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I think we can throw socioeconomics in here as well as I feel people who are well-off in the State of Georgia can eat as healthy of foods as people who are well-off in California. People who live in poor rural areas of Georgia are going to have a considerably poorer diet since they can't afford the organic foods and revert to frying things in lard. So it is a matter of wealth status.
Quality is subjective somewhat but nothing you've posted has shown the quality to be better here. Not saying it's not better here overall but again, there really isn't much proof of that. And again with the whole freshness argument, local farmers markets that have locally grown food will be just as fresh in Atlanta as it will in SF. The difference being what's available during given times of the year.
Use logic then. Things that don't need to be shipped 3000 miles, happen to be fresher, in turn better. CA produces the most and ships out the most.
I've already shown things that are 100% grown only in CA. Let's do a comparison.
Lets see a top 20 comparison of Georgia or any other state and see how it compares. I would have no problem if CA loses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sav858
"Throwing a monkeywrench into the thread"? Why, just b/c I don't think CA is the end all be all when it comes to everything? I'm offering a different perspective that you and others are obviously having a tough time grasping. Never was arguing that CA wasn't better than GA, never argued that it didn't have the most products grown and that is wasn't the most diverse. Maybe you ought to go back and reread the thread b/c this is just going in circles at this point and you keep repeating the same stuff that no one was really arguing against. Not everything in CA is organic, fresh, of high quality, etc.. and that was one of my main points. Just b/c it comes from CA doesn't make it better than somewhere else automatically. And that is why I bring up the issue of factory farms here.
I accept this perspective and stated that I feel bad for the environmental degradation, the loss of habitat, the destruction of historical salmon spawning rivers, the inhumane conditions for both cows and chickens aka factory farming, etc. I'm from the Bay Area, I get it. I live and breath this kind of stuff. So I'm just sayin...these are negatives, but what do you want us to do about it. Should this negative stuff be better argued in a different thread?
Nor does Georgia or any other state for that matter. But one should consider that "California Cuisine" by definition is organic, fresh, locally grown fare. Alice Waters in Berkeley is the God-mother of this movement which has spread across the globe. How much should this count for?
Other that that, we're basically in agreement.
Last edited by Rhymes with Best Coast; 01-22-2010 at 07:04 PM..
I know the temptation here is to simply compare LA/SF with Atlanta, but Im talking about the states on a whole here. Comparing Eureka, CA with Athens, GA would be just as valid
Which type of cuisine do you prefer? Which state has better food overall? Better restaurants?
California tends to emphasize organic, local foods--with particularly good produce, seafood and mexican food.
Georgia tends to emphasize Southern Cuisine, lots of delicious soul food and deep fried goodness.
This of course does come down to personal preference in types of cuisine in a lot of ways, but I think we may need to what is actually "good" in order to decide which state has "better" food. Some people are arguing for flavor while others are arguing for what's healthier. Both can be designated as "good," but personally when I'm taking about good food I'm talking about what tastes good before I'm ever talking about what is actually good for me. If I have an amazing cheesecake I'm not going to say it isn't good, even though it clearly isn't good in relation to how healthy it is for me.
When it comes to Southern cuisine I feel that CA is severely lacking and GA clearly dominates us 1000x times over in this department. I truly wish we had access to real Southern cooking out here (I am saying this based on perception of course, as I have never been to GA and have not personally sampled their actual Southern cuisine).
As far as "California cuisine" goes, I think that term is applied to the stereotypical fare a relatively small contingent of people from SoCal conceived back in the early 80's. I've lived here my whole life and I have no idea what "CA cuisine" would really be (granola and tofu I guess? veggie burgers and CPK maybe?). It definitely is NOT what I or anyone I'm close to eats EVER in CA. We eat pretty darn good actually. I'm not a fan of fusion either, generally speaking.
