I ate in a Firestone three-star restaurant last year, on a road trip to the Tupperware Museum in Kissimmee, Florida. Their meatloaf sandwich was to DIE for. And the presentation of the rice pudding? Don’t even get me started.
I ate at a Michelin starred restaurant in Hong Kong back in 2012. I don’t remember the name, and my travel partner had picked it out (it was a long layover returning from India to China).
Because it was almost entirely seafood, to which I’m allergic, it was a miserable experience for me. In fact, fine dining in Hong Kong always sucked, because nearly everything has seafood in it.
My husband and I ate at Le Bernardin and Babbo on our honeymoon. Le Bernardin was exquisite. The food was spectacular (though portions small, duh), the wine was great, the server was incredible. Crisp table cloths, impeccably dressed servers; it looked like a fancy restaurant should. It cost us nearly $500 for lunch, though, but it was a memory we’ll hold onto forever.
Babbo was a bit more casual; it was run by Batali who doesn’t exude the same refined vibe that Eric Ripert does. (This was before it was widely known that Batali is scum.) The portions were more generous, and prices a bit more reasonable (though still expensive by our Midwestern sensibilities). We enjoyed the night and had a great dinner.
These were experiences we wanted to have at least once in our lives. My husband is a chef (aka professional foodie) and wanted to experience the kind of fine dining we can’t find near us. We’ve been married almost 9 years, and our honeymoon was the last time we lived large like that. But someday we hope to enjoy more fine dining again.
Re-posting from the OTHER Michelin restaurant thread:
Here is the 2018 Michelin Guide list for NYC. New York has 5 three-star restaurants, 11 two-stars restaurants, and 56 one-star restaurants.
When people talk about “Michelin star restaurants”, they usually talk about an ultra-luxe restaurants with expensive elaborate multi-course refined chef’s tasting menus that use the finest, most expensive ingredients and exquisite, artistic plating. The decor and service will be high-end and impeccable, and it will cost three figures to dine there.
That kind of restaurant is a three-star or two-star restaurant. Some one-stars might be in that vein and be looking to move up, but some are more casual or a different dining experience.
Three-star and two-star restaurants in the sSates are almost entirely high-end French, Modern American, or Japanese (sushi or kaiseki), with a smattering of high-endItalian and other Euro cuisine like Spanish and Scandavian. While one-star Michelin restaurants will always be “nice”, so a bare-table, mismatched-chairs ethnic eatery in strip mall in Queens won’t make the cut even if the food is delish. However, I have eaten in one-star Michelin restaurants in NYC for less than thirty bucks (if you don’t order drinks or dessert).
Yeah. They were good.
I’ve eaten at several places on the NYC list, but all of them are (or were) one-star and none were super-fine dining.
-Peter Luger’s and Minetta Tavern are steakhouses. They aren’t cheap to eat at, but they certainly not as pricy as temples of haute cuisine like Le Bernardin or Per Se. I ate lunch at Minetta Tavern and they have burgers and such for lunch.
-Babbo was excellent food, but not fussy or refined. The music’s a little loud and the room was a little boisterous compared to a fine dining spot.
-Uncle Boon’s (and the similar Pok Pok, which had and recently lost a Michelin star) is Northern Thai cuisine specializing in shared plates and bar food. If you go as a group, you can pay less than $30 for a meal.
I’ve eaten at several. IME it’s a completely different experience to eat in a place of long standing which just happens to have a Michelin star or two vs a place which is still in “OMG we must get that star!” mode. The first are relaxed enough to include stuff like spaghetti bolognese without an explanation of what that is (it’s what you expect of something called “spaghetti bolognese”) and likely to have the allergens printed on the menu (if that means printing the menu or parts of it anew every day you just do, that’s what laser printers are for); the second will turn every listing into a detailed description and still manage to leave key (read: frequent allergen) ingredients out.
