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Food

Michael Bauer Responds: And So Do We

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Michael Bauer, he of the infamous review of Los Angeles restaurants, just posted this response on his blog:


I figured I was treading into a tsunami when I wrote about the Los Angeles restaurant scene in Food last Wednesday. I knew some would disagree, but I had no idea what I wrote would be construed as dissing our sister city to the south. Several people sent me the links to comments on LAist and Eater LA that stopped just short of sending out skewer-and-roast posse.... I'm not sure most of the posters actually read the article that described my meals and put my comments in context. Obviously the "rivalry" some mentioned -- maybe there's even a mutual inferiority complex -- is still raging.

I had a great time in Los Angeles and loved much of the food. I'm already anticipating a return visit this fall. There's no denying the fact that I like it -- right now, I really like it.

Alright, alright, ALRIGHT: we're waving the white flag. We're not out to get you, San Francisco - and Michael Bauer, we're not out to get you either. We didn't mean to fan the flames of the SF-LA rivalry; we like San Francisco, and we know you've got great restaurants. And you know that we do too. And hey, if we've got better pizza, you definitely have better Chinese food. Our real issue with the article wasn't that it dismissed LA restaurants as unworthy - it didn't - but that it used the tired old cliche of "L.A. is full of industry types who don't care about food." We all know that's not true - the industry types care about food just as much as the other 98% of us, which is to say: a lot.

So Michael, if you're ever down here again, we'll be more than happy to give you some recommendations; we'd be even happier to help you sample the veritable cornucopia of fantastic L.A. eats (and no, of course we don't mind if the Chronicle picks up the bill!).

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We still can't get over the Jason Biggs comment, though. Jason Biggs??? A star? Seriously???

Photo of San Francisco's Chinatown by pbo31 via flickr

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