dislike Shared Seating.

Mission accomplished.

Do say: "Gen Z think communal dining ate and left no crumbs."

Don’t say: "Things are fine until food spills on your vintage clothes."