Jump to content

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


Keithstg

Recommended Posts

30 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I had to google it...Andy Hayler?  Maybe you can ask him whether any DC restaurants deserves 3 stars.

I wonder if anyone bought and took this trip.

I don't need to ask him; he asked me. (The answer is "Hell no," and even 2 stars is really pushing it for DC.)

Technically he didn't word the question like that; he just wanted my opinion of what the best restaurants were (he lives in London, so it's not exactly a hop, skip, and a jump to get to DC for him).

The scary thing is that your trip is not *that* expensive, all things considered, but personally, I simply wouldn't want to dine at 100+ 3-star restaurants in six months - it's too much, and really *needs* to be spread out over ten years or so; otherwise, it's sensory overload and sheer gluttony, Even when I was in my 20s, in absolute peak shape - assuming I had the money, which I didn't - I wouldn't have wanted to do more than one 3-star per month.

BTW, I have something approaching total respect for Andy Hayler - his reviews are *extremely* astute, and as close to being "correct" as someone could possibly be. Obviously, restaurants change with time, sometimes dramatically, and trying to keep up with 100+ restaurants on multiple continents is literally impossible.

I have a friend in the DC area named Jim Gaby who ranks right up there with Bonjwing Lee and Steve Plotniki - for his 50th birthday year, he went to 50 different 2- and 3-star restaurants. He is a gastronome in the truest sense of the word, and has a tremendous palate for fine dining - he makes me look like an absolute chump. I've spent too much time running around, trying to go to *every* restaurant in DC, regardless of quality; now that I'm getting older, I want to start focusing on more worldwide dining at higher levels - I doubt I'll ever again be as well-versed in DC as I was about 5-10 years ago, simply because I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things (but DC will always be my hometown).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just one data point: no restaurant in D.C. I've been to (and I haven't been to P&P yet) approaches the level of the 1-star restaurants I visited in Spain last month (Disfrutar and Alkimia in Barcelona), let alone the 3-star El Celler de Can Roca and DiverXO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Simon said:

Just one data point: no restaurant in D.C. I've been to (and I haven't been to P&P yet) approaches the level of the 1-star restaurants I visited in Spain last month (Disfrutar and Alkimia in Barcelona), let alone the 3-star El Celler de Can Roca and DiverXO.

Disfrutar remains one of the greatest dining experiences of my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Simon said:

Just one data point: no restaurant in D.C. I've been to (and I haven't been to P&P yet) approaches the level of the 1-star restaurants I visited in Spain last month (Disfrutar and Alkimia in Barcelona), let alone the 3-star El Celler de Can Roca and DiverXO.

19 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

Disfrutar remains one of the greatest dining experiences of my life.

I haven't been to Disfrutar, but I went to the 2-star Abac in Barcelona, and apart from their *very* middling wine list (which itself disqualifies it from being a 2-star restaurant IMO), it's as good as any meal I've had in DC - the closest in style to it was Rogue 24. Even Abac's grandest menu is "only" $200 (tax included, which makes it more like $180), not including wine pairings. I've been charged *far* more than that at Vidalia, which is ridiculous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I haven't been to Disfrutar, but I went to the 2-star Abac in Barcelona, and apart from their *very* middling wine list (which itself disqualifies it from being a 2-star restaurant IMO), it's as good as any meal I've had in DC - the closest in style to it was Rogue 24. Even Abac's grandest menu is "only" $200 (tax included), not including wine pairings. I've been charged *far* more than that at Vidalia, which is ridiculous.

Yes, the prices!  NY and DC restaurants seem so overpriced now in comparison (and don't get me started on the wine markups...)  At El Celler de Can Roca, I paid $500 (for two people) for the long tasting menu, plus a few wines by the glass.  And Kwame wants to charge how much?  

And this is reaching further back in my dining history, but I don't know how you can even think about placing any DC restaurant in the same category as Pierre Gagnaire, Ledoyen (in the LeSquer days), L'Astrance...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andy Hayler has said that judging are different from country to country.  In my estimation, service in Europe must be much more formal for a restaurant to earn a star.  On the other hand, Tim Ho Wan in HK was really lacking in services, yet it has earned 1 star.  I'm guessing service level in the U.S. will be lower than Europe. 

