California Nouvelle Cuisine led the way. I introduced some of our Belgian engineering colleagues to it in the 90s. I'd spent a month at their plant in Aalst. The quality of the food was great and so was their beer, but it was so monotonous I was climbing the walls for a burrito before I left.
So when they came to Los Gatos California (a tony former burb in Silicon Valley) to see some process machinery I'd invented, I took them out to a small restaurant in a local glorified strip mall. You should have seen their heads snap back at the first bite of a salad. I said with a wry smile, "Welcome to my country." Then there was the ostrich satay... It went that way from beginning to end. They'd never had anything like it. The response was uniform, "What happened?"
I said, "Everybody in the world came to California and brought their food with them. What they found was great vegetables, fabulous wines, and customers both willing to try something new and capable of paying well for it.
"We fixed it." I went on, "We're Americans. If somebody says there's a problem we fix it." They said, "But what about the bread?!" I replied, "We have micro-bakeries here in town." "But what about the BEER?!?!?" "The brewery is down the street. We'll go there after dinner if you'd like."
California was a place open to anybody who appreciated what they found and wanted to work their a$$ off to afford to stay. Small business made it happen. This could have been Switzerland on steroids. Now it's like something between Mad Max, The Matrix, and Blade Runner. Democrats are killing it, importing angry slugs who want to rip us off.
Yes, indeed. I had some of the best meals of my life in California.
Everything was fine😀
And I agree with your opinion, both on American/Californian cuisine - and on the utter havoc which the politicians in California have wreaked upon this state, which has always looked like Heaven on earth to these humble eyes…😞