Originally Posted by Martinis at 8
Upscale is Upscale, though many wish to equivilate Upscale with Touristy. The best French and Italian restaurants in NYC, San Francisco, and other large metropolitan areas in the US will rival any of those restaurants found in France or Italy. This is largely due to the fact that a lot of the fine chefs in Europe come to the US, and in many cases make the food fare better, much-much better.
If you believe this, nothing I say is going to change you mind or your taste buds' judgment. But, then, some folks think a machine made Belgian immitation Oriental style riug is just as good, if not better than, the real thing.
As a French gentleman I knew who worked at one of California's most famous French restaurants told me once when I asked how he thought his place would fare if it were in France: "We would close within a week."
I just ate at Pierre Gaugniere's in Tokyo. IMHO: It was very good, but the real thing in France is much better.