In terms of prestige, does the firm or the office location matter more? Forum

[tlsguy2020]

If you’ve got a pickle spear and a tomato in your hot dog, just know you’re not prestigious. You are neither esteemed nor esteemable.

What’s more prestigious: a Morton’s steakhouse in New York City or a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse in Houston?

[Anonymous User]

Some people would rather spend their 20s and 30s rich-poor instead of poor-rich.

[The Lsat Airbender]

If you’ve got a pickle spear and a tomato in your hot dog, just know you’re not prestigious. You are neither esteemed nor esteemable.

What’s more prestigious: a Morton’s steakhouse in New York City or a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse in Houston?

first decent post in this thread

[Anonymous User]

If you’ve got a pickle spear and a tomato in your hot dog, just know you’re not prestigious. You are neither esteemed nor esteemable.

What’s more prestigious: a Morton’s steakhouse in New York City or a Ruth’s Chris steakhouse in Houston?

first decent post in this thread

In all seriousness, my wife and I are snobby ex-New Yorkers that look down our noses at the food in most places, and we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Houston restaurant scene. Including our new favorite upscale sushi place, which we had assumed we’d have to do without in Texas. The vast majority of the fish is imported, obviously, but it’s quite good.

[Anonymous User]

Man, we had such a good, respectful thread going about culinary differences based on the city, and you all fucking derailed it with your garbage takes on prestige.

Literally, anyone who has been at a law firm for longer than even a year: "Prestige is bullshit; the only things that matter is you can stomach your work and hours, you make market pay and you live where you want".

Now, back to the food scene. This is a hot take - but if you can name the best restaurants in your city, your city isn't that good at food. Everyone that talks about Chicago food scene, mentions the same 3-5 restaurants (girl and goat, alinea, etc. w/e). You can't compare that to NY, where literally it's impossible to name them because I can't even pretend to say I know all the best restaurants. I can't even do it by neighborhood - there's some ridiculously great restaurants in neighborhoods I've never stepped foot in.

Point being - Chicago food scene just doesn't stack up to other major cities. It's still better than like Denver or Phoenix or whatever. But, you can't compare to NY, SF, etc.

[mardash]

Does NYC or anywhere else have good Burmese food? I miss that about the Bay.

[Anonymous User]

To return this thread to shitposting about food...

I'm genuinely curious: why do people (biglaw + YoPros in general) seem to care so much food? Like, I can't deny that food is more than just sustenance -- it's legitimately pleasurable and there's interesting cultural angles to it, etc. etc.

But, at least among New Yorkers above a certain income level, food seems to be a full-blown obsession. From my perspective, a "good food scene" would be one component among many of good QoL, with like 20-30% weighting. I just cannot understand the psychic weight and importance people attach to it, especially down to the level of parsing the country's 1st-best food city vs. the 2nd-best vs. the 3rd-best.

Is food so intrinsically pleasurable that it's worth constructing your personality and social life around it? Or is the obsession with food at base a kind of elite status/signaling game?

[Anonymous User]

If it’s not coming from a New York food truck, then the fare is by definition garbage.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Now, back to the food scene. This is a hot take - but if you can name the best restaurants in your city, your city isn't that good at food. Everyone that talks about Chicago food scene, mentions the same 3-5 restaurants (girl and goat, alinea, etc. w/e). You can't compare that to NY, where literally it's impossible to name them because I can't even pretend to say I know all the best restaurants. I can't even do it by neighborhood - there's some ridiculously great restaurants in neighborhoods I've never stepped foot in.

I agree that 3-5 great restaurants is nothing to write home about, and also that NYC > Chicago for this criterion. But there are 24 Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago, a ton of additional world-class stuff downtown on top of that—and Chicago has neighborhoods too. It's also cheaper on average, which is a meaningful factor if you're interested in food for instrumental reasons (dating, socializing).

NYC having so many restaurants that you could never visit them all is qualitatively cool but, by its nature, doesn't actually add any value in terms of enjoying a night out.

Does NYC or anywhere else have good Burmese food? I miss that about the Bay.

NYC does but it's all in the outer boroughs so you'd have to make a trip

Is food so intrinsically pleasurable that it's worth constructing your personality and social life around it? Or is the obsession with food at base a kind of elite status/signaling game?

This probably varies with the culture you were brought up in but for a lot of people eating at nice restaurants is how you know you've "arrived." Instagram has upped the stakes on the signaling aspect. It's definitely a bit of a NYC cultural thing that matters less to the rest of the country (perhaps because it's so much harder for New Yorkers to cook in their tiny apartments?). Additional things you should consider:

- eating out is one of the main forms of entertainment that a biglawyer has time for, especially since you can combine it with seeing your loved ones

- "great food" is a proxy for nightlife generally and also for gentrification/crime

Personally I'm a big foodie but I'd be more than pleased with the options in about 30 different North American cities—it's when you're thinking of moving to a suburb or a smaller city like Akron that "lack of food options" starts to feel like a colorable argument against moving there.

