If you could live anywhere/world, where would it be?

[Blondie]

The seats aren't necessary  

[Wilfrid]

Don't like to sit?  You should meet Tommy.  

[tony h]

Ideally - NYC in spring, London in summer, Paris in autumn & Melbourne in winter

[Ron Johnson]

NYC, and as soon as I can put together enough scratch from suing McDonalds for hot coffee burns and serving fries to vegans, I am moving on up.

Runners up:

San Francisco

Barcelona

Firenze

London

New Orleans

Loser's List:

Peoria, Illinois

[robert brown]

From strictly a food point of view, I developed a criterion to justify my being in Nice a lot of the time: I call it the 3-1/2 hour in any direction test. It is posited on the notion of what place in the world offers the most interesting gastronomic possibilities that one could reach in a reasonable weekend getaway. Even though one direction from Nice (south) is nothing but water, the remainiing three offer a quality and diversity that may not exist elsewhere. Heading West along the coast you get shellfish and seafood of impeccable freshness. Go Northwest, you have the glories of Provencal cooking. East along the coast is a major Italian cuisine, Ligurian, while in 3-1/2 hours,you can get well into Piemonte and such towns as Barolo and Alba. The other gastronomic cities and towns 3-1/2 hours from Nice are Cannes, Marseilles, Genoa, Livorno and Sig. Schonfeld's Lucca (if you step on it) and even a good part of the Rhone Valley, though I haven't figured out exactly where you can get to in the alotted time. Almost to Lyon, I bet.

[gastrotex]

But if I were a rich girl, would have a condo in downtown Seattle, one here in Austin, and another somewhere in Mexico...

I'll never be a rich girl, but otherwise I'm on a similar track.  Condo here in Austin (somewhere within walking distance from Cipollina, Robbie's Cajun Kitchen and Castle Hill, as opposed to Circle C), one in Oaxaca, another on Martinique, a small cottage in the Chilterns (for the rare roast beef, game pie, and proximity to London), and somewhere near the beach on Penang (for Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisine).

[Holly Moore]

I kinda like the idea of living on the QE2 like the woman on, I think, 60 Minutes or one of those shows.  There is also a Condominium Ocean Liner set to roam the world.  Either case I'd have a permanent "Do Not Disturb" sign on my stateroom door for whenever the social director came acalling.

Either that or split residency - Boothbay Harbor, Kennebunkport or Sebago Lake Maine Spring to Fall, Austin Texas in the Winter.

But there's nothing wrong with Philly, either.

[oraklet]

it seems that a lot of egulleteers live in new york, and it seems too, that there you can get just about anything you want, if you're ready to pay for it. wrong?

i mean, you can probably get

seafood and cheese from normandy

beef from pay basque

vegetables, bread and grapes, peaches etc. from northern italy

potatoes, apples and strawberries from scandinavia

the best wine and beer imaginable.

and so on ad nauseam...

judging from other posts, you've got a host of good restos at all price levels.

so why go anywhere else - for food, that is?

i live in copenhagen, and i sure long for ripe tomatoes, fresh lettuce, decent beef,... and even a thing like full-taste strawberries has become quite rare as the production becomes more and more industrialized. what a shame, as southern scandinavia is the ideal place to grow them.

of course, i can get foie gras and caviar, but most of the basic raw materials are of a poor standard, at least for those who can't spend four hours every day searching out the good stuff.

so, i wouldn't choose denmark for the food!

[Jaymes]

it seems that a lot of egulleteers live in new york, and it seems too, that there you can get just about anything you want, if you're ready to pay for it. wrong?

i mean, you can probably get

seafood and cheese from normandy

beef from pay basque

vegetables, bread and grapes, peaches etc. from northern italy

potatoes, apples and strawberries from scandinavia

the best wine and beer imaginable.

and so on ad nauseam...

so why go anywhere else - for food, that is?

But NOT tender, succulent, red-rimmed, barbeque brisket just out of the cooker...

Nope, you can't, and that's why I must always keep one big fat toe in central Texas, at least part of the time.

[anil]

There are times I think it could be Mid-Levels in HKG, sometimes it is by the Beach in GIG and some days it is Recolleta in EZE....

What the heck after a few weeks, I begin to miss NYC  

[Wilfrid]

New York has an extraordinary range of produce, if you're prepared to go around and track it down.  Sadly, it can't give me a lot of things I desire: the best feathered game, a range of French and Spanish charcuterie, readily available offal.  Can't get andouillettes for love or money.  No, for food shopping, Barcelona (and indeed Paris) may not have New York's variety, but they have greater depth in the kinds of foods I love.

[Jaymes]

From strictly a food point of view, I developed a criterion to justify my being in Nice a lot of the time: I call it the 3-1/2 hour in any direction test. It is posited on the notion of what place in the world offers the most interesting gastronomic possibilities that one could reach in a reasonable weekend getaway.... a quality and diversity that may not exist elsewhere. Heading West along the coast you get shellfish and seafood of impeccable freshness.

Of course, what was I thinking to have left out a condo along the French Riviera among my dream locations?

Ah, to go again to Le Skipper, to start with Marinated Anchovies, to finish with the Bouillabaisse.....

Maybe I could just visit Robert Brown...  

Maybe we should start one of those "house swap clubs"  "eGullet Houseswaps" complete with lists of restaurants, and recipes, and grocery lists and markets, and instantly-available cool, chic, chef friends to populate one's dinner parties........  

