Karon Liu, the Star’s culture reporter has a conversation with Saba Eitizaz, reminiscing about buffets, their cultural and culinary significance and whether we’re about to say a nostalgic goodbye to the traditional buffet. For some, the idea of a buffet can bring back childhood memories of birthdays, Sunday brunches, road trips where you hoped the roadside hotels offer a full breakfast buffet, or where tropical island reviews can make it or break it. For others, the thought their stomach as a bottomless pit is enough to make them cringe—and that’s before the debates about the quality of that food, the associated waste, or… as is highlighted now more than ever—those tiny germs on every serving spoon. But one thing is pretty clear. Almost everyone in Canada seems to have an opinion on this style of dining. And now experts are saying self-serve buffets might become a thing of the past as we learn to live with Covid-19. Some public health officers are warning people not to share food in social settings in this time of pandemic. With restaurants struggling to stay afloat through take-out and delivery during lockdown and isolation, is this the end of the traditional buffet during the age of the pandemic? And are Canadian’s really ready to say goodbye to something that seems to be baked into the fabric of our multicultural country?