I recently took a look at the web sites and have read numerous reviews of the über-swank dining meccas, The Fat Duck in the U.K. by proprietor Heston Blumenthal, and El Bulli on the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain, by proprietor Ferran Adrià.
Both are notorious for their gastronomic appeal, of combining the art of food with science.

Although El Bulli has been named “World’s Best Restaurant” by Restaurant Magazine three times over (including this year), The Fat Duck is a close second on the list, including in terms of public hype.

Everyone’s been puffing up both El Bulli and The Fat Duck, and I thought I may as well throw my hat into the ring.

But there’s one problem: I don’t do trends. Ever. When magazines tell me a restaurant is all the rage, my brain’s amygdala shuts all systems down and I just freeze.

I. Can’t. Move. I. Can’t. Go. I can’t even consider going. This, of course, isn’t always the case. But usually it is.

I worked on babystepping it by at least allowing myself to peek at each of their web sites. No full-on commitment, nothing too intense, just a peek…

The Fat Duck’s tasting menu seems, oh I don’t know…kinda annoyingly la-di-da.
With culinary experiments such as Pommery grain mustard ice cream, snail porridge, salmon poached with licorice, Nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream, and blackcurrant and green peppercorn jelly, you better put that contrived mess in a Petri dish, NOT ON MY PLATE.

El Bulli boasts its “Kellogg’s paella,” a concoction of Rice Krispies puffed rice cereal with a sprinkling of seafood added for good measure. Or how about vanilla-flavored mashed potatoes? Frozen whiskey sour candy, anyone? Cocoa butter with crispy rabbit ears?

Call me unsophisticated, a Neanderthal, or unrefined if you want, but kitschy foodie stuff just doesn’t sell me. Neither do foodie awards, celebrity spottings, or hefty food bills.

Look, I fully understand the dining public’s insatiable craving for the nouveau, unusual, and exquisite, but I think I may be the only one who isn’t fascinated by either establishment.

I know I’m supposed to want to dine at both because of the big fanfare, but I’m not budging. I have my nerve commenting on restaurants that I haven’t even frequented, but whatever. Their menus and the foodie press made me do it!

Oh go ahead and say it - “Your palate just isn’t that refined yet…that’s all, dear.”
Oh, I’m so hurt.

I know my palate well enough to determine immediately if something is going to work for me taste-wise or not. I’ve dined at enough trendy-Wendy restaurants to know better. “Best” can be found in any city, in any neighborhood, cuisine, or price range.

In Anaheim: In terms of the “WOW” factor, my vote is still for the Anaheim White House Restaurant…and they just so happen to serve white chocolate-laced mashed potatoes. So NAH!

In Los Angeles: If you’re looking for a truly sophisticated Northern Italian Gastrobar experience (creative pairing of food with wines), I highly recommend my favorite in the area - Il Moro Ristorante. The owner, Elio De Santo, runs an excellent operation.
Every Tuesday from 6-8pm, Il Moro hosts a lovely wine tasting. You can also enjoy
live jazz (not the cheesy-sounding stuff!) at Il Moro every Thursday and Friday beginning at 8pm. Definitely worth checking out. Il Moro serves awesome salads,
and even better desserts!

Il Moro’s attentive, personalized service (but don’t be a Diva about it!) is the best I’ve had thus far dining in L.A.

Enjoy!