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The Michelin Guide


Camille-Beau

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13 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

... your own palate. Trust it. Prime it. Test it. CHALLENGE IT.

And do not get me started about my wine evolution - it it embarrassing. Haha!

2

I went through a coq au vin phase once. I tried about 6 different preparations and now I know how I like it. I went through a ratatouille phase another time. Same thing happened. Most recently, I mastered a duck! Not only was the roast duck great, the duck stock was amazing. 

But restaurants are more challenging for two big reasons. I dine out with distracting people. Either business associates or my kids. Also, I have food allergies which takes a lot of fun out of it. 

Now wine is another matter. I'd love to afford to be able to learn more. 

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58 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Here's a little teaser:

In about two weeks, everyone here will have the opportunity to learn - really learn - more about the fine-dining end of the spectrum, than they've ever had a chance to learn about before.

It will be fun and interesting.

It will only take up as much time as you want to invest.

And, as always, it will be free.

hum....I can't wait to learn more. 

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On 9/12/2018 at 11:17 AM, NolaCaine said:

I went through a coq au vin phase once. I tried about 6 different preparations and now I know how I like it. I went through a ratatouille phase another time. Same thing happened. Most recently, I mastered a duck! Not only was the roast duck great, the duck stock was amazing. 

Oh yeah.  I went through that also.  Great way to get your recipes down.  Bravo to you.

On 9/12/2018 at 11:17 AM, NolaCaine said:

But restaurants are more challenging for two big reasons. I dine out with distracting people. Either business associates or my kids. Also, I have food allergies which takes a lot of fun out of it. 

Virtually all of the time I dine out with others I'm similarly distracted--but it makes the dining out experience richer.  I guess I prefer it that way.  So much for being intimately food, ingredient, and texture oriented.  Guess I have to leave that to others.

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11 hours ago, NolaCaine said:

Now wine is another matter. I'd love to afford to be able to learn more. 

But restaurants are more challenging for two big reasons. I dine out with distracting people. Either business associates or my kids. Also, I have food allergies which takes a lot of fun out of it. 

You can have a lot of fun at the sub $20, sub-$15 and yes even the sub-$10 per bottle wine range. It's also easy to get together with friends where everyone brings a bottle, themed or not, to hang out, eat and catch up. Exposes you to stuff you may have not considered before.

11 hours ago, DaveO said:

Virtually all of the time I dine out with others I'm similarly distracted--but it makes the dining out experience richer.  I guess I prefer it that way.  So much for being intimately food, ingredient, and texture oriented.  Guess I have to leave that to others.

I get to dine out, just my wife and me, 90% of the time. I'm lucky and never distracted.

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2 minutes ago, Marty L. said:

Are the only real surprises here that Blue Duck Tavern and Plume continue to receive a star and that Komi and Metier only get one?

I haven't been to BDT in years and have never been to Plume.  I don't know who even goes to Siren - the posts are few and far in between.  I'll add that to the list of Michelin one star joints that no one seems to go to.

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8 minutes ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I haven't been to BDT in years and have never been to Plume.  I don't know who even goes to Siren - the posts are few and far in between.  I'll add that to the list of Michelin one star joints that no one seems to go to.

And of course Bad Saint and Little Serow deserve stars--but I'm also sure neither cares.

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1 hour ago, Marty L. said:

Are the only real surprises here that Blue Duck Tavern and Plume continue to receive a star and that Komi and Metier only get one?

I think The Inn getting three stars is surprising. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the place, but for three stars I expect to get blown away by every course, and that's never happened to me there. 

But who knows...I've never been to a three star. Maybe none of them are really THAT transcendent. 

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1 hour ago, mtureck said:

But who knows...I've never been to a three star. Maybe none of them are really THAT transcendent. 

Many of them are. The Inn is three stars in everything except cuisine (in full disclosure, I've been 3-4 times - more than any other 3-star restaurant in the world - but I haven't been in a *long* time now.) I want to reiterate that Michelin is most accurate inside of France, for French cuisine.

This is as good a time as any to dangle another tease: Our readers are going to be learning a *LOT* about Michelin 3-star restaurants in the next few weeks ... count on it.

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55 minutes ago, mtureck said:

I think The Inn getting three stars is surprising. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the place, but for three stars I expect to get blown away by every course, and that's never happened to me there. 

But who knows...I've never been to a three star. Maybe none of them are really THAT transcendent. 

i've been to a number of three-star restaurants in both the u.s. and europe.  some of them are that transcendent, and some . . . aren't.  in my experience, michelin has a strong bias in favor of formality/old-school service (at least outside of asia), which the inn would satisfy nicely.  (i recently read a quote from rene redzepi where he referred to michelin as the "toilet guide," because ratings are a reflection of how nice your bathroom is.  seems like a pretty good encapsulation of the problem.  i've done a fair bit of eating in copenhagen, and its only three star, geranium, is by far the most formal restaurant of the top tasting menu places but has never surpassed my experiences at two-starred noma or kadeau -- and kadeau only got a second star after a change of location to a fancier setting.)  

while acknowledging that i've only been once and a few years ago at that, my memory of the inn is that it doesn't really merit a third star -- nor do many places that have received them, in my opinion -- and i'm not surprised that it got one.  perhaps the real problem is that the scale is too compressed: there is a huge range within the three star band.  maybe the inn deserves three stars, but my favorite restaurants deserve five.  

