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Washington, DC to Become Fourth U.S. City to Have a Michelin Guide (2016)


Keithstg

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27 minutes ago, jca76 said:

so this is his defense for minibar's right to three stars: "The avant-garde restaurant, basically a 30-course magic show, is very much in the vein of Arzak, a Michelin three-star in San Sebastian, Spain, where I had the great good fortune to eat two years ago and where one of multiple astonishments was an ocean-fresh lobster displayed on a tablet computer, its screen animated with blue waves. Was it “worth a special journey?” Absolutely."  arzak is probably the most disappointing/baffling-that-it-has-three-stars restaurant i've ever been to; it felt incredibly dated.  

An ocean-fresh lobster displayed on a tablet computer doesn't sound particularly astonishing, in my opinion.

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6 hours ago, Gadarene said:

 and lack of population density

Just for the record, many if not most of the other cities you mention have population densities lower, and in many cases far lower, than Washington. Houston's density is only about 1/3 that of Washington. Charleston's and Melbourne's are only about 1/10.

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18 minutes ago, The Hersch said:

Just for the record, many if not most of the other cities you mention have population densities lower, and in many cases far lower, than Washington. Houston's density is only about 1/3 that of Washington. Charleston's and Melbourne's are only about 1/10.

Fair point.  It may not be a dispositive factor, but it's certainly a factor.  Absent the height restrictions, how different do you think the downtown dining scene would look?  I'm guessing pretty different.

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Just now, Gadarene said:

Fair point.  It may not be a dispositive factor, but it's certainly a factor.  Absent the height restrictions, how different do you think the downtown dining scene would look?  I'm guessing pretty different.

Yes, I suppose it would be like that vibrant dining scene in Rosslyn, where all the tall buildings are. After all, Parisians all flock to La Défense at dinner time, don't they?

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17 minutes ago, The Hersch said:

Yes, I suppose it would be like that vibrant dining scene in Rosslyn, where all the tall buildings are. After all, Parisians all flock to La Défense at dinner time, don't they?

...or if so much of the city wasn't government buildings, embassies, nonprofits, and churches.

You jest, but it's pretty hard to argue that if more people lived closely together, there would be more food options to accommodate them.

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6 hours ago, The Hersch said:

It's really hard for me to understand how Michelin ratings of Washington restaurants are so much more interesting than Bob Dylan getting the Nobel Prize.

I hear ya, but this is a food/restaurant site after all.

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15 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I'm coming out of exile just to comment on this, because I think it's hilarious. Ever since Michelin announced that they would be rating DC restaurants, Sietsema has become more and more delirious because, it would appear, he cannot fathom the idea of an "outsider" coming in and reviewing his precious restaurants. There is zero coincidence in the fact he released his dining guide on the same day as the Michelin Guide was released. And the above "editorial" is less about poking holes in the Guide than it is about assuaging his ego and his opinion of his taste levels. Being the local critic does not somehow imbue his subjective taste with an extra level of authority that the Michelin inspectors cannot possess by virtue of not being local to DC.

Instead of writing this hot take, Sietsema should have considered taking the next week to a month and actually revisiting the restaurants about which he's scratching his head and try to see what the Michelin inspectors saw. If he did that and articulated his disagreement based on facts, I think that would have been more credible than the above article.

That said, I absolutely agree that the omission of Komi and Little Serow was a deep error. I think the Michelin inspectors completely missed the mark on Komi—Greek food is not necessarily about harmony and progression. It's about the communal table and the poikilia—the variety. Seafood, greens, meat, cheese, etc. The mezzethakia course of the Komi progression captures that idea of having a little bit of everything when you're dining with friends and family. I don't want to omit certain things from my plate because they do not "harmonize" with the main dish—we're having little grilled fish? Great, I will also have some tyropita (cheese pie), because I can and it's delicious and it's available.

