Worldwide Favorites: food & shelter

When people initially learn that I blog about the New York City dining scene, they always ask me what my favorite restaurant is. Unfortunately, I don’t have one spot that satisfies my every whim, taste bud or desire. In my experience, I’ve found that in order to create the perfect meal from start to finish (bread basket, appetizer, entrée and dessert), I would have to stop in to four separate NYC restaurants (whom I feel excel in each category). In the five years that I’ve lived here, there have only been three occasions where I truly had a flawless meal from start to finish: Pylos (August 2007), Peter Luger Steakhouse (January 2008), Dhaba (March 2009). This got me thinking: If NYC is one of the top “food cities” in the world, why is it that I don’t have more “perfect meal” experiences?

I decided to create a list of my favorite restaurants outside of the Big Apple. In doing so, I realized that while NYC excels at many different cuisines/techniques (Italian, molecular gastronomy, French, Japanese, pastry, Asian fusion), I’m still a Southern girl at heart (for the most part) on a quest to find the Mexican and comfort food that I grew up eating (1000 miles South of Manhattan). So until the Yankee’s get it right, or I open a restaurant of my own, I won’t ever be (OK, rarely be) 100% satisfied.

Now if you ever find yourselves in one of the cities listed below, check out some of my favorite restaurants/treat shops (use Google to find specific addresses, menus, reviews, etc.) Without further ado: