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Hello, Greek food in the UK is starting to be more popular, with dips and salads, but the main food dishes seem to have been lost in the idea that Greek restaurants are where you go to drink and smash plates.
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήApart from Mezze dishes and Moussaka, Greek yoghurt and Greek honey, then the range of food available is very limited.
In Belgium. Greek food was very popular throughout a "dotted" wide spread network of independent restaurants. If we look back some 30 years, Greek cuisine was mostly inviting to full 3 course dinners + coffee, at a pricelevel similar to the average of one main course in a classic Belgian cuisine restaurant. It therefore was very popular for family outring, groups of friends, etc. I remember that if you were out with a group (6-20 persons?) the common choice very often was voted to go eating "with THE Greek". Grek restaurants not only could be found in city centres, but also rurally, prefertably along town-connecting roads. They gradually started disapearing. Now, most of the "scattered" location structure of Greek restaurants are gone. However, a growth has been seen in city centre clustered restaurants. A complete row of Greek restaurants on one spot in the city. Several such major HUBS exist, and grow. Part of early pushover of scattered Greek testaurants, must be observed from Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants picking in the former scattered (raodside) locations of the Greek. Like the first 'movement'. They could compete in the same price class. A second 'wave' was the boom of Turkish eating places, from wich many cater more into the snackbar model, and at a price level under the Greek. Those are picking in mostly inner city scattered locations. As Turkish cuisine is a branch of general east-meditarenean cuisine, just like the Greek is (some dishes are similar or completely the saame, with a different name) customers didn't feel much of a transition, yet, we don't see the tradition of 'large friend groups dining out there' like it was with the Greek. When we look at the clusters now, we see that each cluster caters atound one specific food segment. Like all snackbar type eateries, or all full course Greek grill restautats, or all popular priced 'simmered oven dish' restaurants (where often you can walk in the kitchen to make your choice, in a way the most authentic style of local restaurant existing in Greece itself (OFF tourist paths !). The fact the such 'still' exist in f.i. Brussels, is due to local Greek immigrant quarters. They never catered to tourists, but to locals, market goers, etc. This category WAS the most popular with the inner city scattered Greek eating places in the past, but in all now is a strict minority. Perhaps, in 20 years time, they are all lost ? It's the contrast between "daily food" servings, and specialty dinner.
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφή2nd Part ===
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήIf I read Chris' comment above focussed on the UK, my impression is that the movements could be opposite in Belgium versus the UK. Her, decline, from a period Greek restaurants were among the BIG THREE of foreign restaurants (Italian-Greek-Chinese) , now they have dropped almost in restaurant niche scenes. The Turkish took over, although mostly in the lower class segment (snackbar, and Turkish pide restaurants are mostly competitors of Italian pizzerias) There is another factor that, I think, influenced the diminishing of the number of Greek restaurants here. "Very few Greek people (young generation) still in interested in doing this kind of business." They are "locals", studied and look for at random jobs. Their parents or grandparents arrived here as immigrants. The Turkish are still in immigrant wave generation, and seemingly this motivates them to go more in this kind of business. We also see thaat sons & daughters of Chinese (Vietnamese etc) restaurants get their university diplomes and leave the business forever. The difference of foreign cuisine versus classic local Belgian restaurants, is that in the classic circuit, it's driven by individuals with cooking interests, went to horeca-chef school and start this independent from "parents background'. Most foreign cuisine restaurants were (and still are) set up by first generation immigrants who are bringing "part of their country with then" by running the restaurant. Often the refusal of validity of their country-of-origin diplomes in Belgium, broughht them to the restaurant busuiness. ("The only way out") I know quite some Asian... doctors, engineers, filologists.. you name it, who started a restaurant here, as their diplom was classified "non Belgian homologated". (sic) The Greek usually did not come with high level diploms, they came as industry workers and similar. Hence, probably the early popularity and majority of the "home cooked simmer dish style" Greek restaurants in the past. The absense (99%) of sharp spicing most probably matched at once with Belgian population's taste. Most Chinese restaurants immediately modified their dishes to 'Belgian taste' (VERY dificult to get autenticity) but the Greek had no need for that, and offered truely authentic cooking. However, now pushed back to a minority position.