What Makes Food Authentic?

After catching an interesting review on the No Problemo Facebook page, the question came to my mind (as I'm sure it did to many minds)...what makes food authentic?

In case you missed this so-called review, one diner at No Problemo took to Facebook to post this after eating there.

Now everyone is entitled to their opinion but as the comments from other No Problemo lovers quickly showed, not too many people were in agreement with this poster. And I don't think I am either.

Does it truly matter who is in the kitchen cooking if the recipe itself is authentic? I mean I'm not Italian, but if I get an authentic sauce recipe and cook it exactly as it's written, aren't I making authentic Italian food?

I guess I just started wondering what makes something authentic? The recipe...or the person cooking it?