How Food Brings People Together
Food is a language we all speak
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This past weekend, I went to brunch in Manhattan to celebrate a friend’s birthday. This particular group of friends that I celebrated with have become some of the closest friends that I’ve met since moving to New York nearly six years ago. And in the time that I’ve known them, brunch has become somewhat of a birthday ritual among the four of us.
Over the course of the past year, we’ve unofficially made it a tradition to go to brunch for one of our birthdays and after every single one, we’ve become a little bit closer afterwards. We became like family.
Although this tradition has resulted in the closeness of our relationship as friends, I’d be hesitant to fully attribute this towards brunch itself. Instead, I think the idea of coming together over the simple pleasure of eating food is what truly makes it special.
The reason why my friends and I have become so close is not because of the food, but everything that has happened in the midst of it. It’s the company you choose to be with. It’s the conversations you have, the memories made, and the memories that are in the works.
Sharing a meal with another person (or multiple people) is an intimate thing. There’s a reason why we schedule business meetings over dinner, go to dinner on a date, and throw parties that require mass consumptions of food (ie. engagement parties, Superbowl parties, housewarming parties, etc.)
Eating together is an experience. And though the act of eating isn’t always necessarily the highlight of the party, it is however the thing that starts it all. Whenever we hear that food is involved, how could we say no?
For me, sharing a meal with my family has always been one of the most cherished times of any given day. Coming from a close-knit family, eating together, especially during dinner time, was normalized. We always had dinner at the same exact time every single day. It was not forced and it was not requested. It was just known. It was familiar. It felt like home.
Even outside of dinner time, if there was any remotely important event to acknowledge, we always held family gatherings. This was something that became very important to me. It became ingrained in my identity, in who I am as a person. And it’s something that I hope to continue with my friends and family.
Life moves all too fast. Sometimes, we need to enjoy the little things — Even if it’s just a matter of taking the time to sit down and share a meal with people that we care about.