More importantly, I find DC restaurants to lack consistency in execution.  Whether I find the flavor to my liking or not, I expect the food to be properly cooked, which is often not the case even at the "contenders" in DC. 

So most of the proposed lists are wildly optimistic?  Has anyone come up with proposed list more in line with European standards?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

a Bib Gourmand cannot be awarded to a restaurant that gets a Michelin Star, and is supposed to be the "cheap eats" places - $40 for 2 courses and either a dessert or a glass of wine.

Unless they have changed, this is untrue.  I've been to a couple of Bib Gourmand/1-star restaurants over the years.

Any list of restaurants meeting certain qualifications will have some "errors," but Michelin has come through for me: I've found the Bib Gourmand list to be extremely reliable when travelling in strange cities.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Waitman said:

Unless they have changed, this is untrue.  I've been to a couple of Bib Gourmand/1-star restaurants over the years.

Any list of restaurants meeting certain qualifications will have some "errors," but Michelin has come through for me: I've found the Bib Gourmand list to be extremely reliable when travelling in strange cities.  

 

A restaurant can't be both Bib Gourmand and starred in the same year, but there have been restaurants that have been Bib Gourmand that have become starred in subsequent years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Waitman said:

Unless they have changed, this is untrue.  I've been to a couple of Bib Gourmand/1-star restaurants over the years.

You know what? I was almost *certain* that I'd seen some in the past that were both, so I leafed through my 2016 France Red Book, and after about ten minutes of trying, I quit because I couldn't find any - this was about three days ago. But at least I know I'm not crazy, because somebody else remembers this as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, dz50 said:

A restaurant can't be both Bib Gourmand and starred in the same year, but there have been restaurants that have been Bib Gourmand that have become starred in subsequent years.

This is a change, then, because in past years I've noticed and even patronized a couple of 2-fers.  They were not common, but you'd come across one on occasion and they always caught my eye ("wow, this must be a great deal!") 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/7/2016 at 6:12 PM, DonRocks said:

No 1-star for Kinship, Corduroy, Marcel's, or The Grill Room?

Interestingly (and this is not meant to be a slam), two of the five restaurants you predict for 2 and 3 stars - and your list may very well be correct - are largely pre-prepped food. Don't ask me to name them; just get to know people who work in their kitchens.

I cannot predict anything about the list, because the standards are so vastly different for Washington, DC than they are in France or other European countries that they do not compute (I've never paid attention to the Michelin system in other U.S. cities other than to take an initial glance the first year it came out for New York City - that was enough to make me ignore it going forward).

I knew I was missing something. it was Kinship. I wrote this list right after dining at the Kinship bar, which was a sublime experience. Corduroy I haven't eaten at and don't know enough about -- it's on my list.

Marcel's was also an omission - Michelin has a weakness for French food, and my list doesn't seem to have any French food on it.

you're correct about the difference between DC and Europe -- you should look instead to NYC or Chicago as a guide, and even that standard has changed. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare received three Michelin stars, prompting Chef Achatz to tweet about Michelin throwing the rulebook out the window. Chef's Table was, at the time, stools around a counter and BYOB. the only known criteria are relating to the food -- which is what a 3* BK Fare showed -- the idea that a restaurant must be luxurious or have a fantastic wine list was not necessary to achieve three stars.

(also, the two are Fiola Mare and Minibar, right?)

On 10/8/2016 at 2:36 PM, Eric Ziebold said:

I ate at El Bulli with Grant Achatz, he loved it but I didn't.

I am so jealous.

6 hours ago, DonRocks said:

(The answer is "Hell no," and even 2 stars is really pushing it for DC.)

imo, as far as mastery of flavor and cooking techniques and the personality of the Chef in each dish, I don't see a great reason why Minibar doesn't deserve 3 if Alinea does.

2 hours ago, dz50 said:

A restaurant can't be both Bib Gourmand and starred in the same year, but there have been restaurants that have been Bib Gourmand that have become starred in subsequent years.

I think there are "twofers" in Europe. there are none in the US.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, franch said:

(also, the two are Fiola Mare and Minibar, right?)

I think there are "twofers" in Europe. there are none in the US.

You're batting .500 - I don't want to name names, so let's leave it at that.