Last time I ate at one from the second type I returned the “braised borraja curls” because both the menu and the waiter who explained that borraja is a local vegetable (I know, you can see my house from here) had forgotten to mention the soy sauce. Oops.
In Australia we don’t have Michelin Stars but if we did then I would have eaten at a few.
Brae, Birregurra rated 44th best restaurant in the world.
Attica, Melbourne rated #32 in the world
Sepia, Sydney consistently praised by 3 tar chefs
Vue de monde, Melbourne
Doot Doot - Mornington Peninsula
Flower Drum - old school high end Chinese
It’s a real shame that we don’t do stars down under but we have some pretty impressive places. As said above the food but more important is the experience of the meal.
At those three-star places, are the servers who come out to your table to sing “Happy Birthday” backed by the Vienna Philharmonic?
Bumping this thread to note that the Inn at Little Washington just got its third star. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/09/13/the-inn-at-little-washington-earns-its-third-michelin-star-a-first-for-the-d-c-region/?utm_term=.a60e9647decc
Once in St. Louis. Neighbors told us it was amazing so we went with them on an anniversary thing. The food was ok, but the waiter knocked over my whole glass of red wine on my husband. No apologies and we had to badger them to pay for my husbands suit dry cleaning bill. They eventually paid but again no apology for a shitty experience. Never went back. If you want Italian in St. Louis go to Charlie Gittos downtown.
Okay. But what does that have to do with Michelin Starred restaurants? I’m pretty sure St Louis is not rated by Michelin.
I’m pretty sure most Americans, especially those that don’t live in a city that is rated by Michelin, don’t understand the Michelin rating system. I went to a single star restaurant in NYC recently and noticed that the only signage of their Michelin star is a single icon of the star, which looks like an asterisk. Anyone who didn’t know what the Michelin Star was wouldn’t know it (though I knew to look for it ahead of time). I think that is important for the restaurant because if you say “that restaurant has one star” to many people that would not be impressive.
I’ve been to Everest and Frontera Grill in Chicago. My understanding is that Frontera is the less stuffy version of Topolobampo, with much the same food. It has a “bib” in the Michelin guide linked above, but not a star. Everest has 1 star, and is much like Omni wrote in his post. I like that sort of thing, and love Alsatian food, so we had a great time. I’m not sure why it doesn’t have two stars, as our experience seemed to fit that description, but whatever, I don’t eat out much, and if I did, I probably could explain why it didn’t.
Frontera is a lot like Omni described Topo. Both are fantastic, and I’d recommend them on anyone’s visit to Chicago. Should any of you make it to Houston, and wish a similar experience, albeit a touch nicer (linen tablecloths, fine crystal, etc…) I’d recommend visiting Hugo’s
I remember Masa’s in San Francisco, when it was still open, having a Michelin star as well. It too was fantastic, in that ultra-attentive, French fine dining style. I think Serrano was cooking there at that time. Great wine by the glass selection—only place I’ve managed to try both '75 and '83 d’Yquem. I’d love to make it to try The French Laundry one of these days. Although there are quite a few other 3-star restaurants in the Bay Area that look interesting too.
I did once, in 1964, when Michelin rated only French restaurants, AFAIK. It was in Marseille called Le Relais de Porquerolles and had 2 stars. We both got the bouillabaisse and it was wonderful. Of course, it was god-awful expensive. IIRC, dinner for two cost 80 1964 dollars. The following year, the restaurant was dropped entirely from the guide (not just no stars but dropped entirely) and the chef committed suicide. I never found out why.
I just googled 11 Madison Park, which our kids treated us to about 10 years ago and discovered it has three Michelin stars. Well, I thought it was very, very good and, at 80 dollars or so a person, not all that unreasonable, but I had never noticed the stars.
Excuse me if I was wrong but at the time it was said that this restaurant was the only Michelin starred restaurant in St. Louis Mo circa the 1990’s. I didn’t ask them for a certificate of authenticity and didn’t examine their signage. My bad.
Oh man. Liquid gold! I would have loved to have been there for that.