The thing really notable about these stats for me is the fact that there is a huge opportunity for non-sushi Japanese in the US. I spent two weeks in Japan last year and didn’t eat sushi for the first 10 days, and 3 of my 4 best meals were non-sushi.
I’m all for more Kaiseki style Japanese restaurants. We have a couple in our area.
Sometimes… ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
I was just kidding. Just on a scan through the list I was surprised by the prevalence of Japanese/Sushi. I guess at some level it’s not surprising, but I tend to think of it as a more niche cuisine.
What I really felt though was that I am missing Lampreia. I was glad to see Jason Franey and Canlis in there. I need to eat at Cafe Juanita more often as well. It’s a bit of a schlep from downtown Seattle. Spinasse is lovely, but I don’t think of it on that level. Foodies here seem more jazzed about Altura.
I think the problem with kaiseki style restaurants in the US that the number of chefs who can prepare an interesting meal using that format is small, and not likely to be located in the US. Also, it is easier to source one type of ingredient - fish - than the large variety of ingredients needed for a kaiseki meal. But I am headed for Tokyo next month so I will give you a first hand report on why I think there is a kaiseki deficiency in the US.
Levine - You will appreciate this. I was having a back and forth with a Stanford economist friend of mine yesterday about the list and how adjustments are made for diner bias. But sushi restaurants are one of the more difficult types of restaurant to adjust for because a)the experience is so spare and b) they are not trendy so the clientele is steady and doesn’t change in makeup over time. So what the high number of Japanese restaurants on the list comes down to is a steady level of quality served to a steady clientele over a long period of time. And it makes sense. I might go to Per Se once every 3 years, but I go to Kurumazushi twice a year. It’s just easier to do, I can book it at the last minute so it less of a hassle in terms of psyching myself up for the meal, and I do not have to deal with the multiple nuances of a French style fine dining experience. It’s just me, the chef, the fish and blissful solitude.
Yum.
One caveat re kaiseki is that the first 1/2 of an Urasawa (and I think Masa is the same although I haven’t been there) meal is really a hybrid kaiseki style, similar in style to what you’d get at a Tokyo kaiseki place (although not all that similar in style to what you’d get at the Kyoto places, e.g., Mizai/Kitcho/Nakamura), whereas the sushi places in Tokyo are for the most part just sushi, the same way the tempura places are just tempura.
It does surprise me that there isn’t a really high-end tempura place in NY/SF trying to imitate the high-end Tokyo tempura places like 7 Chome and Kondo. I would think that style of food would translate well to U.S. palates and is easily adapted for local U.S. ingredients. It’s also great dining theater.
I also have a dream of opening a chain of authentic Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki places in the states. I think people would love it (or of course it could go over like ssams did before Chang reconfigured ssam bar).
Ramen seems to be where the money is. Not only does it cost a pittance to make, ramen places are opening up everywhere.
ugh. there are TONS of mediocre ramen joints in the bay area.
It “can” cost a pittance to make. The best places spend more time and money on the base ingredients for the broth, dashi, eggs, noodles, etc…
N/naka does a great kaiseki in la. One of my favorite restaurants
A number of my friends told me N’ Naka was great and my wife and I had a terrible meal there. The same thing happened to me at Aburiya Raku. The reviews that come in on that place rave about it and my meal there was meh. The trials and tribulations of the dining scene.
Northern California is well represented.
How far would you have to go to get a South Florida restaurant. Top 300?
Michy’s # 166
Strange top 20 list (not that I’ve eaten at all the places). e at #3 is the strangest to me. While I enjoyed my meal there, I can think of half a dozen places off the top of my head that were better in Vegas alone. Same with McCrady’s…good place but #11 in the USA? No way! Elements would make a top 5 list in NJ but I don’t think it belongs in top 20 places in USA. And not one restaurant in LA makes the top 20?
Lists are dumb, aren’t they?
Paul - What places in Vegas are you referring too?
I always thought that people who were anti-list or against rankings were dumb.
Seriously, it’s just a language. Some people like to speak it, others don’t. I never understood the antipathy shown by those who don’t towards those who like to do it.
These types of surveys/lists/whatever are going to have their issues. That said, e at 3 made me wonder, too. I loved the experience but there was a course or two that many of us at the table just couldn’t eat. Guy Savoy recently was better. I’m not downgrading e at all. But #3? Just an example of the limitations of these types of surveys and their many different opinions. I do agree with a lot of them and disagree with a lot of them, too.
JD
The main reason that e is number three (and also why Saison is number 1), is momentum within the fine dining community. They have it, Guy Savoy does not. Which is why the French restaurants all took a beating this year. Look at Daniel at 95. Are there really 94 better restaurants in the US if we were just gauging quality? Probably not. But the hardcore foodies have completely stopped going to Daniel, and they go to places like Guy Savoy, and even the French Laundry, less than they used to. It used to be that if someone was flying into Northern California to eat, a place like the French Laundry was mandatory as a stop. That’s no longer the case. People travel there and omit it from their itinerary.
They must only like Asians 
.
Ppl love providence in LA but all my visits have been sub par. Like you said, trials and tribulations indeed