Extreme example, and Monis obviously is much better at the progression, but I think it gets across the point I was trying to make. Notwithstanding Sietsema's bruised ego, he is correct that the inspectors got it completely wrong on Komi. </end rant>

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11 minutes ago, bethesdacore said:

I'm coming out of exile just to comment on this, because I think it's hilarious. Ever since Michelin announced that they would be rating DC restaurants, Sietsema has become more and more delirious because, it would appear, he cannot fathom the idea of an "outsider" coming in and reviewing his precious restaurants. There is zero coincidence in the fact he released his dining guide on the same day as the Michelin Guide was released.

You may be right with your first point, but my impression of Tom and his reaction to the guide is that he's thrilled that they're finally reviewing DC, and that it's been long overdue.  I'm not talking about his reaction yesterday, but his reaction years ago when people would ask about it in his chats, as well as his impression when it was first announced that DC would be reviewed last spring (?).  I never got the impression that he's been threatened by it.

Your second point seems a little conspiratorial and Trumpish.  The Post has been releasing the Fall Dining guide (which used to the Annual Dining) at this time of year for decades.  Maybe even since it's inception.  I'd flip your statement to say that Michelin released their guide to coincide with the Post's guide to get a little publicity and buzz going by people comparing the two.

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47 minutes ago, Bart said:

Your second point seems a little conspiratorial and Trumpish.  The Post has been releasing the Fall Dining guide (which used to the Annual Dining) at this time of year for decades.  Maybe even since it's inception.  I'd flip your statement to say that Michelin released their guide to coincide with the Post's guide to get a little publicity and buzz going by people comparing the two.

I take exception to the use of "Trumpish." He is a bottomless, black well of human misery, preying on the worst of humanity. I'm just pointing out a coincidence on a dining forum.

That said, it's entirely possible Michelin did think to release their list on the same day as the Fall Dining Guide. Either way, regardless of who thought to release their guide when, the timing of the release does give the appearance of being calculated to generate buzz. 

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I didn't think the post-mortem by Tom was a hissy fit - I got the impression he was genuinely surprised by some of the ratings.  That being said, the earlier discussion of understanding what a reviewer values seems to be the key takeaway.  Michelin, for better or worse, has always valued looks and service on par with the food - with a French twist on what proper service is and should be.  I value their opinion, but understand that it's going to send me to places with more of an emphasis on those two things than I might need or want.

Modern dining is evolving - I don't expect Michelin to keep up with that.  This is the same publication that consistently snubs restaurants throughout Italy because the Italian definition of service and meal flow is just different from Michelin's. Here's hoping that the guide at least results in more business for some of the great dining establishments we enjoy.  DC's dining renaissance is alive and well - perhaps this can push it along even further.

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5 hours ago, monsterriffs said:

 If he did that and articulated his disagreement based on facts, I think that would have been more credible than the above article.

Based on facts? What facts? That people have differences of opinion on something as completely subjective as food? Shocking!

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Is Trump the bottomless, black well of human misery, preying on the worst of humanity or Tom? If Tom, that's the harshest criticism I've ever heard about a food critic. But, this forum is no joke. 

Greek isn't the "right" type of European... Makes no sense to not include Komi. Oh well. 

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26 minutes ago, mtureck said:

Based on facts? What facts? That people have differences of opinion on something as completely subjective as food? Shocking!

Or that people are snarky on the internet. How novel! But what I was getting at, really, was the dismissal of Plume. I have no opinion on that establishment because I haven't been, but I wanted more out of him than just "the dishes are less than memorable." I thought the defenses of Komi and Rasika were far stronger because he actually elaborated what is good and noteworthy about the food there. This is my lawyer lizard brain at work.

17 minutes ago, Simul Parikh said:

Is Trump the bottomless, black well of human misery, preying on the worst of humanity or Tom? If Tom, that's the harshest criticism I've ever heard about a food critic. But, this forum is no joke. 

Greek isn't the "right" type of European... Makes no sense to not include Komi. Oh well. 

Trump. Tom may be a critic, but at least he's pleasant more often than not.

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