218 Book review section– Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 69 (2020) (2) 209–220.

Kowalczyk, A. and Derek, M. (eds.): Gastronomy and Urban Space. Changes and Challenges in 
Geographical Perspective. Cham, Springer, 2020. 345 p.

When I started reading the volume in early February 
2020, I was sitting in a café on campus, packed with 
students chatting over double shot tamarind lattes, a 
Viennese melange or sipping a pumpkin spice ice coffee 
from a trendy repurposed jar. A mundane scene sym-
bolized the zealous enthusiasm towards gastronomy 
in the last decades worldwide. Besides what to eat, 
customers have become more conscious about where 
to consume. The generation called Millennials, many 
of them university students these days, is especially 
engaged in experimenting with food and drink as well 
as documenting and thus trending catering places on 
social media (Howe, N. 2017). Consequently, the book, 
edited by Andrzej Kowalczyk and Marta Derek, might 
be appealing to its target audience: university students 
and non-academics who are interested in the “spatial 
aspects of eating facilities” (p. XVIII). 

Since gastronomy is studied by various disciplines 
and the term itself is used in everyday conversations, 
the Preface provides definition of gastronomy and 
urban space as these are understood in the volume. It 
clarifies that the aim of the book is to present problems 
related to the geographical location of restaurants, bars, 

cafés (etc.) in urban areas. As the authors note, they are 
aware of the social, cultural, economic or health related 
issues of gastronomy in urban space, but in their view 
these topics are in lesser extent in the domain of socio-
economic geography and rather should be studied by 
sociologists, anthropologists, urban planners, econo-
mists, etc. The Preface specifies that the book adopts a 
positivist approach, which, in their view, better suits the 
needs of students. Whilst their standpoints can be de-
bated, the sharp demarcation line drawn by the editors 
helps them clearly circumscribe the place geographical 
research might occupy among other disciplines en-
gaged in this topic. By narrowing down the scope of 
issues, and analysing the spatial processes from a posi-
tivist approach, the content of the book remained cohe-
sive, albeit the 18 chapters were written by 14 authors. 

Gastronomy and Urban Space was written by geogra-
phers, mainly affiliated either with the University of 
Warsaw or the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, but 
researchers from St. Petersburg and Prague also partici-
pated in one chapter. Whereas the authors pay special 
attention to referring to examples and case studies from 
all continents, the book (especially Part II and III) has a 
strong geographical focus on Poland and, in lesser ex-
tent, on East-Central Europe. It was a conscious decision 
of the editors who believe that the book demonstrates 
that the region “has become an interesting laboratory 
for exploring the development of gastronomy in urban 
space, especially as these aspects of geopolitical trans-
formation have not been previously reported in broader 
studies” (p. 344.). Indeed, one of the most valuable con-
tribution of the book is to draw attention to the spatial 
processes and specifics of food consumption, catering 
and supply in this region, so far underrepresented in 
international literature. 

The book is divided into three main parts. Part I 
serves as a historical and theoretical foundation of the 
book, whereas Part II and III discuss the main changes 
and challenges related to gastronomy in contemporary 
urban space and society. Both Part II and III start with 
introductory chapters (Chapters 4 and 14) followed by 
problem-oriented studies (Chapters 5–13 and 15–18). 

Part I consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 provides 
an exciting journey in the history of gastronomy across 
continents and cultures. The reader can learn about 
how different catering facilities (restaurants, inns, ca-
fés, etc.) have developed in the urban space in different 
settings. The chapter is richly illustrated with photos, 
tables and maps, which visualise and adequately com-
plete the text. 

Chapter 2 introduces theories about urban space. 
Although the models (I presume) are familiar to ge-
ography students, explaining and illustrating their 

DOI: 10.15201/hungeobull.69.2.10         Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 69 2020 (2)



219Book review section – Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 69 (2020) (2) 209–220.

implication in studying the spatiality of gastronomy 
is justifiable. Throughout the book, the authors of each 
chapter keep referring back to these models when they 
evaluate the spatial development in gastronomy and 
food service sector, which further increases the cohe-
sion of the volume. 

Chapter 3 addresses issues related to gastronomy 
in contemporary urban settings. Among others we can 
read about the role of gastronomy in tourism, urban 
planning or city marketing; the social dimension of food 
consumption and place is also addressed. The chapter 
enlists problems and conflicts related to gastronomy in 
contemporary city and society, which the author cat-
egorises into two main groups: changes and challenges. 

