Abstract
This chapter underlines the key role of a city centre in urban space gastronomy. It offers a four-step perspective, ranging from urban to local.
First, the example of Saint Petersburg (Russia) shows that gastronomy reflects the major phases of urban growth. Here, eating establishments are used as a proxy for the city centre.
Second, the example of Warsaw's Śródmieście district in Poland indicates the constant growth in catering services in this central borough since 1994. Using density analysis, it shows gastronomy hotspots in the centre of the city.
Next, the case of Kraków (Poland) focuses on the centre of a historical tourist city, where there has been both quantitative growth in the number of eating establishments and a change in their distribution. The last examples offer a local perspective, specifically they concern the district of Żoliborz in Warsaw, Poland, and the neighbourhood of Podskalí in Prague, the Czech Republic, which are near the city centre.