I just went through *800 pages* of the 2000-page France guide, looking for a two-fer, and found none. I'm *certain* they used to be there, and there are some one-star places in Asia that would absolutely meet the requirements (see Google), but I decided it wasn't worth the search, and gave up 40% of the way through France.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, TheMatt said:

I guess Inn at Little Washington got a special non-DC exemption? I thought this guide was supposed to be District-only.

that's the only thing giving me pause about this list...

no stars for Serow/Komi, Metier (too new?), or Fiola Mare?

still don't see how Minibar doesn't deserve three...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, Blue Duck really surprises me.  I've never had GREAT food there, and last time I was at the bar the snapper crudo I ordered was literally inedible -- there were bones throughout and the meat of the fish was too tough and chewy.  They apologized and brought me a new order (which I wasn't sure I wanted at that point) but didn't comp it or anything, which is fine, but still...I thought attention to detail and consistency was a Michelin hallmark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a very curious list overall.

I don't think I've ever heard a single thing about Plume.  Tail Up Goat is great and one of my favorite restaurants in DC by a large margin for its conviviality and interesting menus, but I'm sort of surprised to see them over, say, Little Serow (and definitely over Komi); I always enjoy, but rarely LOVE, the dishes at Tail Up.  I just ate at the Dabney last night, and it was quite good, but again...putting it up against some of the non-starred places I've been to in other countries (man, La Pubilla in Barcelona, for example) and it suffers by comparison.

Also a bit surprised by Sushi Taro's inclusion.  I've long felt that the omakase counter in the back is one of the great meals in the city, if not the greatest, but my experiences in the main dining room have been more muted.  I wonder how much the chef's counter omakase played a part in their rating.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The important list:

The Inn at Little Washington, Pineapple & Peals and José Andrés’ Minibar received two stars. Blue Duck Tavern, The Dabney, Fiola, Kinship, Masseria, Plume, Rose’s Luxury, Sushi Taro and Tail Up Goat received one star. No restaurants in D.C. were given three-star recognition. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2016/10/13/washington-gets-its-first-michelin-starred-restaurants-today/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, franch said:

that's the only thing giving me pause about this list...

no stars for Serow/Komi, Metier (too new?), or Fiola Mare?

still don't see how Minibar doesn't deserve three...

If Noma doesn't deserve three stars, then Minibar definitely does not.  :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michael Ellis, international director of Michelin guides, said the following:

On three stars:
“The two-star restaurants had dishes that flirted with three-star level. We are convinced that the D.C. area is going to continue to evolve.”

On Rasika:
We found that we couldn’t confirm the star this year. That in no way means that we cannot confirm a star next year,”

On Komi:
“We found that there was not a lot of harmony between the different courses. We did not find the level of consistency throughout the menu.”

On Inn at Little Washington:
“The impact that [chef] Patrick O’Connell has had on a whole generation of chefs,” factored into inspectors’ decisions, said Ellis. “It’s an iconic restaurant.”

33 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

If Noma doesn't deserve three stars, then Minibar definitely does not.  :)

haha... hard to compare the European guides. I would say if Alinea does, then Minibar does. (also, I find Noma's shtick horrendous and borderline foodie trolling at this point)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

I don't think I've ever heard a single thing about Plume. 

Plume is the worst "high-end" dinner I've had in D.C. ever.  At best bistro-level cooking in fancied-up surroundings.  A colossal waste of money and massively overrated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, franch said:

haha... hard to compare the European guides. I would say if Alinea does, then Minibar does. (also, I find Noma's shtick horrendous and borderline foodie trolling at this point)

Oh, wow...I could not disagree more about Noma.  It exceeded my expectations in every respect, from food to juice pairing to service -- so warm, happy, and consummately thoughtful, to a person -- to atmosphere to the 45-minute tour of the facilities after dinner (as the chefs blasted Don't Stop Believin' from a stereo in the kitchen to unwind).  For my tastes, it was truly stunning.*  (Particularly in contrast to Minibar, which felt moribund and gimmicky both times I went there -- which was, admittedly, before they changed locations.)