Part II is dedicated to the changes. In Chapter 4, Marta 
Derek suggests that gastronomy should be perceived as 
a lens through which the social and cultural changes and 
their manifestation in urban space can be observed. Each 
chapter is dedicated to a specific topic (in which change 
manifests). The structure of the chapters is as follows. 
First they offer a brief introduction and literature review 
(in certain studies the applied methodology is also com-
municated). Then the authors illustrate the topic with 
international examples and analyse a case study, in most 
cases based on an example from Poland, mainly Warsaw 
and Cracow. Finally, the list of references at the end of 
each chapter, makes the book ultimately user-friendly. 
Chapters 5 and 6 are closely related to culinary tourism 
and the interconnectedness of specific local foods and 
regional cuisine in creating ‘place’ in the city. 

Chapter 7 explores the geography of gastronomic ser-
vices in the city centres. The case studies were Warsaw’s 
central district (Śródmieście) and the historic centre of 
Cracow and St. Petersburg. Based on the spatial and 
temporal analysis of the distribution of eating facili-
ties, researchers were able to visualise how the density 
of such places indicate the growth and changes of the 
city structure (St. Petersburg), or demarcate the cen-
tral core of cities (Warsaw, Cracow). These findings 
are complemented with two case studies: Żoliborz in 
Warsaw and Podskalí in Prague, both situated near the 
centre. Subchapter 7.5 about Żoliborz is particularly 
interesting. The author shares fascinating details about 
the history of the neighbourhood and the way political, 
economic and urban transformations shape the spatial 
presence and character of eateries and vice versa. The 
case study about Podskalí (Subchapter 7.6) concludes 
that an important factor behind the growing number 
and density of eateries in this urban neighbourhood 
(change) might be the intention to relieve the pressure 
on the historic centre of Prague, which is currently suf-
fering from over-tourism. 

With the following three chapters, the reader contin-
ues moving away from the city centres. Chapter 8 takes 
us first to three peripheral neighbourhoods of Warsaw 
(Bródno, Nowodwory and Tarchomin). Similarly to 
Subchapter 7.5, these subchapters introduce to the 
history of these neighbourhoods in a nutshell, which 

is followed by the spatial analysis of eating facilities. 
The authors found that new restaurants were opened 
in Bródno after 2000. As the number of residents re-
mained more or less stable, they claim that these new 
restaurants are signs of the socio-economic and cultural 
shift induced by the appearance of middle-class dwell-
ers settled in more prestigious new housing. In gen-
eral, outlets of fast food chains are frequently visited by 
families with children in these peripheries. 

With Chapter 9 we arrive to the suburbs. The au-
thors conducted field work in Piaseczno district, south 
of Warsaw. Among others, their findings serve as ad-
equate illustration of how gastronomy can be compre-
hended as a lens through which we can understand 
and follow socio-cultural changes. Based on their field 
work conducted in the seven settlements belonging to 
Piaseczno, the authors point to the importance of so-
cial status of inhabitants and tourism that diversifies 
eating facilities and leads to the spatial concentration 
of prestigious restaurants in certain parts of the town, 
whereas low quality facilities are still present elsewhere 
in the district. They claim that such a diversity in eating 
facilities reflects the gap in the social status of inhabit-
ants living in Piaseczno. 

Chapter 10 endeavours to reveal some aspects of 
gastronomy and space in smaller towns (500,000 in-
habitants and below). The chapter is well grounded 
and contextualised in international examples and the 
supposedly tremendous efforts to compile a database of 
eateries relying on search engines and websites of town 
halls must also be noted. I found particularly interest-
ing the section about places that were transformed into 
restaurants or pubs, including a former mine 320 meters 
below the surface (Subchapter 10.3). 

The following three chapters (11-13) address three 
particular issues related to gastronomy and urban 
space: the appearance of ethnic cuisine in cities (11), 
the possible impact of tourist experience on culinary 
taste and eatery preferences (12), and the specificities 
of food supply in cities. In Chapter 11, after provid-
ing an easy-to-follow history of ethnic cuisine in urban 
context, the author focuses on two cities: Amsterdam 
and Warsaw. The study, which is based on the analysis 
of the location of ethnic restaurants and eateries, found 
that in the centre of Warsaw (Śródmieście) ethnic cui-
sine is more concentrated in space than its non-ethnic 
counterpart. This might be a bit of a surprise, but it also 
turned out that after the Polish cuisine Japanese is the 
second most frequently served ethnic-cuisine in central 
parts of the Polish capital city. This phenomenon can be 
explained by the popularity of Japanese food globally. 
Japanese dishes are favoured by geography students 
of the University of Warsaw who participated in the 
survey in 2014/15, which is analysed in Chapter 12. This 
is a rather short chapter, but (I presume) the topic has a 
potential both in teaching (maybe a research about their 
habits is appealing to students?) and research. Chapter 
13 allows us to look behind the curtains: how the lo-



220 Book review section– Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 69 (2020) (2) 209–220.

cal or exotic ingredients arrive to the city to eventually 
land on our plate. The chapter uses the case study of a 
Polish company, but the reader also gains knowledge 
about the theory of supply chain management and how 
it functions, for instance, in Indonesia and Canada.

