- Great cycling weather. LA has come a long way in bike lanes and buses that can carry your bike. It's not all about cars.
- It's basically working class due to the garment and aerospace industry. These are filipino and hispanic workers that have families and live generally outside of the trendy neighborhoods (or they do, but in cramped conditions). Most of HN will probably never interact with this demographic though.
- Your "LA is fake" speech as a disgruntled transplant is super lame and cliche, and lamer than actually being a fake/shallow Angeleno. Get over it. It's fake if you hang out with fake people. I found it refreshing to meet people who were not the standard tech bro who lifts weights.
- Great outdoors. Hiking, rock climbing, limited skiing. Take a sailing class thru UCLA.
Edit:
- LA food: Best East Asian (especially Chinese), Mexican, and Persian food in the country, and possibly the best Ethiopian. LA I thought had the highest density of high-quality but midrange ethnic restaurants that you could visit for a weekday lunch. It is not as good for technical haute cuisine that you'd find in SF, NYC, but it's the best for food that you could actually eat everyday.
My favorite part of LA is something that is sadly gone with the rise of the LA tech scene, cannabis scene, and migrations from SF and NYC. LA was always a place where you could find a cheap apartment, studio, warehouse, etc, focus on your work (whatever that is) and disappear in the sprawl and then emerge as necessary to engage socially.
There was always an abundance of store fronts and warehouses easily converted into studio spaces and an abundance of fabricators and materials suppliers to feed all sorts of artistic practices. This was due to LA's rich history as an industrial center.
If you wanted to start a small gallery or little studio community you could essentially throw a dart at a map and find the perfect place for you and your friends.
Now with the real estate boom, the expanding tech startup scene, and the cannabis industry LA is becoming more and more expensive and options for creative lifestyles are becoming slimmer and slimmer.
On Tokyo, Barcelona, and to a lesser extend LA, SF, I feel more confident to say something.
It is greatly a question what you are looking for, and the author quite apparently appreciates the variety.
And I have to give it to them, I do not think that Tokyo or Barcelona are in the same league there.
That is not to disparage the quality of the food. I hold Tokyo in high regard, and would say it is the place I would most likely feel confident to go to a blindly chosen random Japanese restaurant. In Barcelona, you already have to filter out the tourist traps. (Hint: Paella & Sangria)
But in both places, it felt to me more dicey if would like some non-local food. It always seemed to be heavily adopted to the local preferences. But maybe my experience is outdated.
My armchair theory is, that both cities "suffer" from the fact of having a great culture of own cuisine. Not sure, if their customers do not appreciate the otherness, or the cooks are preemptively trying to "fit in".
As the author writes, LA is a melting pot, and I have eaten there great food from all over the place, especially when the menu was only half-translated. But then, it may be a prejudice, I am less confident that I can pick a random place, and receive the same quality as in Tokyo.
I tend to find that Chinese food, for example, is more organically represented. In San Francisco, despite there being a Chinatown proper, and several other minor pockets (around Sunset for example), the quality of offerings is fairly mediocre, mirroring the americanization of its chinese population, compared to, say, Toronto, where you can find great a many restaurants with untranslated menus, catering to a large native chinese population.
> My armchair theory is, that both cities "suffer" from the fact of having a great culture of own cuisine. Not sure, if their customers do not appreciate the otherness, or the cooks are preemptively trying to "fit in"
I think this is a variation of the concept of "food grammar"[1]. I've noticed, for example, that in San Francisco, a lot of asian eats feature jalapeno peppers, and there's a number of mexican inspired fusion things (senor sisig, for example).
California rolls have quite a life of their own: they themselves are spin-offs of traditional sushi meant to cater to those who may be squeamish about raw fish, but I've seen restaurants in Toronto's Annex neighbourhood (an area w/ a lot of sushi restaurants) make some very flamboyant rolls that are completely detached from that rationale (mango sauce, anyone?)
The thing with a city developing its own food grammar is that it can be hit or miss. Personally, I'm not big on SF's jalapenos-everywhere thing. Sometimes, I just want a good traditional bahn-mi, not a San Francisco take on it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culinary_diplomacy#Thailand
[1] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/do-italians-eat-spaghe...
