A Flavour of Class‐Based Spatial Change: Geographies of Haute Cuisine in the Netherlands

Abstract

This paper explores the changing culinary geography of the Netherlands applying GIS methods. The changing location of Michelin star-rated restaurants in the period 1986-2016 is put into a context of the changing relations between urban centres and their suburbs as well as the Randstad and the rest of the country. This paper suggests that the changing culinary geography of the Netherlands is related to the re-emergence of larger cities, particularly of Amsterdam, associated with the rise of an urban middle class epitomised by processes of gentrification. High end award-winning restaurants are argued to be a useful lens to study the symbolic geography of place, which integrates economic and symbolic perspectives on spatial change.

Investigating spatial concentration of sustainable restaurants: It is all about good food!

“…Thus, our results do not seem to suggest a diversification based on city size, as was found by Schiff (2015). Our findings are partially in line with Boterman (2018), who studies the location of Haute Cuisine in the Netherlands and finds similar location patterns as we do, with an overrepresentation of haute cuisine in the major urban centers of the Netherlands. We believe that the cluster we found could be the effect of a regional entrepreneurial culture that includes sustainability.…”

“…Furthermore, we find that part of the cluster is located, in the Gooi en Vecht area. According to Boterman (2018), food consumption and the rise of haute cuisine in the Netherlands is the effect of a rise of an urban middle class. Sustainable consumption is also most prevalent among the urban middle class (Sarmiento and Hanandeh 2018).…”

The age dimensions of urban socio‐spatial change

“…These deciles are used in subsequent analyses. Although house‐price appreciation is only one element of gentrification and wider neighbourhood change, the resulting spatial patterns for Amsterdam are similar to those found in other studies on income change (Hochstenbach & Van Gent, ), tenure restructuring (Hochstenbach, ), selective Instagram usage (Boy & Uitermark, ), and haute cuisine in the city (Boterman, ).…”

Entre o Kosher o Koolsher

“…Como se indicó anteriormente, estos restaurantes están ubicados en la cuña de riqueza de la ciudad, por lo que si su situación denota algo es la polarización socioespacial porteña. Y esto es especialmente relevante si se tiene en consideración que, de acuerdo con Boterman (2017), los restaurantes de alta cocina son lugares de consumo que permiten la constitución de determinadas clases sociales y, por ende, donde todo está encaminado a simbolizar la exclusividad del lugar, reflejar la posición de estatus, conformarla y mantenerla. Así es que, en contraste con aquellos espacios recualificados, su relación con lo urbano declara la inscripción en el universo del lujo.…”