Eats from the Streets

The constant cultural exchange between highbrow and lowbrow, fringe and mainstream, affects culinary trends as much as it does fashion, art or music. This circular energy has lately swept street food to the forefront of hip restaurant cuisine, and this is one fad that actually has some real substance. In many countries, meals from street vendors far surpass the ubiquitous hot dog northern North Americans are used to burying in heaps of pickled toppings. Earlier this year, LA chef Susan Feniger opened Street, a restaurant that celebrates her personal experience of eating on the streets of the world. Her website is worth exploring - definitely check out the menu (under 'street food').

(The site worked better for us in Safari and Internet Explorer than in Firefox. Maybe Street should follow its own principles here - basic is better? If you have trouble with the main site, you can peruse the press clippings.)