Most peoples actual LA experience is that they stay mostly confined to one little part of LA because they have a two hour commute during the week. They never get to really dig into that food scene because it's just to big a hassle to be a part of it.
Hot take: I don't think the best food in southern california is even in Los Angeles it's in Baja Mexico to the south.
I'm french and therefore a bit food snob. I live in Hong Kong, a place where the local food is 3 USD a meal, and the meat dicey while most nationalities, French especially, are represented at all price levels. It's still going to be skewed toward Asian taste (where are the Camembert sushi, a staple of parisian cheap sushi restaurant!?)
I dont know american food scene but it's probably horrendous: a memory of a 2 week stay in NYC when I was 16 scarred me: people in the US call "fat" "food", they cant actually comprehend taste. Just like my indian friends are so burned by spice they cant see the difference between different types of steaks (and tbh, like I find all type of spice just tasteless fire and cant distinguish them).
It's not bias you have, it's complete ignorance, I humbly assert :D I hope at least you're not the kind of american who think fortune cookies are traditional chinese culinary culture (it s an american invention)...
But if you speak of ultra luxury chefs and their distribution vs Tokyo or Barcelona you may be right, but it hardly matters: that's not real food either.
With that being said, NY + LA are my personal two favorite cities because these two cities combined cover such a large swath of the globe. No, the food is not as good as the country of origin, but it can get pretty close. And then you have such a variety. Just this past weekend (in LA) I had Jamaican food on Friday, Israeli food on Saturday, and Thai food on Sunday. And they were all pretty top notch.
I've heard Houston also has quite a diversity of food, I've heard Chicago is pretty good as well. To me, to be a best food city it is imperative to cover a broad section of different cuisines. By that metric, LA is world class and (for my taste and the kinds of food I like), unbeatable.
EDIT: One other thing I forgot to add. LA has a great spirit of innovation when it comes to food. You see people selling food out of their house, on the sidewalk, in parking lots just to get their idea out into the world without a lot of overhead. There's this feeling that if you try something new and capture people's attention you can make something big out of your food. And I think that's amazing (also it helps keep the costs relatively low for the consumer which is a bit of a bonus).
Similarly, "if you wake up at dawn in Los Angeles, and you have good time management skills, you can go for a walk on the beach, then go skiing in the afternoon, then fall asleep in the high desert at night" is probably true, but you'd better like the interior of your car, because that's where you'll be spending every other part of that day.
I think that’s a tough one to rank as not all great food cities are going to be great at all kinds of food. I’m not familiar with Tokyo for example, but I suspect the Mexican food scene there isn’t as impressive as in LA?
Proximity to fresh seafood and fresh produce as well as the strong immigrant communities mentioned in the blog do generally combine to make LA an excellent place to eat though.
The Japanese palette tends to favor much lighter flavors, less oily and rich foods than the American palette. People typically value the natural flavors of the ingredients, whereas when eating out in the USA you tend to get really sweet or fatty sauces that mask the flavor of the base ingredients, even at nice restaurants.
It's not that it's better or worse, it's just a different definition of what "delicious" is, and I happen to prefer the Japanese ideal.
Probably Melbourne, London and New York.
Have spent enough time in Los Angeles to know that it doesn’t reach the level of the above cities. It’s great at what it does - Mexican, Korean, Chinese, Salvadoran even, fusion - but the geography just doesn’t help it.
Barcelona is not a particularly great food City (sure, there are a few elite chefs but in general the food scene offers little of variety). Want good food in Spain, go to Basque Country.
Tokyo, San Sebastián, Lyon are cities which are insanely good at rocking their own cuisine which puts them in a different category of food cities. You might say ‘International’ v ‘Local’
International food cities -
Melbourne London New York
Sydney Los Angeles
(And probably Toronto Houston Vancouver but have never been)
The above cities are the great melting pots of the world
Something very special is happening in Melbourne’s food scene, especially in the last 10 years. Pick literally any Asian cuisine or food trend. you can name, even something super obscure, and you can find special examples.
Heading to LA in a few months for the first time so keen to compare.
https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/california/us-los-angeles/r...
Lots of overlap between Jonathan Gold's 101 list and the Michelin star list.
