Grazing tables - my anxiety is rising even to type these words!

[thankyouforthedayz]

Does anyone else feel anxious at the prospect of a grazing table? All that food; all rammed together and TOUCHING. What on earth do the remains look like after being stripped by the vultures? Ive never been to one, but my friend from work specialises in them and is threatening to invite us all round to imbibe. I'm already running for the hills.

You realise millennials are 30-42 ish now?

after having dc I’m just glad the food hasn’t fallen on the floor/been sneezed on/been half eaten by a toddler.

I'm very anti the ones where sweet.things are touching savoury (not say fruit and cheese which is fine but brownies and salami yuck). But are think they are fun. When I've done them I've have had some bowls/dishes/ little plates if I know people particularly tend to not like a food (like olives) and they obviously aren't great for allergies.

But they look great and with a bit of consolidating can still look good after round 1. Just to clarify though the chorizo didn't start of looking like a vagina or at least not one I've ever seen. To be honest I'm much more inclined to prefer people not leaving food out for hours which buffets seem to encourage for some people. I do get a bit of food poisoning dread from warm smoked salmon sweating beside a window.

A huge unexpected bonus for me is much less cleaning up.

Sure people 'over charge' for them, much cheaper to make yourself but the same can be true of a sandwich platter.

I hate them. Everything gets all mixed up and you can't get a piece of cheese without having to wipe the hummus off it first, and if you were hoping for hummus it's going to have cress stuck in it. There are never any salvageable leftovers either as it's all too bitty, so it goes to waste.
Just do a normal buffet with plates for goodness sake!

My DS has multiple food allergies and even regular buffets aren't great because the risk of cross contamination is higher than a plated meal, but a grazing table would definitely make me anxious. In fact unless it could be guaranteed that there were no ingredients whatsoever in it that he is allergic to then I don't think he'd touch it. I think it's a fundamentally stupid concept to be honest.

It's just a wanky name for a buffet with no bowls/plates/trays to serve the food on.

Pain in the backside for anyone minimising cross contamination or following vegetarian/vegan diets etc

Am I the only one who cannot understand how grazing tables came along immediately after COVID, as if, instead of maintaining an awareness of cross contamination and infectious disease, the caterers, en masse, went 'fuck it, we're over the worst, let's finger every single piece of food we can and serve it a manner where every single person at the party can do the same.'
Bleurgh

Get them to use covokfajl sticks

Well technically imbibing is drinking, so i would just take her up on that bit and swerve partaking of the trough "grazing table". All the foodstuffs touching is gross. I don't know what the issue with buffets was that needed fixing. It's all just for SM.

Absolutely not my cup of tea. Yuck.

Yeah well, I'm old enough to remember watching the chimps tea party at London Zoo.

Nuff said 😂

I think that they look fab until the first couple of guests start on it.

I do sharing platters for my events but not full grazing tables. I just think it looks like rubbish after a short time.

It’s a nightmare for cross contamination. Even the stuff you can safely eat is no good, because it’s touched other stuff that you’re allergic to. Vegetarian food has touched meat, and dairy, gluten and nuts are touching stuff like fruit and salad that would normally be ok. It’s just inconsiderate.

They're disgusting. Useless for veggies or people with allergies. And all the unwashed hands 🤮.

They give me the ick a bit. Not something is would desire to serve, be served.

and on the 8th day, God invented..

INDIVIDUAL SERVING DISHES..

I wasn't sure what the difference between a grazing table and a buffet, so I googled it. https://i.etsystatic.com/37808876/r/il/f0ad6f/5629034604/il_794xN.5629034604_2bwh.jpg

Ugh! I'm with you Op.

@shoppingshamed haha no I'm GenX.

@shoppingshamed how ableist of you to gatekeep others experience of anxiety. Food touching is a common anxiety issue for people with ASD or traits.

They look great in photos, I would not eat from one, totally gross.

I wouldn't mind one if it was for immediate family or a small number of close friends. It's a more aesthetic version of what my dining table looks like when I dump the contents of my fridge, bread bin and fruit bowl out for lunch some weekends.

I'd hate it at bigger events or work dos. Too much stuff lying around, lots of fingers all over everything because it's difficult to get the items you want when they're artistically half buried under slices of olive bread and a block of cheese. I'm not a germophobe either.

Meh, I can't lose sleep over it. I can't imagine it's any less of a germs risk than a normal buffet. Still a bunch of people handling food.

Can't really understand having anxiety over it.

What the other vegetarians said. Also I don’t have allergies myself but can see this would be a nightmare for people who do.

Food touching is a common anxiety issue for people with ASD or traits.

I don't think she was being ableist about foods touching each other. Most people don't have an issue with that. After all most plates of food will have the meat touching the vegetables etc.

@thankyouforthedayz Just decline the invitation if it occurs.

YANBU

Grazing tables and charcuterie boards are 'all in one' buffets with added fingers

They're horrible

Even if there was a meat table & a veggie table, the vegetarian food would be contaminated by people who’d picked up meat items then touching the vegetarian items. I can only see this working at all for omnivores with no allergies or anxiety issues.