if not, which comes close?

They only rate a few U.S cities and Houston isn't one of them.

so at least that means there are possibly some

^^^^^not really, not even close^^^^^

http://www.latorrettalakeresort.com/

not worried about whether the frogs like our restaurants

The chef from La Torretta cooked at our Rodeo tent one night this year and the food was f'n incredible.

"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be."

In a place where every detail has been fine-tuned to perfection, would you expect anything less of its cuisine? With eight unforgettable restaurants and lounges to choose from, our guests have a wide range of options to help satisfy their cravings—at all hours of the day.

From French fine dining with Texas’ only Michelin-starred chef, contemporary Japanese sushi and innovative New American Cuisine, La Torretta provides the discerning Houston-area traveler with unforgettable, world-class fare in a one-of-a-kind, lakeside setting.

[This message has been edited by NitroAGGIE (edited 10/21/2010 3:12p).]

FWIW there has been a lot of controversy over the Michelin system in recent years. Lots of accusations that they're too rigid in demanding conformity to old, outdated French styles and execution and unwillingness to deviate from certain geographic locales.

http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/michelin.html

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2024990,00.html

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tamulax33
posted 12:43p, 10/21/10



^^^^^not really, not even close^^^^^

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Actually there are probably 10-20 restaurants in Houston which would merit at least one Michelin star. And several of those would probably merit 2 stars.

^

Yeah, I was just reading about the michelin guide on wikipedia. There seems to have a preference to French-style of cooking and antiquated French dining styles.

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Actually there are probably 10-20 restaurants in Houston which would merit at least one Michelin star. And several of those would probably merit 2 stars.

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more like maybe 1 or 2. not saying houston doesn't have great restaurants. but our style here would be laughed at by michelin inspectors

there are several 3 schmendeler star restaurants in houston.

The highest rated Gayot resturants here in Houston are LaColombe d'Or, Mark's and Reef. Gayot uses a 20 point scale and these got 16's.

NYC has 21 resturants who got a 16 rating and 13 that got higher than that. Of those that got a 16 a few of them have stars...

Dallas has 5 that got a 16 rating.

Also, remember that Michelin stars also take into consideration much more than just the food. The attention to detail to attain a star is just something that is not acheived here because it is too tedious a task.

I think Las Brisas in Chappel Hill is one.

sorry, i should have been more specific, but i meant overall dining experience, not just the food.

either way, thanks for your responses.

Dos Brisas is a Mobil/Forbes 5 star. its in Washington, TX

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The highest rated Gayot resturants here in Houston are LaColombe d'Or

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that place is frankly not that good. which says a lot about rating systems. food takes a back seat to service design

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This.

Bistro Le Cep, Chez Nous, Chez Roux, and Le Mistral are all on par with Colombe d'Or. Not in the decor arena but solely on food the restaurants I mention are at least as good and better in some cases than Colombe d'Or.

In my experience, the biggest thing that sets Houston's dining scene back in the view of reviewers from Michelin or Gayot is the decor/ambiance. While the food in the best restaurants is on par with just about anywhere in the world Houston only has a handful of places that offer the entire "fine dining" experience. Meaning the kinds of places where men should be wearing a coat and maybe a tie, etc.

I agree, but Houston is mainly an O&G town where most people don't judge each other but which Italian designer tailored their suit.

I don't see that changing much.

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While the food in the best restaurants is on par with just about anywhere in the world

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Sorry, you are completely wrong. Don't get me wrong, the food here in houston (and dallas for that matter) is great. But, it is not close to the food prepared in some of the worlds best restaurants.

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I probably should have said US. When you're talking about the top 100 restaurants in the world there are only a 12 in the USA rated that high in the US and all but 5 of them are in NYC.

Obviously I haven't eaten at all 12 but but I have eaten at Le Bernadin and as excellent as it was, it was the service and ambiance that set it apart from Reef not the food.

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rdag04
posted 3:32p, 10/21/10




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Actually there are probably 10-20 restaurants in Houston which would merit at least one Michelin star. And several of those would probably merit 2 stars.
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more like maybe 1 or 2. not saying houston doesn't have great restaurants. but our style here would be laughed at by michelin inspectors.

