I live in NYC and the main difference I noticed about food in CA is how produce-centric it is. NYC food is incredible, but eating out usually means meat, cheese, and bread.
Even if you love meat, cheese, and bread, there are other cities that do it as well (pizza debates aside) or better. For example, the taco scene in NYC basically doesn't exist. The burrito scene is Chipotle-style places.
Frankly, the rent is just too high to be too innovative at a reasonable price.
