Home Sweet Home

My husband and I just returned from a weekend trip to LA. While we were there, we had the opportunity to dine at Spago twice for dinner. The first time, we ordered off the a la carte menu. The second time, we did the 10 course tasting menu. I could go on and on about how wonderful and imaginative the cuisine was. But that isnt the intent of this post. I just wanted to say how proud I am of this city and its restaurants. If I were to have done a blind taste test of the food at Spago and the food at some of our locals, I am sure I wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. I am not saying that Spago is the end all and be all of food. Maybe its reputation exceeds the experience. That's all fine and well. All I know is that I think I can find the same things here that I can at Spago. Thanks to all for making this such a great food city. Every time I go somewhere, I am reminded how lucky I am that we have such nice restaurants here and how we have the same quality of restaurants at a fraction of the price. We are going to NY soon to see my husband's family. Per Se is on our list and I am quite confident I will come to the same conclusion after that meal.

Amen Sister

Having spent the last 7-8 months narrowing my job search from the entire country to five places (all of which I visited to interview), I will say that one criterion I have been judging the locations on is availability of good food. (And I've been comparing them to Louisville... they've all ranked unfavorably although in their defense they were all also smaller than Louisville except one.) One job got entirely crossed off the list (before I visited, thank goodness) when I found that the "best rated" restaurants in the city included both an Olive Garden and a Chick-Fil-A in the top five.

Although I look forward to my new career this summer, I am desperately going to miss Louisville's great restaurant scene for such a liveable town. I'm sure Chicago, NY, LA, etc would give us stiff competition, but any other mid-sized city I've visited for business or pleasure in the past several years just can't hold a candle.

ETA: It has been brought to my attention that this post makes it sound as if I am looking for a food-related position... I'm not. I just don't want to move anywhere that thinks OG is top-five worthy!

Having spent the last 7-8 months narrowing my job search from the entire country to five places (all of which I visited to interview), I will say that one criterion I have been judging the locations on is availability of good food. (And I've been comparing them to Louisville... they've all ranked unfavorably although in their defense they were all also smaller than Louisville except one.) One job got entirely crossed off the list (before I visited, thank goodness) when I found that the "best rated" restaurants in the city included both an Olive Garden and a Chick-Fil-A in the top five.

Although I look forward to my new career this summer, I am desperately going to miss Louisville's great restaurant scene for such a liveable town. I'm sure Chicago, NY, LA, etc would give us stiff competition, but any other mid-sized city I've visited for business or pleasure in the past several years just can't hold a candle.

Casandra,

When the lovely Rebecca and I decided to pull up stakes in Minnesota we had (what we've been told was) the envious position of being able to move anywhere in the U.S.A our little hearts desired...Without going into ALL of the factors that figured into our decision or relating all of the (numerous) places we visited...We chose to put down our new roots in "The 'Ville". We absolutely LOVE it here and have zero regrets. The folks here are some of the most down to earth and friendly people we have ever met. The cost of living (when compared to either "coast") is quite accommodating and based on our (so far) limited experience the food scene really IS superior to most cities half again as large...So in the spirit of "one in the hand is better than two in the bush" my unsolicited advice is...DON'T GO !!!!

Around 3 1/2 years from now I may be pulling up and moving to another city for residency. I must say that I am both looking forward to and dreading the experience. On the one had, I've never lived anywhere other than Kentucky and would like to experience other areas before settling down. However, I'm not sure that most other cities that are within my size tolerance limits will measure up favorably on the food spectrum. Only time will tell I suppose.

Thank heaven we have you for the next three and a half, Paul.

Amen, Brother Gary. And you know I am going to host one heck of a going away party when he leaves!

We will be in LA in a couple weeks and Spago and Cut were on our short-list of places to try. Should we go a la carte or with the tasting menu at Spago?

We will be in LA in a couple weeks and Spago and Cut were on our short-list of places to try. Should we go a la carte or with the tasting menu at Spago?

Mark,
We actually stayed at the Beverly Wilshire where Cut is. Because we hit Spago twice, we didn't have a chance to try Cut. My husband is a steak lover but I am not but please do tell how you enjoyed Cut if you try it. As for Spago, the tasting menu is quite pricy (especially with the wine pairing). FYI, a 20% gratuity is automatically added. The tasting menu is basically small plates of their dinner menu. There is a 5 course and 10 course tasting. We did the 10. I remember getting about five or six amuse bouche type plates, sorbet, a pasta, two fish dishes, two meat dishes, and two desserts. By the end of the meal, my husband was absolutely stuffed. I think the 5 course tasting would be better if you want a range of what Spago offers without being uncomfortably stuffed. My husband and I discussed it and we decided if we had to do it all over again, we would only go once and do the five course tasting and have tried Cut also. If you want more details, PM me and I can give you the exact price and basic list of what we had once I get home.

FWIW, I think the dining scene in St. Louis can compare to Louisville. Yes, St. Louis is bigger (though smaller than Louisville Metro, now I'm confused?!), but it has great dining, great variety, and the residents take their food very seriously. In my 3 years there, I was very very impressed.

Having spent the last 7-8 months narrowing my job search from the entire country to five places (all of which I visited to interview), I will say that one criterion I have been judging the locations on is availability of good food. (And I've been comparing them to Louisville... they've all ranked unfavorably although in their defense they were all also smaller than Louisville except one.) One job got entirely crossed off the list (before I visited, thank goodness) when I found that the "best rated" restaurants in the city included both an Olive Garden and a Chick-Fil-A in the top five.

Although I look forward to my new career this summer, I am desperately going to miss Louisville's great restaurant scene for such a liveable town. I'm sure Chicago, NY, LA, etc would give us stiff competition, but any other mid-sized city I've visited for business or pleasure in the past several years just can't hold a candle.

Casandra,

When the lovely Rebecca and I decided to pull up stakes in Minnesota we had (what we've been told was) the envious position of being able to move anywhere in the U.S.A our little hearts desired...Without going into ALL of the factors that figured into our decision or relating all of the (numerous) places we visited...We chose to put down our new roots in "The 'Ville". We absolutely LOVE it here and have zero regrets. The folks here are some of the most down to earth and friendly people we have ever met. The cost of living (when compared to either "coast") is quite accommodating and based on our (so far) limited experience the food scene really IS superior to most cities half again as large...So in the spirit of "one in the hand is better than two in the bush" my unsolicited advice is...DON'T GO !!!!

Well, it's a little late in the game now as we are for sure moving (I did not apply for a position here.) We are, however, likely to be back!

FWIW, I think the dining scene in St. Louis can compare to Louisville. Yes, St. Louis is bigger (though smaller than Louisville Metro, now I'm confused?!), but it has great dining, great variety, and the residents take their food very seriously. In my 3 years there, I was very very impressed.

Wow Brad. I am surprised to hear that because I have heard the place is quite chainy (is that a word?). My sister in law went to school there and from what I remember there was good Italian (on some type of Hill maybe?) and there was toasted ravioli. HOWEVER, I have heard that the place has come a long way in the last 10 years since she left.