Contrast that with lines around the block to get good, but not life changing Ramen (Orenchi, South Bay Area). Or a near-mandatory hour wait for great Ramen (Ramen Shop, Oakland). Or giving up and never going because bots took all the reservations* (State Bird Provisions, SF).
* this is not fully accurate. A friends bot once went haywire and got too many reservations. I was able to attend on a spare reservation.
LA also has the better access to a variety of fresh fruits and veggies because of its weather. That also influences the food scene.
Almost every sprig of lettuce you eat comes from California, we get the food that travels the least and access to the best foods that have to travel the most, I say this because my brother is a food importer at LAX. I get to eat mangos from Pakistan, starfruit from Indonesia, and steak from Japan with ton's of frequency.
My point is, we serve as a nexus for food delivery and with choice of ingredients the best foods are made.
One view I would take is that every city is simply unique in its own many ways. I don't necessarily travel somewhere and right away compare it to other places, I feel like a greater experience can be had by just appreciating where a person is in that moment.
I feel this applies to almost everything about Los Angeles - the average anything probably sucks, but the peak is probably ether than you’re gonna find almost anywhere. What makes LA so great for me is that you can get those peak experiences in so many different areas of life.
The biggest problem in LA is the traffic, plus that you need a car to go anywhere.
Try to go on average day from Griffith Park(Observatory in the picture) to Santa Monica(surfing). You will hate your life.
People who live in LA are kinda used to crazy traffic, but if your value your time, LA is not the place to be
Not just because of the time. But because there is hardly anywhere to live that isn't filled with cars AND walkable.
It's nice that the city has become a lot more walkable - but it's not that enjoyable walking alongside what is basically a highway - I.E. Hollywood, Sunset, and Santa Monica Blvd.
It's such a shame that the city with some of the best weather in the country, and that would otherwise be great for biking, is the city with one of the strongest car cultures in the world.
But for most people in LA, it is not the case.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/los-angeles-califo...
I've visited rather than lived there, but the overwhelming impression I've got is that LA is /weird/ - in all of the best ways.
That density of creative people - with a business model that actually supports them - plus areas of the city that are affordable (at least in comparison to the SF Bay Area) means LA has an abundance of quirky and interesting culture to it. And great food.
There is an entire area of LA full of prop rental warehouses which I am very keen to explore on my next trip there.
Stops reading and closes the window. Seriously, what the hell. LA is a great place to eat, but for the love of G... Paris? Tokyo? NYC also kicks LA's ass to the ground regarding food. I know my food, LA's great, but come on.
But other French cities are full of restaurants that serves really great food, with either gorgeous local specialities (hello Britain and Provence), or excellent « French » cuisine for really modest prices as low as 12-15€ for the « plat du jour » (which is made from what the restaurant bought in the morning) to 30-40€ for meals you’ll keep in your memory.
This is due to a law that enforces employers to pay for your mid-day meal. Most of them do this by giving you restaurants vouchers so a lot of people in France got to eat at restaurants on a budget every day. So as a restaurant owner, you’d better have nice food if you want to see your customers come back every week.
[0] It's like they're designed for drag racing so you can get up to 60 mph and still brake in time for the next light.
As a kid in high school, blonds (most are out of a bottle) were worshiped. I guess it was the beach Surfer thing? My cousin was so depressed because he looked ethnic. Women just wouldn't give him the time of day.
When he came to visit us in Norther California--he was a rock star. Women really liked him. I never saw him so happy.
It's weird how certain places are just different on so many levels.
(best Mexican food there is though.)
If I had millions of dollars and could live anywhere I would probably live in LA.
The "Hollywood" you are referencing is not geographic. Yes the film studios are in Los Angeles but hollywood celebrity culture is not a property of nor exclusive to Los Angeles the city.
And what about the homless population? Yes it is a problem that there are so many unhoused people. But is it really surprising that they would congregate in a city with such mild weather and access to social services? Do they not also have a right to live their lives?
Food wasn’t one of those but it was 100% due to our bad choices.
However, Hollywood Bd truly was an horrible disappointment. It’s probably the place during this trip where I felt truly unsafe.
But that fortunately was not enough to spoil my good memories.
Sure. It is a "free" country after all. I have no dog in the fight since I am not in the US and do not intend to visit LA any time soon (maybe in the 70s I would have).
All I am doing is, pointing out the reality of LA.