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Michelin in the States =/= Michelin in Europe.  It's a relative scale, and even Michelin has acknowledged that.  

I've been to many of the New York 3-stars -- Le Bernardin, Per Se, EMP, Jean Georges (at the time) -- and none of them even begin to approach the likes of Gagnaire or L'Ambroisie, both of which were transcendent for me: Gagnaire for sheer thrills, and L'Ambroisie for its sheer perfection.  

For that matter, many of the 2-stars in New York I've been to, like Aquavit, Aska, Daniel, Ko, Marea, The Modern, would barely merit 1-star on the European scale, if that.  

I think, at least in regards to New York, two major constraints on quality seem to be the need to turn tables and the prix-fixe/tasting menu model.  In France, you get the table the entire night, and the best food is often on the wildly expensive ALC menus (something I've never really seen in NY.).  

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13 hours ago, Simon said:

I think, at least in regards to New York, two major constraints on quality seem to be the need to turn tables and the prix-fixe/tasting menu model.  In France, you get the table the entire night, and the best food is often on the wildly expensive ALC menus (something I've never really seen in NY.).  

I think the a la carte menu prices were insane in Paris. <sigh> We shied away from much and instead focused on the unexpectedly expectedly awesome.

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Okay, so it seems clear from the comments above that Michelin grades on a curve.  If we assume that the bar for stars is highest in Europe, where is the bar next highest as between the U.S. and certain Asian countries?  Are equal-starred restaurants within various European countries more or less the same in quality or is the bar also different between, say, France and Spain?

And by "quality" I mean food for the most part...bathrooms and "refined service" don't mean as much to me.

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38 minutes ago, Rieux said:

I have no doubt that this $1.50 item is wonderful, but this just reiterates Michelin's "Lost in the Woods" posture when it comes to rating many Asian cuisines. By no means is this an insult to the restaurant (remember - I go to 2 Amys *all the time*, and could easily see them getting a star as well). If a kiosk made a consistenty amazing Chicken in Soy Sauce, and served it as their only dish? Well, why not? Well, Michelin's traditional standards is why not - I suspect Michelin hasn't "opened their eyes," so much as they're "just walking around, confused." Again, this is absolutely *not* a slam at the restaurant, whose chicken may be world-class and fantastic.

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13 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I have no doubt that this $1.50 item is wonderful, but this just reiterates Michelin's "Lost in the Woods" posture when it comes to rating many Asian cuisines. By no means is this an insult to the restaurant (remember - I go to 2 Amys *all the time*, and could easily see them getting a star as well). If a kiosk made a consistenty amazing Chicken in Soy Sauce, and served it as their only dish? Well, why not? Well, Michelin's traditional standards is why not - I suspect Michelin hasn't "opened their eyes," so much as they're "just walking around, confused." Again, this is absolutely *not* a slam at the restaurant, whose chicken may be world-class and fantastic.

It also seems like an obvious headline grabber for a guide that was sponsored by a tourism board.  

***All in all I really like the Michelin Guide as a resource - I feel like for US cities I have a pretty clear guide of what their rankings do and don't mean, it does seem like it has varying levels of quality / consistency / meaning from area to area.

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Selection Dates Announced for 2020 Michelin Guides 

Greenville, S.C., Aug. 20, 2019 — Michelin has announced the release dates for the newest editions of its annual restaurant selections in the United States. Full listings for the new restaurant selections will be published on www.michelinmedia.com according to the schedule included below. The 2020 U.S. editions of the MICHELIN® Guide will go on sale at local retailers following the announcements, as well as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

 
City
Date
On-Sale Date
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Chicago Bib Gourmands
Thursday, Sept. 19
Monday, Sept. 30
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Chicago Star selections
Thursday, Sept. 26
Monday, Sept. 30
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Washington, D.C., Bib Gourmands
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Thursday, Oct. 3
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Washington, D.C., Star selections
Tuesday, Oct. 1
Thursday, Oct. 3
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New York City Bib Gourmands
Monday, Oct.14
Thursday, Oct. 24
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New York City Star selections
Monday, Oct. 21
Thursday, Oct. 2
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Michelin Guide releases 2021 Bib Gourmand

New additions "include bakery/restaurant Elle, soul food staple Hitching Post, Hong Kong-inspired Queen’s English, Malaysian newcomer Makan, Karma Modern Indian, and all-day Dupont Circle spot Residents Café & Bar."

Federalist Pig included as a late addition :


https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/04/20/michelin-guide-releases-its-2021-dc-bib-gourmand-awards/

 

 

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