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Toronto, Ontario, Canada here.

I have a different sense of value for day-to-day food purchases than for special occasional meals out. I think many people could justify saving up for the odd visit to a place like Per Se (or whatever the equivalent is in their home city) once every few years, as much for the experience as for the food itself. Eating out at a restaurant like that is more about entertainment than simply obtaining sustenance. But obviously there are few people who could justify eating at a place like that every day, or every week.

To have some sort of fixed upper limit for all food purchases would be pointless: to envision someone sitting at Per Se muttering "Potatoes! I could make potatoes at home for 75 cents!" is very sad to me. Unless you're on the dole, I can't think of a better thing to splurge on now and then than food.

I live close to the new downtown location (Cherry St) and have visited a few times. I have also been impressed. However, it is mainly an Asian supermarket. They do have quite a few "Western" food products, but the main attraction is definitely the ability to find -- in one place -- Chinese, Korean, and Japanese products that usually can only be found in scattered locations across the city. It is also a less intimidating environment than, say, Chinatown for those who are more used to Western-style supermarket shopping. Many also like the deli and bakery counters which sell prepared ready-to-eat Asian foods.

East coast.......back and forth from PA-NJ-NY over the years. Spent part of every summer with Mom's family in various parts of Canada, mostly Ottawa.

Compared to some, I've led a sheltered life! I have just moved all around Ontario, Canada. My most desperate time was in Thunder Bay, Ontario (a few hours north of Duluth, Minnesota) where it was cold and blah a lot of the time and fresh produce was difficult and very expensive to come by. Now I've moved back to Southern Ontario, living in London, Ontario, Canada where I'm surrounded my farmland and can get everything my little heart desires to cook with. It's also much more multicultural here than Thunder Bay, so I can get my hands on ingredients people had never heard of there. By far, though, I loved living in Waterloo, Ontario. If anyone travels to Toronto, its worth the 1.5 hour drive to go to the St. Jacob's Farmer's Market in the summer/fall. If you like to cook or eat, its amazing. I still drive over an hour from my home in London to attend at least monthly all year round.

WOW! I am so glad I asked this question. So many interesting places, histories, etc. It was always evident that we had a lot of diversity here, but way more than I expected! I want to add other places my stomach likes to live besides the South...

NYC -- duh... we go at least once a year, almost exclusively to eat, eat, eat!
France -- another duh.
Vancouver, BC -- astonishingly good restaurant scene... check it out!

Come to think of it, when my heart isn't in the South, it's usually in NYC and France with my tummy. It spends a lot of time missing Bali, too. Sigh.

Oh. And if my body lived someplace other than So. Calif, I'd miss authentic Mexican food like crazy. Luckily, I've mastered most of the dishes I really love!!!

Born in Pomona, California, but moved to Washington, DC with my family when I was 4, where my permanent home is with my parents and 15 year old brother. When I was 17, I ventured out to Chicago for college, where I'm currently living, a little over a year later. I'm a second year in college, studying music, and trying to cook and bake as much as possible!!

Brooklyn, baby!

Born and raised in New York (burbs, moved into the city as a teen), went to school in North Carolina for a year, then southern California for 4 years (finished college then worked for a year), culinary school in Philadelphia, followed a bf to St. Louis for a year, back to NYC for a couple of years, moved to San Francisco for 4 years, then back to NYC about 7 years ago.