*Which reminds me that I still owe a detailed Noma review in the Copenhagen thread.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Simon said:

Plume is the worst "high-end" dinner I've had in D.C. ever.  Indifferent and at best bistro-level cooking in fancied-up surroundings.  A colossal waste of money and massively overrated.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but I wasn't very impressed when I went earlier this year. Definitely overpriced. I literally can't remember what I ate (and, though my memory ain't what it used to be, I can usually remember tasty restaurant meals even many years after the fact). I seem to recall having a bite of my friend's duck. Just meh overall. Except for the bill! The bill was not meh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Simon said:

Plume is the worst "high-end" dinner I've had in D.C. ever.  At best bistro-level cooking in fancied-up surroundings.  A colossal waste of money and massively overrated.

I am new to DC, so haven't gone to every place that is on this list, nor everywhere that is either hyped up as the new hotness of the month or the old school places you simply must go as DC institutions (from Inn at LW to Plume to Old Ebbitt). i definitely got the sense that Plume was a high-end place in a fancy hotel for expense account dining where law firms/etc. could take clients.

Just now, Gadarene said:

Oh, wow...I could not disagree more about Noma.  It exceeded my expectations in every respect, from food to juice pairing to service to atmosphere to the 45-minute tour of the facilities after dinner.  For my tastes, it was truly stunning.*  (Particularly in contrast to Minibar, which felt moribund and gimmicky both times I went there -- which was, admittedly, before they changed locations.)

*Which reminds me that I still owe a detailed Noma review in the Copenhagen thread.

i haven't been, don't get me wrong. just some of the gimmicks he's engaged in over the last couple of years really annoy me as geared to the crazy food blog crowd. i actually read a blog article re: the London pop-up that the author was "delighted" to see live ants crawling over her salad. come on now.

Michelin is supposed to be based on food and the attendant skill, technique, etc. of the chef only -- when i went to Minibar (March 2k16), I was every bit as impressed by the creativity, taste, inventiveness, and technique that went into the courses as i was with my Alinea dinner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, franch said:

i haven't been, don't get me wrong. just some of the gimmicks he's engaged in over the last couple of years really annoy me as geared to the crazy food blog crowd. i actually read a blog article re: the London pop-up that the author was "delighted" to see live ants crawling over her salad. come on now.

Michelin is supposed to be based on food and the attendant skill, technique, etc. of the chef only -- when i went to Minibar (March 2k16), I was every bit as impressed by the creativity, taste, inventiveness, and technique that went into the courses as i was with my Alinea dinner.

We can agree to disagree on all counts.  :)  My surpassing sense from my Noma experience was that Chef Redzepi (who served us the bread course so unobtrusively that nobody noticed it was him) and the rest of that team care more than anything else, by an order of magnitude, about the flavor of what they are putting on the table, and how happy it makes people when they eat it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Sushi Taro; at this point I'm a lunch regular and while I am no expert at Japanese food, I adore my lunches there. First, the atmosphere is conducive to deep though. Second, it's cheap with a daily special for 12.95.  Third, it's good! I usually get the daily special because I"m trying to expand my pallet and they are all good to great.  Finally, the sushi is next level good compared to all the other I've experienced outside of San Francisco. 

While I am enjoying this thread, I'd suggest y'all take off your gloves and have a little fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Josh said:

Amazing that Asador Etxebarri and Elkano in Spain have only 1 star each.  Very different grading scale for US restaurants, obviously.

we went to the basque region this summer and loved etxebarri (but sadly had to cancel elkano thanks to some pintxos-induced food poisoning).  from my experience/what i've read about elkano, both seem to be good examples of michelin's bias in favor of formality in awarding american/european stars.  (something that doesn't seem to be an issue in asia, although i've never done any culinary tourism there.)  plume seems to be exactly the sort of place that benefits from those biases: excellent wine list, classic cuisine, more formal environment.  (how arzak keeps its three stars suggests it's also benefiting from those biases.)  

i'm not surprised that nothing in dc got three stars (although i'm shocked that komi didn't get at least one; i'd expected two).  had any place gotten three, i would have assumed it would be minibar -- in large part because it aims for a more traditionally fine-dining atmosphere than p&p or komi -- but none of our two stars strike me as hitting the level that i'd expect from three stars.  (in fairness, neither do a number of the u.s.-based three stars, but so it goes.)  i think p&p has the potential to get there, so long as michelin doesn't hold the casual vibe/lack of wine list against them (which it very well might).  i haven't been to minibar in about two years, but our last experience (our only one in the new location) struck me as more formal and more expensive without being demonstrably better (and in some ways, was worse) than in the cafe atlantico location, and has kept me from rushing back.  there is a bit of soullessness to the experience.  i was surprised that the inn at little washington got included in what had been touted as a district-only guide for this year -- and somewhat indignant on behalf of blue hill at stone barns that it has never gotten such a dispensation from the nyc guide -- and so hadn't really considered it in advance.  but for all its charms (and the strong affection that many locals have for it; i'm sure many members of this community will disagree), my sole ialw experience was much too kitschy -- that ridiculous mooing cheese cow should be disqualifying -- for my taste and the food, while good, wasn't as consistently or innovatingly good as i'd hope for from a three star place. 