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Read the previous posts re: Michelin reviewers and their being skewed toward French techniques and cuisine.

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Michelin reviewers and their being skewed toward French techniques and cuisine.

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The french invented and perfected fine dining and thus the favoritism towards those techniques. Any resturant can take a prime piece of meat and cook it to temperature. The ingredient is the star. But only a few in the world can create a masterpiece around a protein using age old techniques (sometimes blended with modern, i.e. molecular gastronomy), sauces and present it with the same execution night in and night out. In this case, the technique/execution of that recipe are the focus; using an excellent ingredient is just a bonus. That is the biggest difference between good restaurants and great.

Think of it this way... just because you put truffle in your ez mac and cheez, doesn't mean it is the best in the world. Then again, if you hand make your pasta, create a bechamel sauce and find the perfect blend of cheeses to create that macroni and cheese then top it with truffle, it could be one of the best in the world.

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I agree with most of that but the point is that there are tons of other food cultures which don't come from the French POV. Witness the uprising of great Spanish chefs & restaurants over the last 20-30 years or so.

And Italians (of all regions) would also have something to say about the notion that the French invented fine dining. The French POV has always been more about rigid adherence to a set of rules and techniques which is why there's such a rebellion in France and elsewhere these days.

When I'm talking about the typical French fine dining that Michelin is skewed towards I'm referring to the classic view of the very snooty maitre'd and waitstaff (including sommelier). The very buttoned-up and rigid sort of place where the food is great but ambience is like eating in a room at Versailles with a stick-up-his-ass waiter condescending to you at every turn. It's why some of the best restaurants in Paris these days don't have stars and the chefs are practically hostile to the old French ways.

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Michelin reviewers and their being skewed toward French techniques and cuisine

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The french invented and perfected fine dining and thus the favoritism towards those techniques. Any resturant can take a prime piece of meat and cook it to temperature. The ingredient is the star. But only a few in the world can create a masterpiece around a protein using age old techniques (sometimes blended with modern, i.e. molecular gastronomy), sauces and present it with the same execution night in and night out. In this case, the technique/execution of that recipe are the focus; using an excellent ingredient is just a bonus. That is the biggest difference between good restaurants and great.

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We all know technique is important, and no one is arguing against that. The issue is that the Michelin reviewers are skewed to favor the French style and technique. There are other valid techniques that when executed correctly can yield result just as good, if not better than, the classic French techniques.

The argument against the Michelin reviewers is that they often grade on strict adherence to age old rules, and ignore superior results that come from modification and improvements made to those techniques.

I would argue Just August was as good as anywhere in the world.
I've had dinner at Chez Panisse in Calif & Just August was easily much better.

In my opinion the days of fine French cuisine being the measuring stick for fine dining are over. The Spanish and Italian cooking scenes have been far hotter than the old stand by's in France. In addition, Australia is seeing a culinary explosion equaled by none. Chefs from all around the world are migrating to Australia and some of the big boys from traditional powers aren't making the cut. The reason? The culture over there is to celebrate the creativity, structure, and taste of the food and not the frill around it. I've always wanted to visit Australia, but now I do more than ever!

“A doctor can bury his mistakes but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.” F.L.W.

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We all know technique is important, and no one is arguing against that. The issue is that the Michelin reviewers are skewed to favor the French style and technique. There are other valid techniques that when executed correctly can yield result just as good, if not better than, the classic French techniques.

The argument against the Michelin reviewers is that they often grade on strict adherence to age old rules, and ignore superior results that come from modification and improvements made to those techniques.

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Actually the number of 3 starred restaurants in Japan is 23 and France only has 26. And Japan also has 44 two starred restaurants and 183 one stars. I don't think that those numbers bode well for the 'argument'.

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Michelin has stated that five criteria are used for awarding stars, whatever the country or the city: product quality, preparation and flavors, the chef’s personality as revealed through his cuisine, value for money and consistency over time and across the entire menu. The criteria are adapted to each type of cuisine.

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I think where most US restaurants fail is both in consistency and value. We might see a few more US restaurants earn stars when their respective guides come out in the next few weeks (Chicago, 10/26 and San Fran, 11/17).