🇬🇧 Restaurants in non-touristy places

Have you noticed that in many cities the options available at local restaurants are very limited? Several cities, especially those that do not give importance to tourism and are not capitals, economic centres, have little variety in terms of gastronomy, have few or no foreign cuisine restaurants, and creative or contemporary gastronomy options are even rarer.

From what I observed in the places where I lived, in the trips and research I did, this happens for two main reasons:

• For accommodation of the local population. When people from a place do not usually travel and get used to the local cuisine as if it were the best in the world without knowing other options. No one in that environment is dedicated to studying cuisines from other parts of the world, let alone opening a restaurant that is different from the options that already exist in the local market, be it foreign cuisine or contemporary/creative cuisine with local ingredients.
• For not attracting immigrants linked to gastronomy. In addition to local people going out to learn about the cuisine of other places, there is also the possibility of a place having restaurants with varied cuisines by attracting immigrants who try to replicate the dishes of their homeland where they will live and make a business out of it.

In both cases, the creativity of entrepreneurs and chefs is also important. When creativity is lacking, they tend to create menus with dishes that they know will be well accepted, without taking any risks.  The best restaurants in the world are those that take the most risks and create the most original dishes. Those who offer typical food from a certain region or country gain from the creativity in choosing dishes that most similar restaurants have not chosen (in a scenario where there are already direct competitors). Average restaurants do what the entrepreneur's grandmother might do at home with both her hands tied and her glasses off. In the very bad ones we suspect that the cooks are in fact old ladies with tied hands and without glasses. 😥

The lack of appreciation of the local culture and the natural beauties of the region also contributes to this lack of options indirectly, because if someone found the culture of that place interesting or appreciated the natural beauties of the region, they would want to spread it to the world, transforming the place into a destination tourist. And one would act to create that reality. It lacks vision and ambition. And people like me, who love to see off-the-beaten-path places, but also love staying in a comfortable hotel and eating well, can't do that in many of these cities with limited dining options. I am curious to know: if the place is not interesting, why do people live there?

Why do you think these places have few dining options and often no good hotels? Would you live in a place without good dining options?

Nycka, the Nomad