[Anonymous User]

To return this thread to shitposting about food...

I'm genuinely curious: why do people (biglaw + YoPros in general) seem to care so much food? Like, I can't deny that food is more than just sustenance -- it's legitimately pleasurable and there's interesting cultural angles to it, etc. etc.

But, at least among New Yorkers above a certain income level, food seems to be a full-blown obsession. From my perspective, a "good food scene" would be one component among many of good QoL, with like 20-30% weighting. I just cannot understand the psychic weight and importance people attach to it, especially down to the level of parsing the country's 1st-best food city vs. the 2nd-best vs. the 3rd-best.

Is food so intrinsically pleasurable that it's worth constructing your personality and social life around it? Or is the obsession with food at base a kind of elite status/signaling game?

Relatedly, I wonder what role having a stocked kitchen and being minimally competent at cooking plays in obsession about restaurants.

This probably varies with the culture you were brought up in but for a lot of people eating at nice restaurants is how you know you've "arrived." Instagram has upped the stakes on the signaling aspect. It's definitely a bit of a NYC cultural thing that matters less to the rest of the country (perhaps because it's so much harder for New Yorkers to cook in their tiny apartments?). Additional things you should consider:

- eating out is one of the main forms of entertainment that a biglawyer has time for, especially since you can combine it with seeing your loved ones

- "great food" is a proxy for nightlife generally and also for gentrification/crime

Personally I'm a big foodie but I'd be more than pleased with the options in about 30 different North American cities—it's when you're thinking of moving to a suburb or a smaller city like Akron that "lack of food options" starts to feel like a colorable argument against moving there.

Looks like someone beat me to the punch. Also, most food-obsessed professional NY people I know view eating/drinking as the main (perhaps exclusive) hobbies. That seems very boring to me, but to each their own.

[Robot]

Man, we had such a good, respectful thread going about culinary differences based on the city, and you all fucking derailed it with your garbage takes on prestige.

Literally, anyone who has been at a law firm for longer than even a year: "Prestige is bullshit; the only things that matter is you can stomach your work and hours, you make market pay and you live where you want".

Now, back to the food scene. This is a hot take - but if you can name the best restaurants in your city, your city isn't that good at food. Everyone that talks about Chicago food scene, mentions the same 3-5 restaurants (girl and goat, alinea, etc. w/e). You can't compare that to NY, where literally it's impossible to name them because I can't even pretend to say I know all the best restaurants. I can't even do it by neighborhood - there's some ridiculously great restaurants in neighborhoods I've never stepped foot in.

Point being - Chicago food scene just doesn't stack up to other major cities. It's still better than like Denver or Phoenix or whatever. But, you can't compare to NY, SF, etc.

Glad to return to the topic at hand. I think it’s probably true that New York > Chicago for options at the very high end—though I’m too cheap to ever eat at either Alinea or Eleven Madison Park so idk—but both cities have excellent niche food. NYC is so expensive that it has more limited affordable options towards the city center, but on the other hand it benefits from having more ethnic enclaves, e.g. Chinatowns in both Manhattan and Flushing. Personally I think I eat better in Chicago because I’m cheap and averse to commuting but a more adventurous (or less cost-conscious) consumer would probably find more variety in NYC, especially in Queens. In either city you’re really missing out on a lot by sticking near Downtown Manhattan/the Loop.

[Anonymous User]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

MOD NOTE: User candycane7990 outed for Anon abuse and banned for ignoring prior warnings on the topic.

[Anonymous User]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

[Anonymous User]

.

[mardash]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

I mean, no one’s getting “F”’d based on the name of the boring law firm you work at. Hbu, what’s your favorite late night eats in NYC?

[Anonymous User]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

I mean, no one’s getting “F”’d based on the name of the boring law firm you work at. Hbu, what’s your favorite late night eats in NYC?

The SullCrom cafeteria

[Anonymous User]

I agree with the take about hanging your hat on just a handful of nice restaurants being the sign of a mediocre food scene. I think part of the debate might just be at what point the marginal increase in restaurant variety becomes meaningless because you can’t try them all anyway. Does it matter if NYC has more restaurants than X city if X city also has more nice restaurants than you could realistically try?

Part of this is also just sheer population size, maybe combined with ethnic/national diversity. NYC is the biggest city and one of the most diverse, so it would be weird if it didn’t have lots of good and unique cuisines. But Chicago is #3 and Houston is #4 so it shouldn’t be surprising that they have plenty of good restaurants too (especially Houston with its diversity).

[publius365]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

I mean, no one’s getting “F”’d based on the name of the boring law firm you work at. Hbu, what’s your favorite late night eats in NYC?