The gullet boggles.

[prasantrin]

I'd live in Tokyo or Dubai. Dubai isn't necessarily the best place for food, but it's in the perfect location for travelling to Europe or Asia where you can get plenty of excellent food. And Tokyo has great food in general, so I'd be OK living there.

If I had to live in North America, I'd probably choose Chicago since you can find plenty of great food in the city, plus you have easy access to both coasts and direct flights to international destinations if you want to travel for food.

[Pierogi]

Without a doubt, New Orleans. Of all the cuisines I love, and I love them all, Creole/Cajun speaks to my heart. For a Polish/Norwegian, Chicago-born Californian, I think I must've been a N'Awlinian in a past life.

After that....NYC. Manhattan, specifically. So very very vibrant, and so edgy. If you can make it there, as they say.

California in general, though, ain't a bad alternative.

[Simon_S]

Despite its current troubles (and they are legion) I'd struggle to leave Ireland for good. Its foodie reputation is often justifiably low, but we really have some top-drawer produce here, the equal or better of that from more well-known food havens the world over. Besides, there's just nowhere else quite like it.

That said, when I win the Euromillions I'll be buying a house in San Sebastian asap. I can't think of anywhere in the world I prefer for food and atmosphere. I'll also spend significant amounts of time in New York, San Francisco and Paris (*not* London) for the city vibe.

[harrysnapperorgans]

I think I already do - Welington, New Zealand.

From a food perspective, we have incredible super-fresh seafood. Local farmers churn out great lamb and beef. We have excellent wine an hour's drive away in the Marlbourgh region, beautiful fruit and vegetables from the Hawkes Bay only slightly further. 10 local coffee roasters churn out wonderful coffee bean, and there's 3 or 4 local breweries as well. Here in Wellington City, there is a couple of great supermarkets, and of course there are good farmers' markets as well.

I believe we have now edged out NY as the city with the most cafes, bars, and restaurants per capita anywhere in the world.

I suppose one negative is that the range of available stuff here is probably narrow compared to some bigger cities. We also have to be careful to use seasonal fruit and veg, as the stuff that is imported tends to be well past it's best by the time it actually gets all the way down here.

I would love to try living in France - maybe not the hustle and bustle of Paris, but maybe a smaller town. If I could ever drag myself away from the great job and lifestyle I have here way down the south end of the world.

[ScoopKW]

Vallejo, California

Why?

S.F. is a quick ferry ride away.

Yountville is a quick drive away. So is St. Helena, Rutherford, Napa and Calistoga.

Smell the ocean, watch the fog roll in.

Local oysters and crabs. In fact, local everything that I care to eat.

I'm told there are some good restaurants in the vicinity, but I always just buy fresh stuff at the farmers markets and cook.

[Doodlebug1980]

I split my time between Bristol and London, UK.

Would love to live in the states for a year though - NYC or San Fran. I've always wanted to visit Portland too....

[Meanderer]

Food would, indeed, affect my decision because I would want to live in a place where I could continue to grow my own fruits and vegetables. That rules out cities and, for other reasons, I would eliminate suburbs and small towns. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to live too far away from urban areas because I enjoy the food and other attractions to be found where large numbers of people tend to congregate. Mud Butte, South Dakota and similar locales, then, are out of the running. That narrows my choices down to places in the countryside having arable ground within an hour or three of interesting cities. Based on these criteria(and because I fell in love with the area several years ago), I'd choose five acres and a house anywhere within a 10 mile radius of St. Antonin Noble Val, France.

[KD1191]

I've lived all over the U.S. and have yet to find a city I'd rather live in than Chicago (though it too is starting to wear on me). New York grows on me more with each visit, but would not be a very high choice. Paris definitely ranks higher, but if I could live anywhere I think Bangkok might be tops. On some days, though, (and today happens to be one) I think it might be fun to move back to the my great grandparent's homestead in the middle of nowhere Montana and see if the farming gene made it to this generation.

[kalypso]

I live in the best place in the world. Not necessarily from a food standpoint, but the quality of living in San Diego, CA is outstanding. It's not called America's Finest City without reason

However, if I could live anywhere in the world it would probably be Mexico City. It's big, it's chaotic but has phenomenal energy and vitality.

[daisy17]

I have 3 picks (other than NY where I currently live) almost entirely based on food: Paris, Oaxaca and Barcelona. It took me 5 seconds to come up with that answer.

ETA: if this involves a huge lottery winning I'll probably spend some time in Napa/SF as well.

Edited November 6, 2010 by daisy17 (log)

[paul o' vendange]

SW France, or the Touraine, or Burgundy. My wife has EU citizenship, and our sights are moving more towards achieving it.

[annachan]

If I was replying to this thread when it first started, I would have said that I'm where I want to be, in San Francisco. My trip to Australia several years ago changed all that. Australia is where I want to be and we will most likely be moving there next year. This move is not food motivated, though I don't think I will be disappointed in that department.

If I was to move for the sake of food, Spain and Hong Kong are 2 top choices.

[Lindacakes]

Lots of folks cited multiple cities or places when the question was if not here, where?

It's a hard, limiting question and I think I'd just roam around from one place to another, probably going back to Italy often.

But the very first place I'd get on a plane to eat is New Orleans.