Personally I eat all types of different food on a regular basis: Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Burmese, Chinese, Vietnamese, deli sandwiches, American (like omelets and pancakes and burgers and pizza, etc.), Hawaiian, Japanese, Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, etc. etc. Those I've listed are LITERALLY what I've had since Saturday lol (I'm not lying ). So from my perspective, food in CA is excellent while that which I understand to be labeled as "CA cuisine" is something foreign and unappealing to me. And I think the ingredients used in the food that I like here is excellent b/c it is a combination of both quality local and imported ingredients.
So which state has the better cuisine? I can't really say since I've never been to GA. Atlanta sounds like it has some amazing food and I love what I have had of Southern cuisine, so I don't doubt GA can offer a lot of great food. If what some people have said here is true and everything in each state can be found in just about every other single state, then I guess all states are equal on that basis. If the top restaurants in GA can actually rival the top restaurants in CA, then again its a wash. I suppose it would have to come down to quantity if that were the case (ie: GA's top 5 restaurants being 100% equal to CA's top 5 restaurants yet not having an answer for CA's #6-10).
But I really don't think things are quite as even across the board as some people are making it seem. I think CA probably has significantly better Mexican food (both sit down and street food) as well as higher quality ethnic cuisines that come from cultures that are better represented in CA than they are in GA. I doubt Atlanta has better Filipino restaurants than Daly City, San Francisco, San Diego or Union City for example, and I doubt CA's best Southern restaurants match up well at all against GA's. So in the restaurant department, both states should be looked at side by side in each category of cuisine before any conclusion can be drawn.
As for produce, CA has it as fresh and delicious as it comes in abundance, and can grow some things that GA cannot. So I'd give CA the edge here.
I think overall CA would have to come out the winner in this comparison, but I am basing this off what I have listed and admittedly have not had food in GA to make a truly accurate apples to apples comparison.
This of course does come down to personal preference in types of cuisine in a lot of ways, but I think we may need to what is actually "good" in order to decide which state has "better" food. Some people are arguing for flavor while others are arguing for what's healthier. Both can be designated as "good," but personally when I'm taking about good food I'm talking about what tastes good before I'm ever talking about what is actually good for me. If I have an amazing cheesecake I'm not going to say it isn't good, even though it clearly isn't good in relation to how healthy it is for me.
When it comes to Southern cuisine I feel that CA is severely lacking and GA clearly dominates us 1000x times over in this department. I truly wish we had access to real Southern cooking out here (I am saying this based on perception of course, as I have never been to GA and have not personally sampled their actual Southern cuisine).
As far as "California cuisine" goes, I think that term is applied to the stereotypical fare a relatively small contingent of people from SoCal conceived back in the early 80's. I've lived here my whole life and I have no idea what "CA cuisine" would really be (granola and tofu I guess? veggie burgers and CPK maybe?). It definitely is NOT what I or anyone I'm close to eats EVER in CA. We eat pretty darn good actually. I'm not a fan of fusion either, generally speaking.
Personally I eat all types of different food on a regular basis: Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Burmese, Chinese, Vietnamese, deli sandwiches, American (like omelets and pancakes and burgers and pizza, etc.), Hawaiian, Japanese, Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, etc. etc. Those I've listed are LITERALLY what I've had since Saturday lol (I'm not lying ). So from my perspective, food in CA is excellent while that which I understand to be labeled as "CA cuisine" is something foreign and unappealing to me. And I think the ingredients used in the food that I like here is excellent b/c it is a combination of both quality local and imported ingredients.
So which state has the better cuisine? I can't really say since I've never been to GA. Atlanta sounds like it has some amazing food and I love what I have had of Southern cuisine, so I don't doubt GA can offer a lot of great food. If what some people have said here is true and everything in each state can be found in just about every other single state, then I guess all states are equal on that basis. If the top restaurants in GA can actually rival the top restaurants in CA, then again its a wash. I suppose it would have to come down to quantity if that were the case (ie: GA's top 5 restaurants being 100% equal to CA's top 5 restaurants yet not having an answer for CA's #6-10).
