Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
8
The Food Offer
You go to a restaurant to eat what you cannot prepare at home.
Sat Baines, Chef at NG7, Nottingham, UK
Introduction
In many people's minds food tourism is about eating food, the consumer
expects to experience and digest the best food a region has to offer. The first
culinary tourist restaurant was probably when Mr Lyons opened his tea and
cake shop in the UK in 1870. The shop was so successful that it became an in-
stitution and Lyons Tea Shops spread across the country over the next century.
Another major change in eating habits came in the 1960s when many small
cafés were replaced by fast food outlets with the result that many cafés closed down.
Fast food was controlled by speed and price and most street corners
today seem to have a selection of fast food outlets.
Some restaurant icons remained. Bettys in Harrogate in Yorkshire has re-
mained as an institution to this day and is a major tourist attraction. Bettys tearoom
was opened by Frederick Belmont in 1919 who was a Swiss confectioner. To this
day, nobody knows who the original Betty was; it is part of the magic of the place.
Today's culinary tourists want to linger longer in independent local food
outlets and we have come full circle in the food offer to the consumer.
Airport restaurants
Many culinary tourists will start their journey at an international airport.
Historically airport restaurants have not been recognized as providing
quality food experiences, but that is changing.
