Most of these places announcing invites will get Bib Gourmand classifications.

Leroy and Lewis!!!


Gig em

Interesting tidbit from the Eater article:

Quote:

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Houston First paid a total of $270,000 $90,000 a year for three years to bring the Michelin Guide to the city, which allows full-time Michelin employees, also known as inspectors, to assess local restaurants and choose which of them deserve Michelin recognition.

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I had no clue how that worked. Now I do.

FTAco07 said:

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Only one star in all of DFW. I didn't expect as many as Austin or Houston but thought we would get 4 or 5.

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That's because DFW is a soulless hellhole.

I feel personally vindicated that my personal fave barbecue place, Corkscrew, got a star.

BSD said:

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Interesting tidbit from the Eater article:

Quote:

---

Houston First paid a total of $270,000 $90,000 a year for three years to bring the Michelin Guide to the city, which allows full-time Michelin employees, also known as inspectors, to assess local restaurants and choose which of them deserve Michelin recognition.

---

I had no clue how that worked. Now I do.

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so for the dummies like myself does that basically mean you have to pay people to come eat at your restaurants in your city and hope they consider the place worthy? Sounds like a crock of **** to me if so

AustinCountyAg said:

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BSD said:

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Interesting tidbit from the Eater article:

Quote:

---

Houston First paid a total of $270,000 $90,000 a year for three years to bring the Michelin Guide to the city, which allows full-time Michelin employees, also known as inspectors, to assess local restaurants and choose which of them deserve Michelin recognition.

---

I had no clue how that worked. Now I do.

---

so for the dummies like myself does that basically mean you have to pay people to come eat at your restaurants in your city and hope they consider the place worthy? Sounds like a crock of **** to me if so

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You could consider it an investment if you're trying to legitimize your city (and state) as a world class dining destination. Michelin is the gold star (pun intended) when it comes to restaurant ratings. Not to say they are perfect, but they have international reach.

HTownAg98 said:

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Tksymm7 said:

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Yeah, the second and third stars are few and far between, and worldwide.

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I've been to a couple of two stars (Guy Savoy, Picasso, and the now-defunct Alex, all in Vegas), and one three star (Robuchon in Vegas). I can't tell what they're looking for in a difference between a two and a three star. Personally, I think Guy Savoy should have a third star.

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I've found the difference between two and three stars to be hard to distinguish, as well. The good news is that at the level of those stars, it's all great food and service. even if they say service doesn't matter…it's there.

Good service story: the Alinea valet guys accidentally kept our key fob one night. They started the car and kept it running (cold out) but didn't leave the fob as we thought they did. We were about 20 minutes away at my buddy's brewery when we realized it and called Alinea to figure something out. The maitre'd asked where we were and said he'd be right there. He took a cab up, dropped off the key, apologized, and had a few beers with us. He told us to call him if we ever needed anything and gave us his cell number. I've yet to take him up on it, though. But still…it was cool that he personally took care of it.

steve00 said:

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I think the difference between a 3 and a 2 is subtle, but noticeable. I've been to 11 3s and 7-8 2s. Several 3s that were my least favorite lost a star within a year or two. A 2 that I thought was amazing got a 3rd within a year or two. I have my eye on a couple of other 2s that I think will move up within a few years.

It is hard to describe the exact difference, but I think you know it when you see it.

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Damn...this guy eats.

AustinCountyAg said:

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schmendeler said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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BSD said:

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Interesting tidbit from the Eater article:

Quote:

---

Houston First paid a total of $270,000 $90,000 a year for three years to bring the Michelin Guide to the city, which allows full-time Michelin employees, also known as inspectors, to assess local restaurants and choose which of them deserve Michelin recognition.

---

I had no clue how that worked. Now I do.

---

so for the dummies like myself does that basically mean you have to pay people to come eat at your restaurants in your city and hope they consider the place worthy? Sounds like a crock of **** to me if so

---

You could consider it an investment if you're trying to legitimize your city (and state) as a world class dining destination. Michelin is the gold star (pun intended) when it comes to restaurant ratings. Not to say they are perfect, but they have international reach.

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Maybe I am looking at it wrong, but how do you "legitimize" your restaurant when it requires people spending money in order to get them to even be eligible for a list that proclaims the place the best of the best?

It would be like Texas monthly having a top 50 bbq list, but it only featuring places inside the major metros because they would be the only area that could afford it. It really wouldn't be the 50 best places in the state.

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The payment is for the cost of the Michelin evaluators to set up shop in your region. But it (at least in theory) doesn't buy stars or preference certain restaurants over others. Basically, Michelin takes the position that they will do unbiased, professional reviews, but that costs money so certain locales have to cover those costs. And then the results will be what they are (most notably by Dallas only getting 1 1-star despite presumably kicking in money for this).

And the difference with TM is there is no expectation that the entire state is being ranked. Only certain regions are evaluated by Michelin and anyone who follows them understands this.

Here is my personal ranking. Le Bernardin gets extra credit for being my first 3 star back in 2010 and getting me hooked. I have revisited it twice since then, but it's been about 5 years, so I'm due to hit it up again.

3 Star
Le Bernardin
Osteria Francescana
The Inn at Little Washington
The French Laundry
Eleven Madison Park
The Restaurant at Meadowood
Alinea
Addison
Per Se
Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
Jean Georges
Daniel

2 Star
Pujol
Quintonil
Minibar
Marea
Pineapple and Pearls
Momo***u Ko
Oriole
Alto
Del Posto