Unfortunately even in France quite often a French baguette isn't so 'proper', but when it is mmmmh.

I think I'll never forget the croissant I ate around San Francisco, I had never seen such a big croissant! When you think about the amount of butter there is already in a normal croissant.. This one had probably enough calories for half a day.

It’s something that I and almost every immigrant I know struggles with. I moved to the US when I was a small child but even I’ve got tons of memories of what tomatoes and blueberries are supposed to taste like. Every household in my extended family grows a lot of their own food and I’m in the process of building out a green house around my existing hydroponics setup to extend the growing season to all year. For next year we’re debating buying a whole cow from a local rancher to split amongst the family so we can have some semblance of control over how the meat is grown.

I feel especially bad for those who immigrate from tropical countries like Costa Rica. The quality and variety of fruit there is completely insane compared to the bland trash we have in the US.

> And yes, proper fresh French baguette is worth a meal on its own.

Almost. Just add wine and cheese :)

And saucisson!

and foie gras!

Indeed.

> San Francisco and to New York, and the absence of flavour and substance in the food is what really stuck with me

What? Where did you eat?

> The two only exceptions were a cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory

I guess we have different definitions of substance and flavour. I can't imagine anything being more boring than Cheesecake Factory.

> What? Where did you eat?

My experience is that no fuss food can be fantastic (I have really fond memories of things like hot dogs, pastrami sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and cheesesteak sandwiches) but fancy restaurants were mostly disappointments. Following tourist trails in an American city I definitely can see how someone could not come anywhere near anything tasty.

> I guess we have different definitions of substance and flavour. I can't imagine anything being more boring than Cheesecake Factory.

It’s the exotic factor. If you’ve never really had a real cheesecake, it is a novel experience. Once was enough, but I enjoyed it.