Los Angeles compared to Chicago

I was in L.A. for a few days and thought I'd check out "Little Ethiopia," a one-block strip south of Pico on Fairfax Ave. There are about 20 restaurants in this small area. Of course I didn't get to try them all, but I did sample three, all of which were recommended in various online forums: Messob, Rosalind's and another smaller place whose name escapes me. Meals by Genet, which is often touted as the best Ethiopian in L.a., was closed whenever I went by.

Well, To say I was disappointed would be an understatement! At all three of these places the injera was cold, the food tasted reheated, and the spices, well, just weren't very spicy! Contrast this sorry situation with the meals I've had at Ras Dashen and Ethiopian Diamond in Chicago, where I've never had a bad meal.

I just thought I'd bring this up because it's often said in this forum that as a culinary Mecca Chicago just doesn't compare with the coasts. Not necessarily! I also tried Rahu Nakorn in Norwalk (S.E. of L.A.), said to be "The Best Thai Restaurant in the U.S.," which specializes in Issan (northern Thai) food. I can testify that it is indeed good, but not as good as Sticky Rice in Chicago!

yea man, i live out here in san diego and the best restaurants are the mom and pop 1 star joints that never get any press! the one dish we got going here is the classic fish taco!

tonyd wrote:yea man, i live out here in san diego and the best restaurants are the mom and pop 1 star joints that never get any press!

Tonyd,

That, unfortunately, is a universal truth no matter where you are for the most part. That's also one of the main reason that LTH Forum is such an important source of info.

I think it is silly, and all too typical of the usual snobbery dealt out by the coastal minions - especially the Left Bank. The best thing in Cali are the In-and-Outs and I never met a Mexican restaurant out there I liked (even those Mexican-owned).

New York knows how to "do" restaurants and nothing on Earth comes close to their delis (even out on Long Island), and I wouldn't say one negative about the eateries in that town. But it is really Chicago and New York that are perfect for restaurant people.

There are a few good tapas places in the San Francisco/Santa Rosa area (a big area!) but outside of that, the People's Republic of California should stick to wine and vapid blondes - their two best exports.

While New York may have us beat on deli's and New York style pizza(duh) and maybe fine dining, thats about it. You cant find nearly as good Thai or Mexican in NYC, they certanily dont have the selection of different South American countries cuisine that we do, you cant find any authentic comparisons to our classic sandwiches ( the jibarito, breaded steak, polish sausage and the almighty Italian beef and for that matter his cousin, the combo). You want me to go on? as far as pizza we have classic Chicago deep dish and super cracker thin, they have NY style which is good but doesnt compare to our selection. Do they have a costa rican joint in NY? Not to my knowledge. What about polish food? we win that hands down, what about Greek? Chicago wins ! I could go on all day. Truth is, like the shirt I heart NY but Chicago is the food mecca of the world. We pretty much have it all.

If I may straddle the fence, thereby setting myself up for abuse from both sides, I think any argument of whether Chicago or the West Coast has more going for it as a culinary mecca is fun, but silly.

I was born and raised in Chicago. I lived in L.A. for six years. I returned and have lived in Chicago for just over another four. And the truth is that both have their strengths, and I could not reside in either city without missing certain culinary items that the other features. I'm not nearly Mexican-savvy enough to have any informed discussion with this crowd, so I'll leave that one alone entirely But that aside, here's how I feel:

When I was living in L.A., I missed the obvious candidates: Italian beef, Chicago-style dogs, deep dish pizza, etc. I missed Greektown. I missed P.S. Bangkok and Walker Brothers and Bale. I don't have a lot of familiarity with German and Polish, but if I did, I'm quite certain I would have missed them, too.

But now that I'm back in Chicago, I miss an awful lot about L.A. I miss In 'n Out. I miss shabu shabu (though I hope and pray that Matsumoto's recent revelation will change that). I miss the fact that every corner sushi bar in L.A. served great fish, whereas Chicago necessitated hunting down a couple of select spots (though thankfully, this seems to be changing). I miss the delis... not that L.A. is anything like N.Y., of course, but they're still a big head and shoulders above Chicago in that department. Generally speaking, I miss the incredible quality and freshness of the produce. I REALLY miss West Coast Cantonese. When it comes to Sichuan, the West Coast can kiss Tony's ass (Lao Sze Chuan), as far as I'm concerned, but I still haven't found Cantonese seafood in Chicago that makes me happy, despite numerous recommedations. I really, really miss the tuna melt at Bob's 49. And though I admittedly have impossibly exacting standards for trattoria-style Italian, I haven't yet had anything in Chicago that can match Da Pasquale in Beverly Hills.

