DGM DIGEST June: Cuisine at Your Convenience

When I receive a hunger cue outside the comfort of my home, with access to a kitchen and an electric stove that I loathe, I’ve been conditioned long enough to either ignore it or open an app. I scroll through all the nearby restaurants, delis, diners, drive-ins, and dives that deliver with either no fee or one under $4.99, scanning for something to pique my interest. Sandwiches, burgers, rice bowls, smoothie bowls, wraps, protein shakes, protein coffee, pizza, burritos, burrito bowls, sweet treats, healthy picks, add a stop at the gas station for a few extra dollars, and have them grab you cigarettes. After a few minutes of browsing the catalog I’ve seen a thousand times before, I close the app, freeing myself from the momentary trance I’d just been in and snapping back to reality.

It’s so convenient; it lets you almost silence your brain, allowing it to seep into your screen while, at the same time, silencing your surroundings.

Convenient, isn’t it? But convenience in any facet of life comes at a cost, clearly. Convenience, optimization, efficiency, productivity. What are we to do when the price is our livelihood? Our autonomy? Our ability to make something as simple as a sandwich? This very convenience will ravage us slowly until we’re a pile of crumbs on the pavement being picked apart by birds that once was a sturdy piece of bread. From eating to shopping to watching and consuming media, everything is accessible, so much so that when something is not, a sense of frustration arises. Our focus is always on optimization, even when eating. It no longer matters if things are made well or even just well enough; it only matters that there’s enough to seem inviting.

Over the past month, I have spent both an embarrassing amount of time and money on take-out, not even out of curiosity or desire to try new food. In fact, the opposite: I’m too lazy to cook. Too lazy to pack a lunch. Sometimes even too lazy to eat, a necessary act for survival. While preparing my notes and looking back at photos for this month’s DGM DIGEST, I was dissatisfied with my choices, but then I took it a step further and realized my dissatisfaction highlighted something deeper: the guilt of succumbing to that convenience. When everything becomes available, everything is consequential. In the end, convenience may cost us the meaning behind our choices, leaving us with nothing but emptiness disguised as abundance. DGM DIGEST June: Cuisine at Your Convenience

Working in close proximity to several delectable restaurants is no problem if you have self-control. It’s not that I’m incapable of prepping a meal for myself or of resisting the urge to spend my money purchasing food prepared for me. I’ve just fallen victim to the world of convenience, and it’s bled so deep that I’m biting directly into it: medium rare. While I do love supporting local eateries and trying new things, It’s clear to me just how easy it is to do nothing but consume the work of others, including cuisine.

Every Tuesday evening for the past three weeks, I’ve been deep in the Elmwood Village for the weekly Bidwell Music Fest enjoying new music and familiar food. To the right of the tent I occupy is a pizza vendor that is in very, very high demand. Rooted Locally makes incredible thin-crust pizzas on site. Typically, the wait is 30-40 minutes, and it is absolutely worth it. Even if you have time to wait, I’d suggest making them your first stop. Even on the hottest day of the summer, I will still choose their margharita pizza because it’s phenomenal.

The other local haunts that I rotated through in June were all neatly tucked on Elwood between Bryant and Utica. Haraz Coffee if you’re looking for a shaken espresso. Buffalo Kitchen Club for a chicken caesar wrap and two sides of fries that were better left over. And my personal favorite for the best sub in town on a Costanzo roll: Elmwood Convenience Store.

I could have a fridge full of groceries and still itch for a meal out on the town. What’s stopping me from making a sub at home? The convenience of someone doing it for you, at a similar cost, makes you think it’s saving you some time and money. Over time, you train the muscle to choose convenience over what’s perceived to be a hindrance: cooking yourself a meal.

Food and film are similar in that they are consumable; however, when it comes to whether they are digestible or not, that’s subjective. The difference lies in accessibility.

