OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- If I can’t put a takeout container in the toaster oven, chances are I’m not too thrilled with my takeout experience. Yes, I know most packages are supposed to keep food hot, eliminating the need to reheat it, but that can fail.
It’s not often the fault of the packaging. If I’m bringing home leftovers from lunch, taking leftover carryout to work the next day or grabbing something in the suburbs before my hour-long drive home to the city, never do I get upset the containers didn’t defy the laws of physics and keep my food warm for hours.
But as that stereotypical millennial, I’m always searching for ease and convenience—even in my dining. And that includes in the heating-of-leftovers-and-takeout process.
I’d like to say that I’m against polystyrene clamshells because they are bad for the environment. Just between us, the bigger downfall is that they are 10 times worse for the millennial who doesn’t want to dirty extra dishes by having to plate.
If a restaurant has the right takeout container, one that serves as a reheat-and-eat vessel, chances are high that I’ll keep it in mind for takeout sometime down the road.
Takeout and leftovers appeal for their convenience, so shouldn’t the experience at home be equally as simple? And to me, that means no plates needed.
As much as I like to deny those millennial stereotypes that drag my generation through the mud time and again, the desire for speed and convenience is true.
Click here to read the complete column, Sara Rush's Token Millennial, at Restaurant Business.
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