This one might get me in trouble…

I’ve been in LA for either 9 or 10 weeks (depending on how subtraction works) and remain in constant assessment of the differences between this town and my former. There’s no shortage of differences. From the work culture (again, stay tuned) and attire (all things are far more casual here) to the hours people keep (it’s more like 10am to 6pm here, depending on the job) and what they do on the weekends (that being, go to a seemingly endless number of BBQ’s) – it’s drastically different.

But so far the comparison that’s struck me most is that between dining culture and drinking culture in the Metropoli of each coast.

A quick set of disclaimers in an attempt to protect myself:

• Many of my friends here are serious foodies. While my friends in New York enjoyed and ate good food, none of them were hard core foodies, so we weren’t as collectively obsessed with restaurants.
• The whole you-have-to-drive thing is a major issue that deeply affects drinking culture
• Owing to the fact that there is less of everything in LA – restaurants, bars, places that sell Moleskin notebooks – a greater percentage of people are familiar with the available options.
• I am less interested in drinking than I was at the age off 22 when I first moved to New York

That disclaimed – I believe dining culture is to Los Angeles what drinking culture is to New York.

By this I mean it has been my experience that if you ask people in LA what they did over the weekend they’ll mention several restaurants they went to, and what they ate at each. If you ask a New Yorker the same question they’ll rattle off a list of bars and/or neighborhoods in which they went out. New Yorkers certainly eat, and there is no shortage of outstanding restaurants in New York – far more than there are in L.A., but the social life of a 20-something NYer is not organized around restaurant culture, it’s organized around bar culture. What neighborhoods you go out in, what bars in those neighborhoods, what nights of that week at those bars in those ‘hoods. I’m going to go so far as to say that it defines your entire New York experience.

There’s that in LA, for sure, but from what I can tell people spend far more time organizing themselves and their groups around restaurants slash meals. Mention any restaurant in an acceptable radius to LA proper (Santa Monica/Venice included) and most people will both know if it and tell you what to order. Again, maybe just my group of friends? But I will say same has applied to people I work with and random people I meet.

Here’s what I think is going on:

• Restaurants are more affordable here – At first I didn’t think the difference was that significant, but time and time again I expect to walk out paying $50 or more for a good meal and end up at $40 or below. There are simply more mid-priced restaurants here serving very high quality food. So it’s easier and more affordable to eat out therefore people do it more often. Simple as that.

• It’s harder to drink here – also simple as that. You can certainly organize an entire night around drinking, but the driving issue makes that a little more complicated. So it’s not that people don’t go out drinking, it’s just they aren’t as consumed with it (or as consumed as my group was in our first years in Manhattan).

• The food scene in LA has been booming as of late. People are talking about LA chefs, LA cuisine, new LA restaurants. It’s du jour, so it’s what people are into. Another simple reason.

• The bars are greater in number and quality in New York. Sorry, but that’s a fact. I have been to some excellent bars in L.A., but nothing compares to the sheer number and variety of bars in NYC. On Avenue A alone there are more fantastic bars that I’ve been to in this entire city. It’s hard to develop a culture around something that doesn’t offer strong options.

I’m sure I’m not doing justice to some issues and overstating others, but in my experience all of the above contributes to my theory. Luckily I like restaurants just as much as I like bars, so the transition from one obsession to another hasn’t phased me (or my bank account) much.

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for what it’s doing to my weight…