although less so than komi's, rasika's and little serow's exclusions are glaring to me.  and an indicator of the silliness of the bib gourmand price cap as applied to dc, as i assume neither would qualify and yet both are in line with what you would easily spend at a number of the places that did qualify.  

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, NolaCaine said:

Re: Sushi Taro; at this point I'm a lunch regular and while I am no expert at Japanese food, I adore my lunches there. First, the atmosphere is conducive to deep though. Second, it's cheap with a daily special for 12.95.  Third, it's good! I usually get the daily special because I"m trying to expand my pallet and they are all good to great.  Finally, the sushi is next level good compared to all the other I've experienced outside of San Francisco. 

While I am enjoying this thread, I'd suggest y'all take off your gloves and have a little fun.

You're right! From when I moved here until now, which has just been 6 years, and in the 6 years prior to that, DC really has become a great city for food. Look at that Michelin list and the Fall Dining Guide, and we really do have an embarrassment of riches compared to 10 years ago. Here here for DC Dining!! Congrats to all the great chefs and restaurant owners, cooks and back of house, waiters and bartenders and hostesses. We thank you!

S

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, NolaCaine said:

While I am enjoying this thread, I'd suggest y'all take off your gloves and have a little fun.

And, most importantly, remember that food reviewing is an entirely subjective process.

The vitriol that people throw at reviewers disagree with them is always amusing. It's one man's, or one guides, opinion...based on a number of visits that may have been completely different from your visits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

37 minutes ago, jca76 said:

we went to the basque region this summer and loved etxebarri (but sadly had to cancel elkano thanks to some pintxos-induced food poisoning).  from my experience/what i've read about elkano, both seem to be good examples of michelin's bias in favor of formality in awarding american/european stars.  (something that doesn't seem to be an issue in asia, although i've never done any culinary tourism there.)  plume seems to be exactly the sort of place that benefits from those biases: excellent wine list, classic cuisine, more formal environment.  (how arzak keeps its three stars suggests it's also benefiting from those biases.)  

i'm not surprised that nothing in dc got three stars (although i'm shocked that komi didn't get at least one; i'd expected two).  had any place gotten three, i would have assumed it would be minibar -- in large part because it aims for a more traditionally fine-dining atmosphere than p&p or komi -- but none of our two stars strike me as hitting the level that i'd expect from three stars.  (in fairness, neither do a number of the u.s.-based three stars, but so it goes.)  i think p&p has the potential to get there, so long as michelin doesn't hold the casual vibe/lack of wine list against them (which it very well might).  i haven't been to minibar in about two years, but our last experience (our only one in the new location) struck me as more formal and more expensive without being demonstrably better (and in some ways, was worse) than in the cafe atlantico location, and has kept me from rushing back.  there is a bit of soullessness to the experience.  i was surprised that the inn at little washington got included in what had been touted as a district-only guide for this year -- and somewhat indignant on behalf of blue hill at stone barns that it has never gotten such a dispensation from the nyc guide -- and so hadn't really considered it in advance.  but for all its charms (and the strong affection that many locals have for it; i'm sure many members of this community will disagree), my sole ialw experience was much too kitschy -- that ridiculous mooing cheese cow should be disqualifying -- for my taste and the food, while good, wasn't as consistently or innovatingly good as i'd hope for from a three star place. 

although less so than komi's, rasika's and little serow's exclusions are glaring to me.  and an indicator of the silliness of the bib gourmand price cap as applied to dc, as i assume neither would qualify and yet both are in line with what you would easily spend at a number of the places that did qualify.  