Food is available almost everywhere in Buffalo. Cuisine of all different kinds, fast food, fine-dining, family owned, franchise, etc. Between the 35 movie theaters in the city and surrounding suburbs, we still don’t get every movie, and don’t get me started on the limited theatrical run times.

Despite strong demand—Variety reported in March 2026 that 53% of adults went to the movies last year—studios continue to rush new releases through theaters and onto streaming, undermining the cinematic experience audiences clearly want.

In June, sadly, I never made it to the theater, so I was forced to bring it to myself. I finally got to see Pillion starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård, and it was even better than I’d anticipated, so much so that I saw it three times on HBO Max. Sam Raimi’s latest film starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, Send Help, surprisingly got me hooked on Hulu. But the movie that won me over this month was completely unexpected and, unless you request a screening near you, possibly inaccessible as well. In June, sadly, I never made it to the theater, so I was forced to bring it to myself with a screener of www.RachelOrmont.com, directed by Peter Vack.

www.RachelOrmont.com might be one of my favorite films of the year, though it was released in 2024. The story centers on a young woman bred in captivity to become a celebrity Mommy 6.0. We follow this stunted 30-year-old, Rachel as she’s passed around this advertising agency, making her way from consumer to creator, but at what cost? I thoroughly enjoyed the theatrical style of directing and production design, but what took the cake for me was Betsy Brown’s performance and her ability to make me question my own dreams within the industry and the catch-22 that is the internet and the possibilities it could create.

While I didn’t watch many movies, I did watch a handful of very good, even great ones. Finally, I rewatched Smiley Face on Tubi for inspiration. Tubi will always reign supreme for me as a streaming service not only because it’s free, but also because it has an incredibly diverse selection of cinema.

It sure is convenient to sit on your couch and watch a movie, knowing you won’t miss anything on a bathroom break because you can pause until you miss half the movie scrolling on your phone in the comfort of your home. It’s convenient to convince you just to wait for a movie to come out on streaming, until you have it completely spoiled within a week of its release. It’s convenient to have access to every streaming service so you can watch everything you want, until you pay the bill.

After years of relying on takeout, what was once a treat now feels like a drain. In today’s relentless economy, convenience has replaced enjoyment—meals are chosen for speed, not satisfaction, and abundance matters more than quality. That makes you appreciate good quality and good people even more.

Regardless of whether people are staying in or eating out, I will say nothing makes me happier than seeing people together out and about having a good time. With summer, it’s more obvious, but I’ve noticed an uptick in community and connections at restaurants, bars, and even theaters. I think this shows that even in times when people may be struggling.

When I find myself in these sporadic spells of self-destruction, where I don’t wanna do anything for myself except wallow in self-pity, it’s a nice reminder of how much possibility for connection is out there. At a restaurant, at a bar, in line at the movies, or the Criterion section of a Barnes and Noble.

Trying new restaurants, seeing new movies- at its core, it’s all about connecting through conversation. Sharing recommendations isn’t just exchanging tips; it’s what keeps our community vibrant and alive. That is the entire thought behind DGM DIGEST. So even though I personally felt discouraged this month, not getting very far outside my comfort zone, I did step my toes outside of it enough to share that in this blog.

Not every meal, and not every month, is going to be the creme de le creme of experiences, but that doesn’t negate their impact or intent. Looking ahead to the rest of the summer, I’m excited for more experiences, perhaps some that even involve cooking for myself and being more conscious of my online consumption, including cuisine from apps where you can call a car.

Days later, after writing this blog post, as I sit here editing, I’m reminded once again that while it may seem like the location or status level of any experience is what matters, it is in fact the opposite. It doesn’t matter where you go or what you do or how much you have to pay to play; it matters who’s alongside you on your team. Sharing our experiences and recommendations keeps our community vibrant, reminding us that even in a world of endless options, meaning is found in what we share with each other. If we carry that spirit forward, there’s hope for a future where abundance brings us closer, not further apart. Till next time, stay flirty, stay thirsty, and stop letting convenience blind you to community.

Cin Cin,

Paige B.