Point being, as a food lover who has split his adult life between L.A. and Chicago... almost to the month... I absolutely couldn't say, culinarily, that I favor one or the other. I mean, there's no question that I GENERALLY favor Chicago... it's why I moved back and intend to stay ... but I think that residents of either place crowing culinary superiority over the other are either underinformed or, understandable as it may be, letting objectivity take a backseat to civic pride.

If I could just bring ALL of the restaurants here

Yes it is silly - and I'm just teasin' for the most part. I don't think geography is a determining factor to great restaurants at all - nor is price (as attested to in this thread).

Plus I've only ever been to two Mexican restaurants in Cali so... what do I know, really?

(you don't have to actually answer that!)

It's really not fair to use Renu Nakorn as an example as it is five years past its prime and chef change in the kitchen. It's a shadow of its former self under its new ownership.

Chicago is a good food town. It excels in certain things, imo, (chow worthy food, thai, and mexican). But, when comparing it to San Francisco or New York , Chicago just doesn't cut it on a gastronomic level with those two cities. Need evidence? Just go read GAF'as missives of his nightly dining in NYC on the Beyond Chicagoland forum.

To me, the difference between fine dining in Chicago versus cities like New York or san Francisco begins with the bread basket. People who take their bread seriously, take their food seriously. I can't recall one Chicago restaurant that takes its bread basket as seriously as new York and San Francisco restaurants do.

That said, give me a Paradise Pup or Hot Doug's Dog over Pinks any day of the week. Give me our Mexican over LA's any day of the week (and my guests from LA often agree). Give me Sticky Rice or TAC over Renu Nakorn any day of the week.

But, until we have a number of consistently good fine dining restaurants the quality of Craft and Grammercy Tavern in NYC and Gary Danko in San Francisco, we cannot compare to those two restaurant towns.

We seem to be on the way with Alinea, Avenues and Moto. Time will tell

YourPalWill wrote: Just go read GAF'as missives of his nightly dining in NYC on the Beyond Chicagoland forum.

I'm gonna generally stay away from this argument, after all when I start dropping Milwaukee into the game, everyone's gonna think I'm off my rocker

But anyways, what I wanted to say is, read Gary's posts, and I do not think he necessarily is that impressed with NYC restaurants. A big theme of his postings seem to be the opposite, that the places do not equal theur hype.

That said, I still do not know why a place modeled after Craft cannot open in Chicago.

Oh, and LA surely has way better donuts.

The only thing I know for sure is that there's no comparison between my ability to suss out the best in Chicago, because of LTHForum and so on, and what happens when I eat in LA or New York (not that I've done either one for a while), simply because I don't know where I really really need to eat to have world-class, city-transcending food. I'm perfectly prepared to believe it exists in either one, I just haven't had it-- with the possible exception of bread, bagels etc. in New York. (In fact, the last time I took a business trip to New York, pretty much the only fun thing I did was race over to Zabar's and stock up.)

hey mike, i can appreciate your honest reply about the big apple. i just returned from a cookbook seminar and was really put off by the prices and over hype of the 4 star joints. i also did the food eporium crawl and was highly impressed by the shear variety alone. yes they take their bagel and bread trade very seriosly! i went to a factory where they make fresh mathzo crackers every 18 mins from scratch..

tonyd wrote:i went to a factory where they make fresh mathzo crackers every 18 mins from scratch..

In Chicago, they do it every 17 minutes:
Chicago's Shmura Matzah Factory

John Beadle wrote:
Well, To say I was disappointed would be an understatement! At all three of these places the injera was cold, the food tasted reheated, and the spices, well, just weren't very spicy! Contrast this sorry situation with the meals I've had at Ras Dashen and Ethiopian Diamond in Chicago, where I've never had a bad meal.

John,
you've probably checked this out, but if you haven't I'd be interested in what you think from all the different injeras across the street from ethiopian diamond at kikulu market

I have family in LA and I enjoy eating out there with them. They tend to lean towards sushi and health-foody places like the Newsroom but I find the tastes very fresh and always come home feeling like I've had something different.