But I really don't think things are quite as even across the board as some people are making it seem. I think CA probably has significantly better Mexican food (both sit down and street food) as well as higher quality ethnic cuisines that come from cultures that are better represented in CA than they are in GA. I doubt Atlanta has better Filipino restaurants than Daly City, San Francisco, San Diego or Union City for example, and I doubt CA's best Southern restaurants match up well at all against GA's. So in the restaurant department, both states should be looked at side by side in each category of cuisine before any conclusion can be drawn.
As for produce, CA has it as fresh and delicious as it comes in abundance, and can grow some things that GA cannot. So I'd give CA the edge here.
I think overall CA would have to come out the winner in this comparison, but I am basing this off what I have listed and admittedly have not had food in GA to make a truly accurate apples to apples comparison.
A+ man!
Perhaps we should stop arguing ingredients and focus on cuisine, variety, breadth and depth. Focus on world culinary wonders of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego metros which speak for themselves. Lets not leave out the cities of the central valley near where all that stuff is grown, like Sacramento, Fresno, and Bakersfield. Napa too!
Then you compare it to Atlanta and Savannah and their authentic southern cuisine. If that's your thing, go right ahead, these might be the best for that.
This is city-data afterall.
Last edited by Rhymes with Best Coast; 01-22-2010 at 07:06 PM..
Use logic then. Things that don't need to be shipped 3000 miles, happen to be fresher, in turn better. CA produces the most and ships out the most.
I've already shown things that are 100% grown only in CA. Let's do a comparison.
Lets see a top 20 comparison of Georgia or any other state and see how it compares. I would have no problem if CA loses.
I accept this perspective and stated that I feel bad for the environmental degradation, the loss of habitat, the destruction of historical salmon spawning rivers, the inhumane conditions for both cows and chickens aka factory farming, etc. I'm from the Bay Area, I get it. I live and breath this kind of stuff. So I'm just sayin...these are negatives, but what do you want us to do about it. Should this negative stuff be better argued in a different thread?
Nor does Georgia or any other state for that matter. But one should consider that "California Cuisine" by definition is organic, fresh, locally grown fare. Alice Waters in Berkeley is the God-mother of this movement which has spread across the globe. How much should this count for?
Other that that, we're basically in agreement.
Fair enough, and I wasn't disagreeing with everything you were saying. And I was comparing locally grown in GA vs locally grown in CA, for people buying either I don't see how one automatically has greater quality than the other. I think on a strictly local level the playing field is even when it comes to quality and freshness, just probably not variety for others states. For stuff that is both sold here as well as shipped out of CA then yes those things will be fresher here.
Correct, no state has any sort of all organic and high quality produce and meats. But some people on here imo were acting like that if it comes from CA then it's of higher quality, organic, healthier, etc.. than anywhere else, which is definitely not the case at all. Other states have more organic farms per capita than. I guess that is what happens when we try to generalize about a state as large as CA, you just can't. We seem to have the best AND worst of many things.
I love the food and the food culture in CA, I just felt some people were giving it a little too much credit for some things and not giving GA enough credit for some things as well.
Anyways, I'm off to Chick-Fil-A right now, so thank you Georgia for that.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jman650
This of course does come down to personal preference in types of cuisine in a lot of ways, but I think we may need to what is actually "good" in order to decide which state has "better" food. Some people are arguing for flavor while others are arguing for what's healthier. Both can be designated as "good," but personally when I'm taking about good food I'm talking about what tastes good before I'm ever talking about what is actually good for me. If I have an amazing cheesecake I'm not going to say it isn't good, even though it clearly isn't good in relation to how healthy it is for me.
When it comes to Southern cuisine I feel that CA is severely lacking and GA clearly dominates us 1000x times over in this department. I truly wish we had access to real Southern cooking out here (I am saying this based on perception of course, as I have never been to GA and have not personally sampled their actual Southern cuisine).
As far as "California cuisine" goes, I think that term is applied to the stereotypical fare a relatively small contingent of people from SoCal conceived back in the early 80's. I've lived here my whole life and I have no idea what "CA cuisine" would really be (granola and tofu I guess? veggie burgers and CPK maybe?). It definitely is NOT what I or anyone I'm close to eats EVER in CA. We eat pretty darn good actually. I'm not a fan of fusion either, generally speaking.