Part III is dedicated to challenges which gastronomy 
is facing in the 21st century. Such challenges stem from 
the shifts in society, the changing culture of dining or 
dietary trends, and they are interlinked with technologi-
cal developments. From the aspect of urban space, the 
authors identify four major challenges: food courts (15), 
green and blue spaces (i.e. parks and waterfront) (16), 
street food and food trucks (17), and home delivery (18). 
Following the structure of chapters in Part II, chapters 
in Part III first provide a general overview of the history 
of the given form of gastronomy, followed by examples 
from different cities around the world and, finally, by 
case studies from Poland (mainly Warsaw). From the 
historical overview the reader can learn that none of 
the above catering forms is unprecedented in human 
history, so one might say that these barely endanger the 
survival of more traditional facilities, like restaurants. 
Importantly, the authors illuminate the foreseeable/
possible social and spatial consequences if these chal-
lenges spread. For instance, the increasing popularity 
of home-delivery threatens thousands of jobs, while 
the expansion of dining establishments occupies and/
or impacts urban space in a way which creates concerns 
and conflicts between different users of urban space. 

Chapter 16 is particularly informative in this regard. 
It explores the dining facilities in parks and in the wa-
terfront along the Vistula River. These (open air) dining 
facilities function as societal hotspots appealing for a 
diverse clientele, but at the same time, regular park visi-
tors or inhabitants living nearby might complain about 
the noise or dirt the guests leave behind. The arousing 
conflicts must be mitigated through the involvement of 
concerned parties (local government, visitors, inhabit-
ants, street vendors, entrepreneurs) as it has happened 
in the case of Breakfast Market, a bottom-up initiative 
rapidly gaining popularity in Warsaw. (Similarly to the 
authors of this chapter, I also find it important to give 
the credit to the student, Monika Bartman, who dedi-
cated her BSc degree thesis to the Breakfast Market).

Chapter 17 is not only fascinating because it offers a 
historiography of food trucks and street food in differ-
ent regions, but it explains their social context as well. 
Furthermore, we can learn about what lies behind the 
popularity of street food (eating healthy, eating local 
and eating food prepared carefully), and why running 
a food truck is appealing to many young, educated peo-
ple. The spatial analysis found a temporal fluctuation in 
the concentration of food trucks: weekdays they rather 
show up in the vicinity of offices, but in the weekend 
they appear closer to parks and waterfronts.

Chapter 18 is dedicated to home delivery. The au-
thors provide a wonderful summary of the history 
and types of home delivery services, which is followed 

by the study of a particular food delivery company. 
Analysing the spatial distribution of restaurants pro-
moted by this company, they found that some type of 
cuisine can be found in higher concentration in certain 
neighbourhoods, which also reflects the status of that 
part of the city. For instance, pricey Japanese restau-
rants are concentrated in the newly developed business 
centre in the western part of the inner city of Warsaw, 
which is considered to be a prestigious one, and eating 
Japanese cuisine seems to be a symbol of prestige.

The book ends with a few pages long, enviably fo-
cused summary (Conclusion), which reviews the major 
aspects of the relationship between gastronomy and 
urban space studied in this edited volume. 

Gastronomy and Urban Space. Changes and Challenges 
in Geographical Perspective is an informative, richly il-
lustrated edited volume that broadcasts knowledge 
in a comprehensible and engaging manner. Besides 
the maps and photos, the textboxes (separated from 
the main text with a grey background colour) convey 
particularly interesting pieces of information. Apart 
from the literature review and theoretical grounding, 
the most valuable contributions are the case studies. 
Based on years of fieldwork, observation, photo docu-
mentation, rounds of questionnaire surveys, interviews, 
analysis of databases, blogs and social media, each 
chapter testifies the immense work and commitment 
of participating researchers and the meticulous work 
of the editors. The book talks about the intersection of 
gastronomy and urban space in a way which makes it 
a valuable and enjoyable book to read. Moreover, amid 
the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this book attests 
as a mnemonic of the pre-lockdown ‘normality’, while 
some of the concerns and challenges gastronomy is 
facing in urban space (at least the time of writing this 
review, in mid-May 2020), sounds prophetic.

Ágnes Erőss1

R E F E R E N C E

Howe, N. 2017. How “generation yum” is stoking 
the foodie frenzy. Forbes, 20 July 2017. Available at 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2017/07/20/
how-generation-yum-is-stoking-the-foodie-
frenzy/#467cf6b6613f (Accessed on 11.05.2020)

1 Geographical Institute, Research Centre for Astronomy 
and Earth Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. 

  E-mail: eross.agnes@csfk.mta.hu