The Food Team

About

Not just another food blog...

At AuthenticFood.com we believe that the exploration of food is more than just recipes and nutritional information, it is about social experiences and history. Food provides a channel to understand collective identities through social interactions. These social interactions can construct concepts like authentic food.

Our mission is to tell the stories of how we construct ideas of authentic food as well as preserve food stories that perhaps disappear as food evolves with the help of home cooks, chefs, farmers, academics, and restaurant owners.

Janna Tamargo

Founder

After traveling to over 40 countries, Janna Tamargo's passion for food and culture deepened. A pivotal dining experience in Milan, where she shared a table with strangers, ignited her curiosity about food’s role in building social connections. This interest took her to Istanbul, where she studied the sociology of food at Boğaziçi University, focusing on the evolving concept of authenticity in meyhane culture.

She became fascinated by the evolving concept of authenticity, particularly within the context of Istanbul's meyhane culture that has existed for over 100 years. This exploration of how food intertwines with social, political, and economic factors further inspired her to pursue a PhD in sociology at the University of Florida, focusing on food, culture, and authenticity.

Janna founded AuthenticFood.com as a platform to document the exploration of authentic dining experiences and challenge preconceived notions of what "authentic" food truly means; focusing on the fluidity of authenticity and its importance in understanding culinary culture beyond mere taste.

Her research has gained international recognition, including winning a prestigious scholar award for her study on meyhane, a type of restaurant in Turkey that has existed since the Byzantine era. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone Italia, and she has also researched authenticity in 70 Italian restaurants across Florida. Her global fieldwork continues to shape her insights into the intersection of food, culture, and authenticity.

Rose Goodbread

Content Curator, Sustainability Expert, & Foodie

Rose Goodbread, with a master’s degree in Global Sustainability, developed her passion for authentic food through her work in sustainable farming and food systems at the Rosebud Continuum. She has worked in community gardens in Florida and North Carolina, advocating for food security. To Rose, authentic food goes beyond taste—it's about knowing its origins, how it’s grown, and its impact on the community.

Through AuthenticFood.com, Rose aims to highlight restaurants committed to sustainability and local sourcing, while celebrating the power of food to bring people together from all walks of life.