Science Explains Why Restaurants Are Essential For Our Emotional Recovery

“What is it about communal eating that is so beneficial?” asked the prolific anthropologist Dr. Robin Dunbar in the introduction of a 2017 research paper. “There is no intrinsic reason (other than the convenience of bulk cooking) that makes communal eating essential,” he wrote. “Given that social meals inevitably take longer than eating alone,” why, he questions, do we, human beings, do it at all? What is the real benefit of sitting down to a meal with...