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Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

luxeat.com

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Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#211

Post by olivierduval »

refurb wrote: post #48

This just seems like someone sharing their own subjective take on food? I mean there is no right answer , it’s personal preference? It reminds me of audiophiles who can hear the difference in oxygen free speaker cables or prefer the “warmth” of vinyl. I’m like “ok? seems like that works for you so keep doing it?”

Actually, it's really not that much... Think about this: you can surely taste the difference between a MacDo burger and a homemade burger, can't you? For the second, you will use some proper meat, cooked properly, maybe with a custom sauce. And it will be objectively "better"... even if you like the taste less

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#212

Post by dreen »

nizmow wrote: post #201
jiggawatts wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to two Michelin-starred Sushi places in Japan. I thought they were both amazing, but I realised that my parents would not have thought so. They grew up relatively poor, and still have the habit of eating at home from a rotating menu of relatively straightforward recipes. Stews, soups, that kind of thing. They've gone to restaurants maybe a few dozen times in their lives , if that. I've been to so many Sushi…

What on earth do people do besides eating at home from a rotating set of straightforward recipes? Honestly curious. I’m the main cook in my home and we do eat out every other week, but who has time for that much experimentation?

I cook new things by googling "Simple X recipe" and removing anything that doesnt feel essential and adding random stuff I want to get rid of. Usually cant replicate it later.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#213

Post by dazc »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #162
bjarneh wrote: post #151

The worst part about some of these 3 star restaurants, is that staff are often unpaid. It's basically what Americans call an internship, i.e. the only "salary" is that you can add working in a 3 star restaurant to your CV. I once visited a 3 star restaurant in Spain (Arzak), where this was the case. If you look at the cost of eating there, and consider that most of the staff is unpaid, it really leaves a bad taste in…

Wait, why is this like cruise ships? I thought people on cruise ships were paid alright (considering also the tips they can make) compared to the alternatives they have at home (my understanding is that the vast majority of workers are non-American/W. EU)

The public-facing people maybe paid OK, the people you don't see are certainly not.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#214

Post by chupasaurus »

tomcam wrote: post #164
Scoundreller wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> demoscene: a series of increasingly elaborate and labor-intensive techniques for showcasing skill in a constrained environment. The Heston Blumenthal/molecular gastronomy approach. I’d add on: anything that’s difficult/time-consuming/etc. to make at home even if you could, but scale makes it a lot easier. I know a Ukrainian guy that, without fail, orders borscht if it’s on the menu. He could make it himself, but hi…

Borscht is like pizza to me. It’s just never bad.

Oh it could be bad with bad ingredients, same as pizza though.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#215

Post by jiggawatts »

FDSGSG wrote: post #156
jiggawatts wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having taste makes you require more dollars to get the same level of satisfaction I have carefully avoided trying excessively high quality things because once I've experienced something truly luxury then it becomes an ongoing expense to keep up that level of experience. The irritating part is that before I was perfectly happy in my ignorance of something better being available out there, but aftewards I feel like I…

>I have had headphones ruined for me because I tried the Sennheiser HD 800 once and then there was no going back to cheap plastic cans. It's not really the same as being unable to appreciate anything but a glass of Petrus or DRC. For a one time payment of $1k the HD800s will easily serve you for the rest of your life. If you prefer fine food and wine that $1k might not even get you a single meal.

I've had the HD 800 for about ten years, but it's starting to fall apart. To put things into perspective, I've had to replace both the cable and the padding twice, and each of those spare parts cost the same as a typical pair of "decent" headphones. Then I had to get a dedicated headphone amp PCI-e card, because it turned out that "regular" soundcards are not good enough.

I've easily spent over $2K so far. When I replace it, I'll have difficulty resisting the temptation to upgrade to the "next level". Planar magnetic or planar electrostatic headphones are the next logical step. Those start at $2K and go up from there.

I'll be lucky to escape this with less than $10K spent...

