In the article, Meherwan Irani (of Chai Pani in Asheville, and a James Beard winner) talks about how he wanted to get away from the common idea of the AYCE Indian buffet, which had been the norm (and the expectation) in the US, and served mostly mediocre and generic food. That was certainly my experience with them in early days in the US.
The Ritz in Philadelphia used to have a fancy weekend brunch buffet that was pretty spectacular, but spendy for brunch at $50 or so maybe 20 years ago. Totally worth it as a splurge, for the smoked salmon alone 
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I grew up with high end hotel buffets that served amazing food, and an incredible selection of it (here’s a recent example, though it’s not a patch on the best of them), so the idea of an acclaimed chef taking pride in a buffet’s offerings is not alien.
