downtown is not an interesting neighborhood. it's more of a theme-restaurant destination, where lots of hipsters and crappy DIY art galleries happen to also reside. the use of wockano highlights the former point. sure there are better (fusion) restaurants, but whatever - aside from a couple pricey restaurants, you're basically trying to distinguish between the fords and lincolns of fine dining here.
that's not to say these places don't serve tasty food, or that there's no good food downtown. there's plenty of good run-of-the-mill ethnic (particularly the sashimi bars on 2nd). it's just not a "restaurant scene", and this kind of food can be found (and often is, literally as another carbon-copy branch) in may other parts of LA. btw, it seems angelenos (see LASF's post above) like to take pride on their take of fusion, which is rather weak. for example, throw a couple traditionally non-mexican garnishes into a mexican dish and voila, it's fusion to angelenos
how well travelled are we to think such ridiculous things? the next thing you'll tell me is wurstkuche is authentic german.
and i don't get what you mean by "nationally recognized". please explain
LASF - next time you're in SF, visit mr pollo, where the menu changes on a nightly basis, or range, or delfina, or flour + water, or dozens of other hidden gems in the mission, where decor actually takes a backseat to the chef's vision, (and you don't have to dress up or valet as you would with many of LAs "finer" establishments) and then come back and tell me how "unique" your recommendations are.
that's precisely the difference - really good restaurants are few and (literally) far between in LA, and where they do occur, they tend to be exhorbitively priced, a fuss to dine at, and for occasions (eg. bridal showers, anniversaries, etc) in other cities, they're a dime a dozen, and you go there to eat.
generally speaking, angelenos do have somewhat inferior taste overall. it isn't genetic of course, but rather the result of ignorance. i should probably rephrase your question to: anyone who disagrees must be an angeleno forumer and booster. it only makes sense that we are poorer, less educated, less urban, and probably less traveled than denizens of most other urban cities in the western world. did you not get that from my dozens of other posts?