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Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

luxeat.com

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Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#91

Post by fastball »

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 found Michelin stars in Japan came with way less pretense (and by extension / in conjunction – way smaller price tag) than in Europe / US.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#92

Post by fasdghvhjf »

therealdrag0 wrote: post #12
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…

Any alternatives to Poppy you’d recommend in Seattle?

Spinasse in Capitol Hill is incredible. We took everyone who visited us there and it was always a hit. Get the tajarin and cipollini onions with sausage.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#93

Post by thaumasiotes »

kragen wrote: post #65
ska wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, how does that 1-10 scale map to your preferences? Why does your analysis assume fixed utility for sites? I expect it is strongly conditioned on recent days, at minimum?

Presumably so, yes, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine cases where the numbers shift around a lot, but the post I was replying to assigned a fixed 1-10 number to each site.

You're still making some very rigid assumptions about what kinds of things a scale can mean. I'd be more likely to judge restaurant ratings in terms of how often you'd like to eat at a given restaurant, not in terms of whether 50 meals at one restaurant is better in some sense than 12 meals at another restaurant. You can only ever eat one meal at a time.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#94

Post by thaumasiotes »

moehm wrote: post #80
phonypc wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> objective criterias, like complexity, balance, off-flavors, aftertaste, presentation Those... simply aren't objective criteria. One persons off-flavor is another persons desired flavor (cilantro/coriander for an obvious example). What is the quantitative measure of "complexity" or "balance" in a dish?

I don't say it's really objective, I just say it's way less subjective than one might think. Cilantro is not an off-flavor per se, it's just a flavor you like or don't. A cork tainted wine is an off-flavor. But if you don't like cilantro, it is indeed an off-flavor for you , but that is uninteresting. If I like burned meat, is a medium rare steak flawed for you? > What is the quantitative measure of "complexity" or "…

> Cilantro is not an off-flavor per se, it's just a flavor you like or don't. A cork tainted wine is an off-flavor.

That isn't true at all. The flavor the cork adds is another flavor you like or don't like. People choose their preparation methods for flavor impact just like they choose ingredients for flavor impact. Look at smoked meat!

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#95

Post by thaumasiotes »

cameronh90 wrote: post #34
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #2

Very cool (Michelin Guide is a very opaque company), but there is one thing that caught my attention: >Hailing from Scotland where, as a child, he was regaled with some of the world’s best meats and produce Maybe they meant somewhere other than Scotland? Like, anywhere ? My mother was British, and she was an excellent cook. Of non-British dishes...

Scotland does have excellent meat and produce - the Aberdeen Angus and Scottish Salmon for example. The standard of food in the lowlands is generally poor - especially outside of Edinburgh. But there is a lot of absolutely cracking Scottish/British food in the Highlands. Of course, it's not as good for a foodie as somewhere like London, NYC or Tokyo. But it's a lot better than the kebabs, pizza crunches and munchie b…

> But it's a lot better than the kebabs, pizza crunches and munchie boxes that people associate with Scotland.

If it's any consolation, the only food I associate with Scotland is haggis, and I don't expect that people there are actually eating it. I have no opinion whatever on what people in Scotland eat. (Except, of course, that it probably isn't haggis.)

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#96

Post by captain_price7 »

wolverine876 wrote: post #7
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…

In every domain - food, vpns, literature, etc. - I have more or less sophisticated taste (as does everyone). When I was young, I was skeptical of and even sometimes mocked the 'so-called experts' - possibly because (naturally, due to time) I'd developed sophistication in so little. I was very wise. But over time I found that when I develop sophistication in things, the 'so-called experts' suddenly become very smart a…

If a movie has won an oscar, I used to count that as negative. Generally avoided nobel winners' books. Interesting how things have changed in just 7-8 years (I'm 25).

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#97

Post by vsef »

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…

Well Le Cinq in particular had a scandalously bad (and very entertaining) review from a very well known restaurant critic questioning how the hell it had 3 stars: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl...

So maybe trust your gut more?

I've only ever eaten at one restaurant with one star (Hisop in Barcelona) and it was wonderful, but I don't think there's any reason to think the Michelin ratings are a perfect system.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#98

Post by esyir »

grecy wrote: post #50
tomcam wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s right of course. But what bothers me is it I greatly enjoy eating out, I’ve done it a whole lot, and I’m still surprisingly bad at it.

Over the years I've learned simply doing something is not a great way to get good at it, and neither is taking lessons from someone else that is good at it. Now I'm a snowboard instructor I can teach someone in a week what took me months and months to learn on my own, and I can teach them the right way from the beginning. Same story for mountain biking, lifting at the gym and even writing books. Of course the story i…

I think there's at least two levels here.

To go from nothing to something, a specialized instructor is the best. To go from something to the top tier, only then does following the best / doing something surpass that.

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#99

Post by Semaphor »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #53

First, you really need to enjoy that type of experience. A 3-star restaurant is going to have attentive, almost (but not quite) intrusive service. The servers come across more as dining consultants or even storytellers. One lunch at The French Laundry, our server spent quite a few minutes explaining the history of the butter served with the 'hot buttered rolls' course. The cow that provided the milk had been given to…

> A 3-star restaurant is going to have attentive, almost (but not quite) intrusive service. The servers come across more as dining consultants or even storytellers.

I had that experience in a 0-star chain steakhouse. It was the Football World Championship in Germany, and Germany was playing. I don’t care for that at all (nor did any of the people working that day), they were one of the few restaurants without a TV. I had to keep my eyes lowered as I was the only guest and whenever anyone had the impression there was a chance I was looking at them, someone would come over and ask if I needed anything ;)

Re: Confessions of a Michelin Star Inspector

#100

Post by djur »

kragen wrote: post #65
ska wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, how does that 1-10 scale map to your preferences? Why does your analysis assume fixed utility for sites? I expect it is strongly conditioned on recent days, at minimum?

Presumably so, yes, and it wouldn't be hard to imagine cases where the numbers shift around a lot, but the post I was replying to assigned a fixed 1-10 number to each site.

There's nothing about a 1-10 scale that implies that every visit to the restaurant will be equally pleasurable. Novelty is a factor. I would suggest that a sublime restaurant (a 10) will both make a really great first impression and also get tiresome more slowly (because restaurants like that tend to change their menu more dramatically, use a broader variety of ingredients, etc.). My utils from going to Cheesecake Factory would quickly approach zero after a few weeks of regular visits.
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