Through an analysis of community-based food practices in the context of venues across Asia, the study aims to establish the reparative role which food can play in the civic lives of urban residents. The forming of immaterial bridges between people, across the table, over a common meal, positioning them as equals despite perceived socio-political disparity; this is what food can empower. Repair in the context of commensality points to a method of organising people irrespective of individually-held ideology or prejudice. Regardless of race, sex or class, the simple, reparative act of ‘breaking bread’ together can be what brings people closer, to mend their apparent divergences.

In today’s increasingly fragmented cities, our differences have never seemed more stark. At the same time, people are becoming increasingly isolated in the cities they collectively occupy. The contemporary built environment is characterised by these trends, across every level of wealth and social status. This project takes a reparative view on food, seeing its potential to demonstrate what we have in common, giving us collective form despite the starkness of our separations. The strength of our democracy is perhaps rooted in people’s capacity to realise this: that our common interests far outweigh that which may divide us. The reparative significance of food may extend beyond the kitchen or dining space – to understand and empathise with ‘the other’ is what commensality enables. It ultimately emerges as a tool to make shared what is becoming increasingly individual. Food’s innate reparative capacity lies with its dual strength in reducing isolationism and remedying our divisions.