The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper: Season 1, Episode 14

1 - 14: Restaurant Nation: What's Changed?

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay examines how the pandemic changed the restaurant industry and the unique ways chefs and restaurants across the country have adapted.

Flay, whose own New York City restaurant was among the more than 110,000 restaurants that closed in 2020, embarks across the country to meet the restaurants, chefs, and entrepreneurs that pivoted to a new way of serving customers by implementing new digital business models and offering more than just food and drinks. From establishing employee equity plans to the rise of outdoor dining and ghost kitchens, Flay takes viewers into the restaurants that are revolutionizing how we think about dining out and what customers can expect. In this episode, Flay rides with DoorDash to find out how the food delivery giant handled the enormous demand during the pandemic and has since evolved.

"The pandemic altered the restaurant industry forever, ushering technological advances that have changed our habits and how we dine out," said Flay. "This is a seismic shift that deserves the attention that only CNN can bring to it. It is an honor to join The Whole Story, which is producing the most compelling reporting on television, and I am very honored to play a part in sharing this important story."

This episode features interviews with Chef Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and Los Angeles; Chef Esther Choi of MokBar in New York City; Chef Cat MacDowell of Downtown Louisville, KY; Chef Bonnie Morales, who owns Kachka in Portland, OR with her husband Israel Morales; and Jason Johnson who runs getREEF, a virtual food hall at the Raleigh/Durham airport in North Carolina.