Michelin Gives Stars, but Tokyo Turns Up Nose [NYT]
Related: How to Eat in Tokyo, Michelin Capital of the World
Michelin: Gastronomic Bible Reads Like In-Flight Advertorial
All Posts Tagged: ‘michelin guide’
Japanese Grasp Universal Truth of Michelin’s Uselessness
Huckabee Skips Sushi; Super Bowl Snacks Abound
Finally, the presidential candidates “respond” to the sushi crisis. Mike Huckabee’s stance? “Nowhere does the Bible mention sushi in the Garden of Eden.” [NYT]
If you’ve ever dreamed of being a Michelin Guide inspector, consider first that in a year “each inspector evaluates 240 restaurants, spends 130 nights in hotels, carries out 800 inspections, writes 1,100 reports and drives 18,000 miles.” [Guardian]
The international conservation group Oceana has issued a report saying that it found mercury levels in tuna sushi throughout the United States to be just as high as in New York’s supply. [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Gordo Blog Better Than the Real Thing; Water Trend More Ridiculous
A true innovator has started a mock Gordon Ramsay blog with such posts as “What? Emeril’s boobs aren’t nice enough?” But when will someone step in to fill in the gaps at Chodoblog? [News Groper via Serious Eats]
Related: Food Network, Emeril No Longer Feeling the Love
No holiday parties at Chumley’s this year; according to the owner Steve Shlopak, the space has no ceiling and no floor. [NYO]
Even after a top-chef shuffle and “showdown between Fiamma, L’Impero and Alto … all three places have come through recent turmoil, and the good news is that they’re better than they were before,” says Steve Cuozzo. [NYP]
How to Eat in Tokyo, Michelin Capital of the World
In Tokyo, have faith and eat.Photo: Getty Images
L.A. Discovers How Much Michelin Sucks; We Chuckle
Having gone through the five stages of Michelin, we are watching Los Angeles' reception of its first red book with a mixture of sympathy and amusement. First comes the shock at how dopey and random the choices are; then how badly the book is written really hits you. L.A. Times writer Leslie Brenner announced today, “What shocked me wasn't who did and did not get stars; rather, it was that the book that purports to be the bible of fine dining is so poorly researched and lamely written that the ratings have no credibility.” Welcome to Michelin land, L.A. Next year's will be even lamer, despite your well-founded gibes. You stab it with your steely knives, but you just can't kill the beast.
It's amateur hour chez Michelin [LAT]
Related: Michelin's Madness Drives Ed Levine (and Us) Up a Wall
Michelin Virus Spreads, Delighting Ducasse, Krauts; Angering Gordo, Japanese
Alain Ducasse regains crown as most-starred chef [Caterersearch.com]
Michelin guide steps out of West, into controversy in Tokyo [AFP]
Schnitzel Outcooks Spaghetti in Michelin Guide [Deutsche Welle]
Gordon Ramsay Loses Temper with Regis Philbin [Showbiz Spy]
Earlier: The Case Against Michelin
Bourdain's Reaction to ‘Top Chef’; Goldfarb and Cluizel Sittin' in a Cacao Tree
Bourdain considers “Hung’s well deserved victory … a nice, stiff middle finger to all those boneheads who’ve been predicting that ‘The producers are setting it up so Casey will win,’ as well as the poor, deluded souls who feel they can somehow taste food through the television screen.” Are you listening, Adam Platt? [Bourdain's Blog/Bravo]
Michelin Guide director Jean-Luc Naret wants chefs on their toes: “One thing you have to understand is that stars are not engraved in marble, but crystal, and that they can break easily.” [Metromix NY]
Will Goldfarb is officially shacking up with Michel Cluizel at ABC on a dessert café, and Patricia Yeo has abandoned Monkey Bar after leaving Sapa to work on the project in March. [NYT]
Related: Cluizel, Goldfarb to Join Forces in Dessert Pact
Patricia Yeo Leaving Sapa, Opening Rib House; Something About a Monkey
A Happy New York Ending for Gordo; Bruni Thinks Michelin Ratings ‘Just Nutty’
Gordon Ramsay at the London is the only new restaurant in town to earn two stars in the Michelin Guide, a conquest that’s especially sweet here where the chef is often maligned and/or mocked — by us, for example. [NYP]
Related: Gordon Ramsay, Gay Icon
Two of Jean-Georges Vongerichten's “lesser lights,” Vong and JoJo, have received the same Michelin rating as Café Boulud, and according to Bruni, “that’s just nutty.” [Diner’s Journal/NYT]
