Favorite cities to dine

I agree that NY is unique for all its talent and diversity, but how can I narrow it down to one city, let alone one country?!

The memories I have of San Francisco are over 10 years ago, and I'm sure it's completely different today, but I remember really enjoying the food there, as well as in Seattle. But then there's Charlie Trotter's in Chicago; the best food I've EVER eaten.

And then of course, there's Paris, Florence, Marrakesh, and a hundred other cities I've yet to explore.

CC- this is a complicated question!

I agree, NYC has great dining.....San Francisco, New Orleans absolutely, St. Louis, Chicago......Atlanta years ago.
Dining vs. eating. I have not been through Napa in years....but I'm pretty sure that would be one too. Philly too.
Eating BBQ in Memphis, or Brats in St. LOuis or Cajun food in the south or Dim Sum in SF, or Danish pastries in Sulvang

1.London
2.Beirut
3. Paris
4. Rome

People have been dinning to those cities for the last 150 years...at least.
Not to mention that in Beirut and Rome they have been dinning with style and finesse for 2000 years...

San Francisco is by far my favourite place. Nowhere else in the world is there such a coming together of cultures. Rijstaffel, Korean BBQ (which is illegal here in Minnesota), Sushi, Hot Pot, Udon Noodle Houses. I wasn't lucky like CC because last time I was at FIsherman's Wharf it was full of fried fish, fried calamari, and cold french fries. A few years ago you could get really good grilled salmon on SF Sourdough. Too bad the place is overcommercialized now.

Research question: Did Cioppino come from the restaurant near the wharf with the same name?

Kuan

Li ristoranti a PARIGI, certo!

kokopuffs,
are you a medium?
I mean, did you read my last post in the Cook's Corner forum before I posted it?
As you can see, I agree with you on PARIGI: the place in the world when you can get the highest number of top restaurants, a widely diffused good quality in low-price places, and a pretty wide range of ethnic restaurants.

To the above mentioned cities, let me add Istanbul (because Turkish cooking is very good) and Singapore, the Mecca of Asian cooking.

As for Italy...I understand you can be influenced by its charm, but definitely Rome it's not the best place to eat in Italy. Too many touristic places, the highest prices in Italy, no top restaurants. The same for Venice.
Probably the very best eating place in Italy, according to my three points (see the "Englishwoman" thread on Cook's Corner) is Milano. No great appeal as a city, but the only cosmopolitan town in Italy, and three top restaurants.
Firenze is following, and generally all the Tuscany; Bologna and the whole Emilia Romagna; the Piemonte (but not Turin). Those are probably the three regions where you can eat well.

Pongi

...hmm...made a mistake. I meant "the regions where you can eat best". Of course you can eat well in many other places, Genova included:)

Pongi

Pongi, I haven't been to Italia but can safely assume that the country offers great food that can equal or even exceed what's offered in France. Every country offers excellent cuisine.

But no, I'm not a medium...just a galaxy cruiser because I graduated from Berkeley! Although I don't know your name, I've got your number, buddy.

I'd have to say in response to the query that you can get great food in any city you visit---you just have to know where to eat and be prepared for the excellence found in indigenous cuisine. It goes beyond just great tasting food on a pretty plate. It's why gumbo and jambalaya taste best in NO and LaFayette, LA. And why bialys are so good in NYC and pulled pork is superlative in Wilson, NC or Memphis.

But to answer you question specifically, I'd have to say that San Francisco and Berkeley, CA are my favorites. Sure, there's wonderful food here in NY, but I tire of the "I'm fabulous, and you're probably not" attitude that comes along with the service, coupled with people pushing that disgusting foie gras on me all the time. (Sorry, fellow CT Craft diners, it's a personal aversion.)

San Francisco and Berkeley have the fortunate advantage of close proximity to the highest quality organic farms and dairies that produce some of the most flavorful food in the country. Also, the service approach is more of the "I'm OK, you're Ok, let's find what we have in common" mentality. The server and the served enjoy the dining experience together. Chez Panisse is my favorite, but Gary Danko's cuisine ( I met him when he was chef at the Ritz) was a great experience too.

By the way, I went to see Ruth Reichl (Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet, NY & LA Times restaurant critic) speak at the 92nd St. Y last week and she was asked the very same question to which she answered NYC after a bit of a pause. I couldn't help feeling that she chose her answer to please the crowd (for the most part, short, cranky old NY women). Judging from earlier passages of her lecture, in another place, she may have chosen SF, too.

Gou Bu Li in El Cerrito

Foodnfoto:

To this day the best everChinese restaurant is located in a little suburb just north of Berkeley, in El Cerrito called the Gou Bu Li. everything freshly prepared. However, I haven't eaten there since '89.

And yes, I agree with you, the bay area offers a great array of excellent restaurants to satisfy everyone's palette - I'm still spoiled about the area.

In that case, may I invite you for some lutefisk? :D Sorry fnf, I haven't found this to be the case in Minneapolis.

Kuan

Big fan of Santa Fe... ecclectic mix of new and reinvented classics. Closer to home, Baltimore has some neat "hole in the wall" joints. Phili is also tops for local collections of good eateries. George Perrier's Le Bec Fin, Susanna Foo's and Morimotos (of Iron Chef) all call Phili home. Lidia Bastianich also runs one of her 2 places in Phili.

What about Los Angeles? As I mentioned in another thread, it has the world famous Pink's hotdogs. Besides, where else can you watch Hulk Hogan workout on the beach while at the same time munching couple of spicy Tuna handrolls? :)

Kuan

I gotta go with Gotham City:) With N.O.La running second.

london all the way.

from marco pierre white to furgus henderson

classic hotels to sir terence conran

jellied eels to caviar

3 star chef`s to gastro pub`s

all you need to enjoy it is an appitite , some cash and a free lunch break

Definitely NOT Indianapolis

I haven't eaten in NYC or Chicago.

In Astoria, Oregon, we found some great treasures. In a little fish shop right on the bay, they bring the fish in and sell it right out of the ocean. The smoked fish and fresh crab is to die for.

There is also a Danish bakery there.

Maybe everything tastes better with salt in the air?

The most difficult place to dine was in England for me. Not that there is not good food there, the restaurants were just always closed when I wanted to eat! I never did figure that out.

~~Shimmer~~

The Bay Area

The best place I have ever been to to eat is San Sebastian on the north coast of Spain. Arzak's restaurant is just up the road from San Sebastian. You go round the old quarter and just pick at all the food laid out on plates in the bars, tell the barman how many you've had when you are finished and them move on somewhere else. After four or five such bars you and your party them decide that it's time to eat properly and go off and search for a restuarant for a meal. The other thing about these bars as such times as the Basque separists have protests in the old quarter(which they have with almost boring regularity) the bar just closes the shutters down most of the way while everyone continues eating and drinking waiting for it all to finish. Once the protest is over you move on to the next bar and start the whole process again, all without turning a hair.
It's not cosmopolitan, eclectic food by any manner of means, but is a real pleasure to experience.

I personally have eaten some of my best meals in some of the smallest towns and am proud to admit it! The best food I have ever eaten was at the Horseshoe Bar Grille in Rocklin, CA and the second best was The Grizzly Grille in Grae Eagle, CA (population 1,000!). I think that there are so many unamed people in this world that do amazing things with food and service every day, that if you live life long enough you will find them no matter where you are. Every town is going to have good places to eat and bad places too.
I firmly believe that a lot of a persons dining experience has to do with their mood that day. I've had days that I was so happy, any food would have been good and other days that even the best restaurant couldn't do a thing right. So go to places that you like, with people that you like and have fun, then you will most likely have good food!