Local food and authenticity in Greek restaurants

Abstract

This article aims to understand the role of local food and authenticity for restaurateurs in Athens and Patras, Greece. Nine restaurant owners were interviewed about their current dishes, menu and ingredients. The results of this qualitative research indicate that, for the majority of the respondents, all the ingredients that are produced inside the country are considered local. They also indicated that sourcing local food is problematic, because, although transport distances are small, the total cost of local food items makes it difficult to compete with imported food. However, to customers, both foreign and indigenous, the local origin of ingredients is crucial for the perception of food as authentic.

Keywords: authenticity, current dishes, gastronomy, Greece, ingredients, local food, menu, restaurants