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The author is nostalgic for something that can theoretically exist, but is very debatable whether it can exist at scale. The military has canteens. Leaving the

The author is nostalgic for something that can theoretically exist, but is very debatable whether it can exist at scale. The military has canteens. Leaving the budget per meal per soldier aside, there is inherent difficulty to providing food for hundreds of thousands of people within a short period, and to providing such food at a relatively consistent level of quality. Most organizations tasked with providing such a large quantity of food over a short period of time resort to outsourcing supply to food service companies which generally provide processed food which is either frozen or shelf-stable. Fresh produce is difficult and "healthy and delicious" is practically a pipe dream. There is a way to deal with this - hire an educated chef who can nurture relationships with many local farmers to negotiate supply, and actively manage the kitchen to make the best of the locally-sourced supply, not waste any of it, and put out a variety of dishes that, while not consistent in their contents from day-to-day, are consistently delicious. This is what Patrick Wodni [1] does for a Berlin hospital, but he's an exception because he was willing to take a large pay cut to work there. How many Patrick Wodnis are out there, for how many canteens would we need? [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/europe/germany-chef-hospital-food.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/europe/germany-chef...

gambiting 8y ago
Poland still has "Milk bars"(Bar mleczny) which were the staple of dining during the communist times - they served mostly food based on milk and flour(hence the name) - pancakes with cheese, pierogi(many different fillings), different soups......they were extremely cheap and also pretty good. And....they still exist today. Krakow has one literally right in the city centre, next to the most premium of premium estates, where a restaurant literally right next door will have "western" levels of pricing, and yet they continue to serve simple, basic food for ~$1-3 per portion[0]. Granted, a lot of them closed after the fall of communism 20 years ago, but equally they still exist and still continue serving people. They are not just a tourist curio either - they are the place to go for students and workers. [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d2693216-Reviews-Bar_Mleczny-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=63142217 https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d269...
- solatic 8y ago
  Milk and flour, so, shelf-stable products (milk being quasi-shelf-stable since it's available year-round and can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks and still be usable). Blintzes and pierogi aren't what I would consider to be healthy food.
- tomcam 8y ago
  Milk bars are the bomb. I have eaten in the best restaurants of Paris and Krakow... but it's the milk bars I miss most from Poland. By far.
- natoliniak 8y ago
  I like the Polish "Milk Bars," however, they typically are subsidized by the govt (and as well they should be). The best part of the milk bars? The food is generally cooked in-house from scratch, using very few and basic ingredients, and thus no two milk bars serve the same flavor. I hope they stay around.
- razius 8y ago
  In Romania we call them "autoservire" or "impinge tava" which translates literally to push the tray, the food is much much better than fast food and much healthier as well. See [0] for some example menu. I always wondered why fast food was such a big thing in the west, maybe it's because they never had this? https://www.facebook.com/pg/CaLaMama1/photos/?ref=page_internal https://www.facebook.com/pg/CaLaMama1/photos/?ref=page_inter...
jdietrich 8y ago
> The author is nostalgic for something that can theoretically exist, but is very debatable whether it can exist at scale. We had thousands of them during the war - British Restaurants, operated by the local authority, serving a three-course meal to all comers for ninepence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  That's actually called out in the article too
- solatic 8y ago
  That's not really a sustainable example either. In wartime, the British rationing board ensured that the British Restaurants were well-supplied (they wouldn't have been in a free market, or they would've been more expensive) and after the war, the ones that survived were propped up by Labor governments. That the kitchens were run not-for-profit says absolutely nothing about whether those prices were actually sustainable for the food they were serving - if supplies are subsidized then NFP just means not taking in more than expended in subsidies. If anybody has details of how they were funded in the post-war period, I'd be happy to consider it.

gambiting 8y ago

Poland still has "Milk bars"(Bar mleczny) which were the staple of dining during the communist times - they served mostly food based on milk and flour(hence the name) - pancakes with cheese, pierogi(many different fillings), different soups......they were extremely cheap and also pretty good. And....they still exist today. Krakow has one literally right in the city centre, next to the most premium of premium estates, where a restaurant literally right next door will have "western" levels of pricing, and yet they continue to serve simple, basic food for ~$1-3 per portion[0]. Granted, a lot of them closed after the fall of communism 20 years ago, but equally they still exist and still continue serving people. They are not just a tourist curio either - they are the place to go for students and workers. [0] https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d2693216-Reviews-Bar_Mleczny-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=63142217 https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g274772-d269...

solatic 8y ago
Milk and flour, so, shelf-stable products (milk being quasi-shelf-stable since it's available year-round and can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks and still be usable). Blintzes and pierogi aren't what I would consider to be healthy food.
tomcam 8y ago
Milk bars are the bomb. I have eaten in the best restaurants of Paris and Krakow... but it's the milk bars I miss most from Poland. By far.
natoliniak 8y ago
I like the Polish "Milk Bars," however, they typically are subsidized by the govt (and as well they should be). The best part of the milk bars? The food is generally cooked in-house from scratch, using very few and basic ingredients, and thus no two milk bars serve the same flavor. I hope they stay around.
razius 8y ago
In Romania we call them "autoservire" or "impinge tava" which translates literally to push the tray, the food is much much better than fast food and much healthier as well. See [0] for some example menu. I always wondered why fast food was such a big thing in the west, maybe it's because they never had this? https://www.facebook.com/pg/CaLaMama1/photos/?ref=page_internal https://www.facebook.com/pg/CaLaMama1/photos/?ref=page_inter...

jdietrich 8y ago

> The author is nostalgic for something that can theoretically exist, but is very debatable whether it can exist at scale. We had thousands of them during the war - British Restaurants, operated by the local authority, serving a three-course meal to all comers for ninepence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Restaurant

JoeAltmaier 8y ago
That's actually called out in the article too
solatic 8y ago
That's not really a sustainable example either. In wartime, the British rationing board ensured that the British Restaurants were well-supplied (they wouldn't have been in a free market, or they would've been more expensive) and after the war, the ones that survived were propped up by Labor governments. That the kitchens were run not-for-profit says absolutely nothing about whether those prices were actually sustainable for the food they were serving - if supplies are subsidized then NFP just means not taking in more than expended in subsidies. If anybody has details of how they were funded in the post-war period, I'd be happy to consider it.