Jean-Georges has promoted a 24-year-old star sous-chef to be chef de cuisine at Perry St. [Eater]
Michelin Stars: Colicchio Doesn't Care, But Psilakis Sure Does
The stars didn't shine equally on Michael Psilakis (left) and Tom Colicchio.Photo: Kevin Wick, Getty Images
‘Food & Wine’ Parties Rock; Yuppies Heart Joe Jr.’s
The Food & Wine Best New Chef parties were pretty good — especially the after-party at the Spotted Pig. We wonder who that unnamed chef doing shots all night could possibly be. Are his initials M.B.? [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Joe Jr.’s coffee shop is becoming a cult favorite among well-heeled Manhattanites – one even rented it out for a party and put up a disco ball. [Mouthing Off/Food & Wine]
Top Chef runner-up Sam Talbot to open an already trendy eatery on the Lower East Side, but his liquor-license papers seem not to be in order yet. [Eater]
Ramsay Feeling the Love — in Britain, Anyhow
Looks like his status as (an admittedly lower-tier) gay icon isn’t all the embattled Gordon Ramsay has to be thankful for these days. Ramsay’s Petrus was awarded two stars in the 2007 Michelin Guide to Britain, and his new London restaurant, La Noisette, got its first star. (None of his already-starred outposts were demoted, either.) Good going, Gordo. Just don’t get a big head over it, okay?
Chef Ramsay Still on Top in New Guide [Yahoo News]
Earlier:
Gordon Ramsay, Gay Icon [Grub Street]
Gordon Ramsay Would Like the Honor of Humiliating You [Grub Street]
We Spot-Check Gordon Ramsay's Stink [Grub Street]
An Alternative to the Sucky Michelin Guide
As the Gobbler made plain this morning, the Michelin guide — and in particular, its distribution of top honors — sucks. There's an alternative take on a New York's elite restaurants: Gayot. Like Michelin, this online handbook got its start in France; its founder, André Gayot, coined the term "nouvelle cuisine." And while it's not comprehensive, covering only the top 40 restaurants in the country, Gayot pairs their four-star-and-under ratings with detailed, well-written reviews — not fragments of diners' opinions, like Zagat, or in-flight magazine copy, like Michelin. Six New York restaurants made the most recent round of selections; that Eleven Madison Park and the Modern wound up on this shortest of lists — coupled with the guide's clear bias toward French food, Masa being NYC's only non-French pick — speaks to Gayot's distinct sensibility. And that has to count for something.
Top Forty Restaurants in the U.S. [Gayot]
Earlier: The Case Against the Michelin Guide
Daniel's Bernard Vrod Serves Presidents, Gets Wife Free Meals
"When we walk into the restaurant, we're onstage."Photo: Melissa Hom
Michelin: Gastronomic Bible Reads Like In-Flight Advertorial
When we saw the new Michelin ratings on the Web, before getting ahold of the actual book, we were left scratching our heads. (Read our complaints and suggestions here.) Now that we're reading the thing, we're becoming even more confused. This is supposed to be a guidebook? The descriptions are all breezy, self-contained little blurbs which seem more like something you would read in an airplane magazine's advertorial insert than in the American edition of the oldest and most powerful restaurant guide in the world.
The examples below have not been carefully chosen to highlight the cheesiness and banality of the book. We picked restaurants from each star level (including unstarred) more or less at random and then looked up the review. The following soft rain of vague superlatives are all you get by way of explanation for the ratings.
Chefs Curse, Bless New Michelin Guide
Eric Ripert: feeling the love from MichelinPhoto: Josh Ozersky
Michelin's Explosive New Red Book
Michelin dropped its ratings bomb today, and it's safe to say that the New York restaurant world is, as usual, reeling. Though not as consequential as a Zagat snub, business-wise, the Michelin ratings are closer to the hearts of top chefs. (French chef Bernard Loiseau was widely believed to have killed himself over a Michelin downgrade.) The book is supposed to be in stores tomorrow (though our local Barnes & Noble says it's not even at the distributor yet). We do, however, know of some surprises. Messrs. Boulud, Bouley, and Takayama are no doubt having lousy afternoons.
*Correction: Devi received one star, not two. We regret the error.
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