Personally I eat all types of different food on a regular basis: Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Burmese, Chinese, Vietnamese, deli sandwiches, American (like omelets and pancakes and burgers and pizza, etc.), Hawaiian, Japanese, Turkish, Lebanese, Indian, etc. etc. Those I've listed are LITERALLY what I've had since Saturday lol (I'm not lying ). So from my perspective, food in CA is excellent while that which I understand to be labeled as "CA cuisine" is something foreign and unappealing to me. And I think the ingredients used in the food that I like here is excellent b/c it is a combination of both quality local and imported ingredients.
So which state has the better cuisine? I can't really say since I've never been to GA. Atlanta sounds like it has some amazing food and I love what I have had of Southern cuisine, so I don't doubt GA can offer a lot of great food. If what some people have said here is true and everything in each state can be found in just about every other single state, then I guess all states are equal on that basis. If the top restaurants in GA can actually rival the top restaurants in CA, then again its a wash. I suppose it would have to come down to quantity if that were the case (ie: GA's top 5 restaurants being 100% equal to CA's top 5 restaurants yet not having an answer for CA's #6-10).
But I really don't think things are quite as even across the board as some people are making it seem. I think CA probably has significantly better Mexican food (both sit down and street food) as well as higher quality ethnic cuisines that come from cultures that are better represented in CA than they are in GA. I doubt Atlanta has better Filipino restaurants than Daly City, San Francisco, San Diego or Union City for example, and I doubt CA's best Southern restaurants match up well at all against GA's. So in the restaurant department, both states should be looked at side by side in each category of cuisine before any conclusion can be drawn.
As for produce, CA has it as fresh and delicious as it comes in abundance, and can grow some things that GA cannot. So I'd give CA the edge here.
I think overall CA would have to come out the winner in this comparison, but I am basing this off what I have listed and admittedly have not had food in GA to make a truly accurate apples to apples comparison.
Great post!
There is one thing I can confirm for you, Cali definitely has better Filipino restaurants. There are probably 3 or 4 places in Atlanta you can get some real lutong pinoy, with nothing else around the state. Then again, there are only 40,000 Filipinos in Georgia. So there Cali, you win in the Filipinos food category. Happy?
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rah
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say California probably beats Georgia in more food categories than just Filipino...food such as:
Mexican Probably, but there are some quality places now.
Salvadoran
Nicaraguan
Guatemalan
Peruvian
Indian We can go toe to toe. There is a large Indian population in Georgia centered around Atlanta and there are some high quality restaurants here. I worked for a while in India so I know the good stuff from the bad.
Hawaiian
Thai We can go toe to toe. There are lot of traditional Thai restaurants.
Burmese
Vietnamese We can go toe to toe. Literally hundreds of Vietnamese restaunts in Atlanta. Just had some Pho for dinner tonight
Chinese I'll give the edge to Cali, but we have some really great Chinese cuisine here from all the regions of China.
Taiwanese
Japanese Again, I'll give the edge to Cali, but we have some great Japanese restaurants here that rank up there with some of the best, with the exception of fresh seafood. That's one thing Atlanta suffers from being so far inland, and Georgia's only costal major city (Savannah) isn't big on Japanese cuisine.
Korean Nope, we can go toe to toe. Georgia (primarily Atlanta) is a top destination for native Korean immigrants now. Whole sections of the Northeast side of the inner metro are now Korean filled with any kind of Korean cuisine you can wish for.
Samoan
Tongan
And to just get an idea of how many culinary choices there are in just Atlanta, check out this site: The Blissful Glutton. Keep in mind the reviewer has probably only reviewed a few hundred restaurants around Atlanta. That's not even putting Savannah into the mix, which has great Low Country and Contemporary American scene.
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). So from my perspective, food in CA is excellent while that which I understand to be labeled as "CA cuisine" is something foreign and unappealing to me. And I think the ingredients used in the food that I like here is excellent b/c it is a combination of both quality local and imported ingredients.
