Authentic Italianicity, travel memorability, standardized experience

In this paper, we consider food as a national symbol, and ask how the constant flux of global mobilities influences its status. We then analyze the tensions culinary tourism is fraught with, using the case of experiencing Italian restaurants in a Dutch cosmopolitan city, focusing on stereotypical 'us-versus-them' constructions. We argue that these tensions are part and parcel of wider trends of commodifying the nation in the form of the Italian restaurant for global consumption.