"The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture."
~ Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

"If you can eat with mates or friends or family, I mean, it's such a brilliant thing isn't it? If you feel really rubbish and you have a nice bit of food it makes you feel good, you know?"
~ Jamie Oliver

"Dining partners, regardless of gender, social standing, or the years they've lived, should be chosen for their ability to eat - and drink! - with the right mixture of abandon and restraint. They should enjoy food, and look upon its preparation and its degustation as one of the human arts."
~ M.F.K. Fisher, Serve It Forth

"When we eat together, when we set out to do so deliberately, life is better, no matter what your circumstances."
~ Thomas Keller, Ad Hoc at Home