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#216

Post by jaffacake58 »

pjc50 wrote: post #142
jiggawatts wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to two Michelin-starred Sushi places in Japan. I thought they were both amazing, but I realised that my parents would not have thought so. They grew up relatively poor, and still have the habit of eating at home from a rotating menu of relatively straightforward recipes. Stews, soups, that kind of thing. They've gone to restaurants maybe a few dozen times in their lives , if that. I've been to so many Sushi…

> The difference would be completely lost on them. I've definitely heard the life advice to avoid trying this kind of thing in case you do like it, then everything less is permanently tainted with the knowledge that it's not as good. However, western super-high-price dining tends to be one or both of "demoscene for food" or "NFTs for food" - demoscene: a series of increasingly elaborate and labor-intensive techniques…

haha classic line "The three diminutive crab cakes for £32 have a rigid shell the development chefs at Findus would envy and taste only lightly of crab, as if embarrassed about the star ingredient. They come with a sauce reminiscent of school-dinner salad cream circa 1975."

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#217

Post by j7ake »

jiggawatts wrote: post #89
tomcam wrote: post #3

Went to Paris and dined at a number of Michelin-starred places, including Le Cinq. The food was fine, but... I didn't get it! I think there is a culinary language that I understand as little as a typical Michelin-starred chef would be able to evaluate a tightly-written C program. On the other hand I was lucky enough to dine at Poppy Seattle every year of its existence and felt their completely original approach to th…

I've been to two Michelin-starred Sushi places in Japan. I thought they were both amazing, but I realised that my parents would not have thought so. They grew up relatively poor, and still have the habit of eating at home from a rotating menu of relatively straightforward recipes. Stews, soups, that kind of thing. They've gone to restaurants maybe a few dozen times in their lives , if that. I've been to so many Sushi…

I wonder if there is an analogy here to classical music. Most lay people would probably not be able to appreciate the technique, difficult, and musicality of certain pieces, but trained ears would appreciate the fine details.

As a consequence, most people prefer “easily digestible” music such as pop music rather than highly refined classical music.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#218

Post by dopidopHN »

bjarneh wrote: post #151

The worst part about some of these 3 star restaurants, is that staff are often unpaid. It's basically what Americans call an internship, i.e. the only "salary" is that you can add working in a 3 star restaurant to your CV. I once visited a 3 star restaurant in Spain (Arzak), where this was the case. If you look at the cost of eating there, and consider that most of the staff is unpaid, it really leaves a bad taste in…

I don’t know for Spain, but unpay internship are illegal in France.

Also, I doubt the staff member are interns?

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#220

Post by jiggawatts »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #197
jiggawatts wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been to two Michelin-starred Sushi places in Japan. I thought they were both amazing, but I realised that my parents would not have thought so. They grew up relatively poor, and still have the habit of eating at home from a rotating menu of relatively straightforward recipes. Stews, soups, that kind of thing. They've gone to restaurants maybe a few dozen times in their lives , if that. I've been to so many Sushi…

There was a documentary on netflix (someone dreams of sushi, Hiro?) that leads me to believe sushi is an art form using food. If you don't appreciate the art form then it might not matter what dollar level or Michelin stars a place has. I've never been to a Michelin star restaurant but do watch cooking shows where they make food like that and I don't know if I'd appreciate it.

You're thinking of Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

That's the documentary that inspired me to try Michelin starred Sushi restaurants in Japan. I went to Jiro's son's restaurant, which is by all accounts better, but nobody will say so because they don't want to disrespect Jiro while he's still alive. It's a Japanese culture thing.

My father asked me why I spend so much money on raw fish and rice.

I tried to explain to him that the high-end sushi restaurant experience is really a magic show that also includes food.

Have you heard of the placebo effect? Shamans "treat" their patients with practised rituals that make people feel better. Sure, nothing has ever been cured through such methods, but it sure does feel nice!

I have a personal pet theory that this is a side-effect of our evolution: little kids that sat quietly mesmerised watching the elders perform their arts and crafts would pick up the skills and eventually master them themselves. Kids that didn't sit quietly didn't get to be as skilful and would in turn fail to be good parents and hence had fewer children.

Some people call it ASMR, which is a fun term to search for on Youtube if you can't sleep at 11pm.

Watch any magician, or master craftsman at work, and you get the same tingly feeling on your scalp. You sit still, quietly mesmerised as you follow the swift and sure movement of their hands.

THAT is what good sushi is about. You sit at the table with the sushi master in front of you and observe as he slices the fish with rhythm and precision. You're entranced as he picks up the rice, moulds it, applies the wasabi, places the fish, and coats the assembly with sauce. It's like watching a magician dealing cards!

People pay hundreds of dollars for a magic show in Vegas. In Japan, you get the same experience except you also get fed in the process...

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