Monday, March 25, 2013

Location, Location, Location

While writing for tasty-magazine and for insidestl, I am often confronted with a wall: location.  Most people who follow the site, insidestl.com, do so because they want to see what is happening within the city of St. Louis.  Most magazines and things printed in St. Louis, which talk of places in the St. Louis area, also tend to go, what I think, is way beyond their reach.  I remember seeing the River Front Times mention a pizza shop in Edwardsville for their "Best of St. Louis" category and it made me wonder how a restaurant that is almost 28 miles away from the border of St. Louis, downtown, can be considered for something that looks only at St. Louis.  Well then, does that mean that Six Flags is located in St. Louis as well?  Even though it is in another city, I think it is generally accepted that it is in the St. Louis area.

St. Charles is only 25 miles away from St. Louis.  Does this mean that a restaurant in St. Charles can be up for a "Best of St. Louis" category for St. Louis?  I don't think that should be the case.

Because of this, when I write about things in the St. Louis area that are for St. Louisans to try, I then want to try to keep it within St. Louis. I admit that when I write about other places, I try to preface with the fact that people can travel.  I know that people in St. Louis like to go places and only those who are comfortable in their little house, do not like to try new foods, new things and going to new places.

Did I eat some good BBQ in the Ozarks?  Yes.  And most of the people who go to the Ozarks are form St. Louis.  Did I eat at a horrible restaurant in Austin?  Yes, because they claimed to be a sustainable, seasonal and farm to table restaurant like what so many of our great restaurants offer.

I have to admit that being here in St. Louis, spoils the average foodie.  While I originally thought that we didn't have as much as other cities like Vegas, New York or even LA.  It is true, that St. Louis night clubs attempt to copy those of New York and do so in a miserable fashion that they do not work here.  Also, the amount of variety of food that you can try in Vegas is no where comparable to that of St. Louis.  The Asian areas and restaurants of the areas in LA are way larger than those of St. Louis as well.  But, what is great about St. Louis, is that it has so many different cultures and ethnic food groups, within a tiny space.  It is like going to a food court and seeing almost every country and culture represented there.

I'm a sucker for trying new foods and so far within the past 6 years, I have eaten everything from Bosnian or India to Ethiopian or Nepalese foods.  All of it can be found here.  I doubt that you can find food from Nepal, in Vegas.  I was wrong, there is one location in Las Vegas: http://vegasandfood.blogspot.com/2010/11/tibet-nepal-house-pasadena.html  


St. Louis is full of so many foods and cultures that I recommend that you go out there in the next few weeks and when you are thinking of someplace to eat, look up one of these restaurants and try something new.

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