I love cooking, and I love dining out, too. They are completely different experiences with different rewards and drawbacks. I'm sure the people behind this trend have found a nice niche that will make them a lot of money, but it seems like cheating to me, trying to get the best of both experiences but not really capturing the joy of either:
A new crop of entrepreneurs, recognizing that people will pay for convenience, have taken bulk cooking to the next level, setting up storefront kitchens with multiple workstations where people pay a fee to come and assemble several meals. The growing industry even has its own trade association to help existing companies and people starting meal preparation businesses. The Easy Meal Prep Association lists nearly 1,000 meal-prep stores nationwide.
[. . .]
These businesses eliminate the planning, shopping, preparation and cleanup normally associated with cooking, Kent Rittenhouse said. And there are no leftover ingredients that often end up spoiling in the refrigerator.
“It's a concept whose time has come,” he said
