Growing up in L.A., I was accustomed to good Mexican food. When I moved to DC, I was inspired by some initial posting on Chowhound, which is an excellent food and dining resource.

I’ve used it for every trip I’ve been on since 2000 and it’s rarely steered me wrong.

Try a search for say, lunch in Barcelona and one of the first posts brings up discussion about Cal Pep, Cinc Sentis, and Gaig – some of the best food imaginable in that fine city.

Though that is enough for some, my obsessive/compulsive desire to have the best and most authentic dining experiences goes beyond what most would consider rational.

I generally go back and forth between the major travel and foodie sites, news sites like the NY Times and even social networking sites like Del.icio.us. I’ll then proceed to build a medium to lengthy list of possibilities, which, over time, I whittle down, based on cross-referencing. I’ve built a small library of amazing spots in several major travel destinations.>

So, tacos. Using Chowhound, I was able to locate some acceptable replacements for the L.A. soft taco. I’m talking two smallish tortillas, quickly grilled and loaded up with proteins like Carne Asada (steak), Carnitas (shredded pork) or Al Pastor (BBQ-style Pork), dressed with onions and cilantro or a plethora of toppings, depending upon where you go. I quickly identified the spots California expatriates frequent and these have sufficed during long stretches away from my birthplace. Spots like Taco Pepito’s Bakery II in Adams Morgan and El Charrito Caminente in Arlington. Fortunately, I’ll get a fix of the real deal when we go to L.A. for the holidays. I poked around del.icio.us and discovered a couple of decent blogs on the subject.

So now, hopefully, I’ve armed you with enough knowledge that if you’re pining for a certain food item or looking for good eats in, say, London, you’ll know where to look.

Happy Chowing.

Tags: chowhound, dc, dining, Food, l.a., losangeles, tacos

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 at 3:45 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.