My experience with Greek food extends about as far as my 7th grade end-of-the-year toga party, to which my classmates and teachers brought a variety of "Greek" dishes to share in pot-luck-style fashion. While one adventuresome student brought in an American rendition of grape leaves, the majority of the other dishes consisted primarily of spinach and feta pastries, olives, and baklava. To my 13-year-old palate, the food I tasted that day seemed delicious and "authentic." However, after reading Lucy M. Long's article "Culinary Tourism," I now realize how loaded the concept of "authenticity" really is. Though I hope to expand my knowledge of Greek cuisine and try a variety of new dishes tonight when I visit Taverna Ouzo, Kalamazoo's Mediterranean/Greek tavern, I will not be looking for "authenticity," rather a dining experience welcoming to a college-student crowd and a tasty meal.
Completely unaware of its existence until this morning, my online research has told me that Taverna Ouzo is one of Kalamazoo's better Greek dining establishments. According to a variety of online reviews (by bloggers, foodies, and the common eater) Taverna Ouzo provides a mix of Mediterranean and European-style dishes during the week, and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights serves up a variety of Greek specialties including mousaka, gyros, and a variety of shrimp, steak, and chicken entrees cooked in their signature Ouzo sauce.
As my knowledge of Greek food is limited, I am hoping to use this opportunity tonight to partake in the kind of "border-crossing" noted in article "Culinary Tourism." Though I am not actually going to Greece, in a way, I am wearing the hat of a tourist as I look to appease my curiosity and ignorance about another culture. Tonight I will consider myself a experiential or even recreational tourist, looking only to "participate in the foodways of another" while avoiding the rigid and controversial objective of authenticity (Long, 21).
To do so, I plan on focusing on a variety of things during the meal. First, because I have very little pre-existing knowledge about Greek food, I will have to rely on my personal assessment of the taste and texture of the food. To get the most out of my meal, I plan to focus on the flavors of the food by eating slowly, trying a variety of menu items, and perhaps even taking a leaf out of Hannah's book and taking a few bites with my eyes closed.
Apart from the eating of the food, I hope to find out more about where the food comes from. On the Taverna Ouzo website, it claims the food is prepared with finest and (when possible) local ingredients. After reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, however, I feel it is only fitting to ask the questions, Where exactly the salmon in the smoked salmon sandwich is from? And, how exactly did the spinach in my spanikopita get to my plate?
Finally, I plan to focus on the atmosphere and logistics. As I am a college student writing this review for other college students (my intended publication is The Index) I am essentially looking to decide whether this place is worth a college kid's time and money. If the clientele is mostly 55+, or the bill comes to more than 25 bucks a person, then ideally, this may be a restaurant to visit when mom and dad are in town.
While I have illustrated some of my expectations and hopes for my visit to Taverna Ouzo, I have learned through experience that a good tourist shouldn't have too many expectations when meandering into the unknown. The most important thing about tonight, I think, will be to keep an open mind as I look for a tasty, different, and potentially "Greek" dining experience.
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