It’s not just Tokyo or Greenwich Village either. While you won’t necessarily find quite that level of diversity there are more different cultural cuisines available in, say, Nashville, Tennessee now than there were twenty years ago. I remember when sushi was exotic and there was only one place in town you could get it. Now there’s the upscale sushi place, the cheap to-go sushi place, and half a dozen in between, not to mention the appearance of Indian, Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Ethiopian restaurants.
One thing that concerns me is I don’t know how “authentic” these cuisines are compared to the dishes you’d find if you actually visited those countries, or if they’ve had to adapt to new surroundings. People may be lulled into thinking regional cuisines are being preserved even though the reality may be that the pho I’m enjoying tonight is about as Vietnamese as last night’s take-out pizza was Italian. But I think one way to preserve regional cuisines is to export them and extend their range.
