It has come to pass in our curious world that exceptionally popular television networks are devoted exclusively to wringing every possible variation out of the concepts of food, cooking, eating and restaurant culture. And one of the offshoots of this success is a rising tide of books by celebrity chefs and industry professionals.

Many of these folks have written entertainingly about most aspects of the business. But there’s one title we haven’t yet seen although it would be a searingly important work:

“Great Buffets I Have Known” by Rick Koster

Let me assure you, it was a work in progress when the pandemic hit and — piling horror upon horror — it occurred to me that we a society MIGHT NEVER HAVE BUFFETS AGAIN!

Thankfully, though, like cautious, twitchy-nosed hares emerging from their labyrinthine warrens after a springtime storm, buffets are returning to strip malls and casinos near you.

And why not? We as a nation have 1) short memories and attention spans, and 2) have always regarded eating as a sort of endurance sport.

As COVID retreated, I suspect casinos were the first to return to Buffet Action. I can’t prove it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if casinos never STOPPED preparing buffets — just so the food would be heaped on the steam tables at the precise moment the ALL-SAFE! horn blared and frenzied gamblers blasted through the doors, ready for appeasement!

Looking back, I’m not sure how the South in general survived the pandemic given the closings of buffets and cafeterias. My experience is that buffets are far more indigenous to southern existence than they are up here.

In Dallas, for example, my life was immeasurably improved by chains such as Luby’s Cafeteria, Highland Park Cafeteria and the buffets at Pizza Inn and Pizza Hut.

(Bonus fun: When I first met my wife Eileen, she was head of marketing for the Pizza Inn chain and would occasionally go on quality assurance checks to various franchises in the area. I’d go along and, of course, eat at the buffets “on the company dime.” Good times!)

There was also a (now extinct) stand-alone restaurant called Little Bit O’ Sweden, which was a “smorgasbord,” a word I learned to spell because I made as many trips there as possible. Meatballs, ho!

And at Pancho’s Mexican Buffet, you didn’t even have to go back through the line. You simply raised a tiny Mexican flag at your table and a server would come and take your order for more.

Perhaps the most illogical buffet I can recall was in Port Lavaca, a tiny town in southeast Texas. Our band played there one night and learned that the local Church’s Fried Chicken — an excellent fast-food chain arguably equal to Popeye’s and certainly superior to KFC — actually offered a buffet. Why would they do that?!

We ruined that place.

There wasn’t a living chicken to be found in five zip codes when we pulled out of Port Lavaca.

For some reason, Chinese buffets know no boundaries. They’re popular everywhere. Panda Buffet in New London offers a bountiful, all-you-can-eat template, and it’s good to know they’re back in action. I haven’t returned since the pandemic, but I will go soon.

I’ll ruin that place.

The most important thing to know about buffets — hell, life in general — is something I learned from Bob Jenkins, the man who became my much-loved father-in-law. We were celebrating Easter at a country club buffet, and it was one of my first times eating with my (soon-to-be) wife’s side of the family.

“You probably know this,” Bob said in a conspiratorial tone as we headed toward the serving line. “But, don’t fill up on the cheap stuff!”

What say you about the delightfully gluttonous ccncept of “all you can eat”? Let me know by email at r.koster@theday.com and we’ll share some of the responses.

Meanwhile, readers chimed in on the previous column about Death Row prisoners and the idea of a “last meal.” Here are a few remarks:

“I don’t have any last meal preferences (too many) but just to say treat every meal as if it were you’re last. (Damn: how profound…)”

— Gian Lombardo, Niantic

“It is, of course, a serious topic, but I'll say this:

“A condemned man was asked what he wanted for his final meal.

“‘First, I want a bowl of mushroom soup.

“‘Next, I want a garden salad covered with sliced mushrooms.

“‘The main course should be a thick steak, smothered with grilled mushrooms.’

“The warden said the meal would be provided, but asked the question: ‘Why so many mushrooms?’

“‘Well,’ the prisoner replied, ‘until now I've always been kind of afraid to eat mushrooms because they might be poisonous!’”

— Stu Miller, Groton

“OK, I'm going to be executed today and I have a ferrous appetite! First, I'm going to have the best authentic Biancha Pizza, from New York Family pizza, in Groton, make that two large, plus garlic knots.

“Next, I am to have three large Genoa grinders, from Supreme Pizza, triple the Genoa, please. It would make me sick if I wasn't dying today, and I so love Genoa! Next, 4 banana splits from Friendly's, 2 scoops of chocolate chip, and one cherry vanilla, extra chocolate syrup, triple extra whip creme, toppings and cherries.

“All drinks are diet, I wouldn't want to break my diet. After that, since I'm going to hell anyways, how about one 30ish gorgeous hot studded male muffin to have a roll in the sack with...... (Got to burn off some of those calories) ...until the end.....Heh! I had that same dream last night! Except for the execution!”

— Jo-Ann Arcara Craddoc, Waterford