Yeah, Little Serow remains one of the best damn deals in town, as far as I'm concerned, and that's what I understand Bib Gourmand to be about.  Certainly I could easily spend much more on food at Zaytinya, China Chilcano, Oyamel, Doi Moi, Red Hen, or Kyirisan, depending on what I order; those places aren't necessarily cheap.  (And drink recommendations at Little Serow are guaranteed to be consistently interesting and delicious and, usually, pretty reasonably priced.)

Agree about being puzzled by Rasika's exclusion as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Simul Parikh said:

You're right! From when I moved here until now, which has just been 6 years, and in the 6 years prior to that, DC really has become a great city for food. Look at that Michelin list and the Fall Dining Guide, and we really do have an embarrassment of riches compared to 10 years ago. Here here for DC Dining!! Congrats to all the great chefs and restaurant owners, cooks and back of house, waiters and bartenders and hostesses. We thank you!

S

D.C. is a good city for food (though it still lacks very many small, chef-driven places, and most things are at least a little more expensive than they should be relative to the quality of the dish, and there are still large stretches of the city without many non-chain dining options at all, or even dining options period...head up 16th Street sometime and count the food places).  D.C. is certainly a better city for food than it was when I got here 15 (shudder) years ago.

In my opinion, though, D.C. is not a great city for food.  Not by any stretch of the imagination.  Not when placed up against so many other cities, here and abroad, that offer both interesting and reasonably affordable options in dense abundance.  Charleston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Chicago, Austin, Houston, New York, LA, Las Vegas, San Francisco (okay, not so much with the reasonably affordable), Portland, Seattle.  Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Lisbon, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, any number of places in Spain or Japan, assuredly many other cities that I can't think of off the top of my head.  Maybe one day D.C. can overcome its wild income disparities (so much of the city is either too poor to have a consumer base, or too rich for property values/rents to allow for interesting small restaurants) and lack of population density and various other structural, institutional, and inertial quirks and become more like those other cities, but we're not there yet.  We're better, but we're not nearly there.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jca76 said:

we went to the basque region this summer and loved etxebarri (but sadly had to cancel elkano thanks to some pintxos-induced food poisoning).  from my experience/what i've read about elkano, both seem to be good examples of michelin's bias in favor of formality in awarding american/european stars.

By "formality" do you mean that, on quality of food alone, Etxebarri should have more stars, but because the atmosphere and service are more casual (relatively speaking), it got only one?

We ate there, Mugaritz (two stars), and Akelare (three stars) in the same week, and that's the only explanation that comes to mind because the food was about equally good at all of them.

FWIW, Etxebarri would be one of the best restaurants in DC and it's not particularly close IMO.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, silentbob said:

FWIW, Etxebarri would be one of the best restaurants in DC and it's not particularly close IMO.

oh, totally agree.  i meant both food and atmosphere/service.  the latter is, i assume, self-explanatory, and a big part of etxebarri's michelin hurdle, i think.  with respect to food "formality," i think that michelin has a penchant for more obviously technical/precise/artistic/"refined" (for whatever that word is worth) cooking and plating.  it's not about quality in some sense of ingredient quality or deliciousness.  etxebarri's style of presenting dish after dish that focused on one or two beautifully grilled ingredients is a sort of haute comfort style that i find immensely appealing but (i suspect) doesn't impress inspectors as much an intricate tasting menu does.  (we didn't try mugaritz and akelarre, so i can't really compare, but i suspect they might be particularly incongruous regional comparisons for etxebarri.  shortly before our trip, we had a number of conversations with people who had done the basque food thing, and everyone uniformly raved about etxebarri, while assuring us that we would be fine missing akelarre.)  

(i realize this response is going off of the dc topic, so don should feel free to delete/move/whatever.  for anyone who is unfamiliar with a remote spanish one-star but curious, here's my write-up of our trip.)  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

To me he seems awfully defensive. I could be reading too much into this but in trying to justify why his choices are so different than Michelin's he seems to me to be trying to defend his taste and judgement, to explain how his assessment could be so different than the inspectors of a guide generally respected worldwide. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy 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.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and then he knock's tail up goat's receipt of a star at the end, a restaurant to which his fall dining guide just awarded three stars.  what does that say about his rating scale?  

edit: as i get over my indignation on behalf of tail up goat, i'm not actually sure that he's saying the star is undeserved.  but i'm also not sure he's saying it isn't. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...