Top 5 Restaurants in North America (Outside of Vancouver)

Since I did the Top 5 restaurants in Vancouver, I've gotta do the Top 5 outside of Vancouver within North America that I've been to. I'm lucky that my work travel brings me to the best cities in the US (in my opinion), plus I have friends/family in some of those cities so I get to combine business with pleasure while I rack up the travel points. So here are some great restaurants I've been to.

1. Nobu in South Beach, Miami
This is in the Shore Club Hotel in South Beach. Dave and I were lucky to go there while on a hurrican stopover in Miami. We were en route to Jamaica in 2006, when we were "forced" to stay one night in Miami while we waited for the hurricane to pass! I think Nobu started the fusion Japanese trend, and still has this mastered. There are great ones in Vancouver (like Hapa, Gyuu, Kingyo), and there are others like Koi and Asia de Cuba - but Nobu is the best of the best when it comes to flavorful fusion Japanese. The ambience of this location is uber uber South Beach, too, so a cool experience overall. If you're in NY and want to go to Nobu - note that the "original" location does not have the same modern ambience as the South Beach location and looks a little more run-down and traditional Japanese in nature.

2. Koi in LA
On La Cienega near Melrose and Hollywood, I originally went here because you read about celebs hitting this restaurant so much in the tabloids. Celebs aside, the food here is kick ass too.
Again, like Nobu - fusion Japanese with extreme flavor! And celebs do go there too. We saw Will Smith, Simon (American Idol judge) both there.

3. Katsuya in Brentwood, CA
Another great fusion Japanese. Guess I like this stuff. Not as good as Koi,but if you're in LA, worth checking out. Interior is very LA, and they have a big menu of lots of great dishes to share with friends.

4. Tao in Las Vegas
OK, another fusion restaurant. Don't remember alot of the details of the menu, but remember the food being savory and fantastic. Going here for dinner also lets you skip the insane lineup to get into Tao nightclub. So worth the big dinner bill if you're looking for an experience at a hot Vegas club afterwards.

OK, so this is supposed to be Top 5. I can only think of these memorable spots right now. But I'll add to this when I hit a few spots in some upcoming trips.