The World’s Great Food Cities
The Speakers Annex: Fall 2026
Pack your appetite for a mouth-watering journey through six extraordinary food cities, where every dish tells a story. From Rome’s spaghetti carbonara to Barcelona’s pintxos to New Orleans’ gumbo, we’ll uncover how the past keeps showing up on the plate, and why the history of what we eat can help us to understand today’s complex, global cities. From ancient trade routes and imperial legacies to street food traditions, market cultures, and celebrated restaurants, each lecture traces how a city’s history and its people have shaped its culinary identity. You’ll never look at a plate of pasta the same way again.
Lecture Slides will be posted here after each week (usually Fridays).
Don’t forget to check the weekly recipes from each city we visit: a chance to taste these culinary powerhouses for yourself!
Week 1: Rome
Dining a la Romana: The Delicious Origins of La Dolce Vita in Rome
Discover how Rome’s iconic food culture was shaped by everything from ancient trade to American cinema. From its imperial history as a Mediterranean trading hub to the rise of its iconic trattorias and café life, we’ll trace the surprising stories behind the flavors we now think of as timelessly Roman. We’ll also explore the essential influence of Roman Jewish cuisine, from the historic ghetto’s resourceful cooking traditions to enduring classics such as fried artichokes that helped define the city’s distinctive tastes.
Week 2: New Orleans
Let the Good Times Roll:
A Culinary Journey through New Orleans
New Orleans is one of America’s most beloved food cities, where every bite tells a story of migration, music, celebration, and cultural exchange. This week, we’ll explore the French, Caribbean, Latin American, Indigenous, African, and other global influences that have shaped the city’s legendary and vast Creole culinary classics, from gumbo and jambalaya, to po’ boys and beignets.
We’ll take a virtual stroll through the French Quarter, pause at oyster bars and jazz clubs, visit iconic dining institutions such as Commander’s Palace, and raise a glass to the cocktails that make New Orleans taste as festive as it feels.
Week 3: Mexico City
Mexico City on a Plate:
From Tenochtitlan to Tacos
Discover the vibrant culinary capital of Mexico City, where ancient ingredients, street food traditions, and boundary-pushing chefs come together in one of the world’s most exciting food cultures. We’ll trace the city’s edible history from the Mesoamerican foundations of corn, chocolate, and chilies to the European, Asian, and African influences that reshaped its table, before digging into its modern street food scene, markets, and restaurants.
We’ll also explore how culinary innovators such as Enrique Olvera are elevating Mexican cuisine on the global stage while remaining rooted in the flavors, stories, and daily rituals of CDMX.
Week 4: Tokyo
From hushed sushi counters and locals-only izakaya to bustling seafood markets, ramen vending machines, and some of the most celebrated restaurants on earth, Tokyo offers a thrilling portrait of food culture in constant motion.
This week, we explore how this city balances a reverence for tradition with an appetite for innovation. Seasonality, craft, aesthetics, local ritual, and cutting-edge technology all shape the way Tokyo eats. Learn the stories behind its iconic sake, sushi, yakisoba, and everyday dining customs to discover why Tokyo remains one of the most influential and irresistible culinary capitals in the world.
Week 5: Barcelona
One of the most beloved culinary cities in Spain, discover the heart of Catalonian cuisine, from crema catalana to its mouth-watering pintxos. Defined by its proximity to the breezy Mediterranean Sea as well as the imposing Montserrat mountains, Barcelona’s food reflects the abundance of “mar i muntanya.”
We’ll explore the staples of modern Catalonian cuisine and its relationship to wider Spanish cooking while tracing the impact of centuries of trade, immigration, and regional identity. Discover how Barcelona’s cuisine reflects a city at once deeply Catalan, unmistakably Mediterranean, and deliciously open to the world.
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