Many travelers seek out “authentic” food on their voyages.  There’s nothing wrong with this, but the quest for authentic cuisine doesn’t have to define your trip.  Where and when you eat depends on your plans, your location, your tastes, your dietary needs, and your budget.  Sadly, there are those who believe there is only one right way to eat for every place on planet Earth, but you don’t have to buy into their views.  Food snobbery has no place in your travels.  

Take eating in New York.  New Yorkers can be quite particular about their food, and there have surely been debates over whether the knishes at Zabar’s are better than those at Katz’s Deli, or whether Ray’s Pizza is better than Grimaldi’s.  Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but does anyone really believe that eating at Sardi’s or Peter Luger Steak House is the only authentic way to dine in New York?  The same goes for eating in Hong Kong.  High tea at the Peninsula is probably fantastic, but there’s nothing wrong with grabbing a coffee and snack at a smaller cafe if you just can’t get reservations.  

Everyone has opinions about what you should eat when you travel somewhere, but their opinions should not sway you from eating where, when, and what you want.  I’m not from the American South, but surely there are Southerners who believe Cracker Barrel is not authentic Southern cuisine because the biscuits don’t taste like the ones their grandmothers used to make. That’s fine - they don’t have to eat at Cracker Barrel. But they shouldn’t be empowered to keep you from eating there if you want to.   One late evening in Florence, Italy, during our honeymoon, we arrived at our apartment late after running some errands. We had just spent four days in Rome eating all the Italian food you could imagine, and opted for falafel sandwiches from a nearby Middle Eastern place.  After three days in Kyoto, I had tried all different kinds of Japanese restaurants and was wondering where to go next.  A guy from an Indian restaurant offered me a flier, which I accepted, and I went on to enjoy a nice Indian dinner.  Go ahead and judge us for our crimes against authentic local cuisine!   

Food snobbery can also be a gateway to racism and prejudice.  When we traveled to Hawaii, we tried our darndest to book a luau, but they were all sold out.  Instead, we enjoyed traditional Hawaiian food at an excellent hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Honolulu…and the owner/chef was Korean.  We didn’t care.  During our meal, a belligerent drunk stepped into the restaurant and complained that because the owner wasn’t native Polynesian, he had no right to serve traditional Hawaiian food.  The owner handled it like a pro with the perfect defense strategy: he politely invited the guy to order something and taste it for himself.  Perhaps sensing defeat, the guy slunk off into the street.

Everyone is entitled to their own preferences, opinions, and tastes when it comes to food.  But no one has the right to create their own reality for food and to judge you for what you eat just because they believe it isn’t authentic.