Except that one Skadden poster on another thread

[mardash]

Lol V50 F-boys quick to change the ol’ subject

I mean, no one’s getting “F”’d based on the name of the boring law firm you work at. Hbu, what’s your favorite late night eats in NYC?

Except that one Skadden poster on another thread

The Skadden F-boys are an obvious exception, we all know that works (though we will never admit it out loud). I also always thought “Ropes and Gray” has a sensual taste as it leaves the mouth.

[tlsguy2020]

I agree with the take about hanging your hat one just a handful of nice restaurants being the sign of a mediocre food scene. I think part of the debate might just be at what point the a marginal increase in restaurant variety becomes meaningless because you can’t try them all anyway. Does it matter if NYC has more restaurants than X city if X city also has more nice restaurants than you could realistically try?

Part of this is also just sheer population size, maybe combined with ethnic/national diversity. NYC is the biggest city and one of the most diverse, so it would be weird if it didn’t have lots of good and unique cuisines. But Chicago is #3 and Houston is #4 so it shouldn’t be surprising that they have plenty of good restaurants too (especially Houston with its diversity).

I agree with this take. I think NYC, Chicago, even Houston or LA, have really large and diverse populations. It’s a lot of a lot so there’s always something new to try. SF/Oakland also has a great food scene but the city’s just much smaller l.

As for why Yuppies care about food scene so much, I can only answer for myself. For me, it's often the best (or most convenient) social activity where I can actually chat with others. I’m not really chatting with anybody if playing basketball or going to a movie/show etc. Also tastes yummy in my tummy.

[Anonymous User]

Man, we had such a good, respectful thread going about culinary differences based on the city, and you all fucking derailed it with your garbage takes on prestige.

Literally, anyone who has been at a law firm for longer than even a year: "Prestige is bullshit; the only things that matter is you can stomach your work and hours, you make market pay and you live where you want".

Now, back to the food scene. This is a hot take - but if you can name the best restaurants in your city, your city isn't that good at food. Everyone that talks about Chicago food scene, mentions the same 3-5 restaurants (girl and goat, alinea, etc. w/e). You can't compare that to NY, where literally it's impossible to name them because I can't even pretend to say I know all the best restaurants. I can't even do it by neighborhood - there's some ridiculously great restaurants in neighborhoods I've never stepped foot in.

Point being - Chicago food scene just doesn't stack up to other major cities. It's still better than like Denver or Phoenix or whatever. But, you can't compare to NY, SF, etc.

That's because only the best 3-4 remain in operation and otherwise it's the same lazy susan of who-r-u's and flame-outs from the name-brands starting up "exclusive" "elite" restaurants, getting a michelin star and then folding 2 years later because turns out raw scallops marinated in pureed bovine knee marrow tastes like unmitigated ass.

[Anonymous User]

Just like safety schools, there are safety firms and safety offices. Lots and lots of people end up at what they originally conceived of as safeties, then construct an elaborate justification about why it’s actually an optimal outcome (turned down X, prefer to live in Y). There’s no point asking them to admit it once their identity and sense of self-worth depends on the rationalization being true. Just vibe with the food debate.

[Robot]

Whatever anon keeps posting obvious bait should be outed, it’s getting pretty silly

[Anonymous User]

Man, we had such a good, respectful thread going about culinary differences based on the city, and you all fucking derailed it with your garbage takes on prestige.

Literally, anyone who has been at a law firm for longer than even a year: "Prestige is bullshit; the only things that matter is you can stomach your work and hours, you make market pay and you live where you want".

Now, back to the food scene. This is a hot take - but if you can name the best restaurants in your city, your city isn't that good at food. Everyone that talks about Chicago food scene, mentions the same 3-5 restaurants (girl and goat, alinea, etc. w/e). You can't compare that to NY, where literally it's impossible to name them because I can't even pretend to say I know all the best restaurants. I can't even do it by neighborhood - there's some ridiculously great restaurants in neighborhoods I've never stepped foot in.

Point being - Chicago food scene just doesn't stack up to other major cities. It's still better than like Denver or Phoenix or whatever. But, you can't compare to NY, SF, etc.

This is a dumb take. NYC obviously has the best food scene. But to say Chicago has 3-5 restaraunts is dumb. Chicago is known as a foodie city. It's a top notch food city on any respectable list of best food cities and by any awards metric. I go out to eat at a nice restaraunt essentially every week (and have been for years) and I haven't been to all of Chicago's good restaurants. They are constantly opening and closing, etc. Also, the idea that Chicago doesn't have neighborhoods is dumb. Neighborhoods are at least as important to Chicago as any other city.

I'm not saying there aren't reasons to pick NYC or SF over Chicago, but these constant takes that the food isn't good is dumb. The food is fucking awesome.

[Anonymous User]

Whatever anon keeps posting obvious bait should be outed, it’s getting pretty silly

--Whatever anon keeps posting on-topic should be outed, it's getting pretty silly--

durrr you guys like cheeseteaks?