Word: communalization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...COMMUNAL CONCERNS...
...really enjoyed Lisa McLaughlin's article on communal dining [June 25]. The best example I've seen is Bully's East Restaurant in San Diego, which has a horseshoe-shaped bar at table level. The shape is essential because everyone slightly faces one another, making conversation more agreeable. It is wonderful for solo diners...
...Communal tables are not new to old-time New Yorkers. Dominic's on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx has been there as long as I can remember (I'm 75), and great food is always on hand. Unfortunately, you will not find butternut-squash dumplings, but the stuffed artichokes are to die for. And I still mourn the loss of Sloppy Louie's at South and Fulton streets, where I learned to eat fish. It served a bouillabaisse that was extraordinary. There were others, but why belabor the point? And that's only in New York City...
...Movie reviewing is the solitary evaluation of a communal medium. Critics watch films in small screening rooms, or alone on DVD players, then retire in solitude to write up their opinions and insights, to recollect passion in tranquility. Roger does all that; but more than any critic I know, he brings the informed discussion of film out from under the lamp, into daylight. He has used his fame to elevate the conversation, challenging audiences to attend not just to the dramatic and ethical aspects of films but to their visual strategies. (Roger is one of the few film critics...
Restaurateur Stephen Starr, owner of Buddakan, says he has made communal tables part of many of his restaurants because "they provide a great core of energy." Buddakan evokes the roots of such dining with a space reminiscent of Versailles. "When people descend the stairs, it's as if they're watching a movie," says Starr. "People like to feel they're part of a group or party, and our tables achieve that." The shared table is so popular that even Drew Barrymore, whose celebrity status would surely merit more discreet VIP seating, has been spotted there...