Michelin stars-what do they mean?

[supermatelot]

@Ravers

Currently watching 'Gordon's kitchen nightmares' on youtube.

How serious is a michelin star? Is there really much difference between one with - 1 and one without?

I think I've only ever dined in oine michelin starred restaurant- Blue Lagoon Rejkyavik. It ws nice but...nothing I'd cream myself over.

What are your Michelin star restaurant experiences?


Tagged Ravers because I think one of his places might be one (could be wrong)

 

[Ritch]

@Ravers

Currently watching 'Gordon's kitchen nightmares' on youtube.

How serious is a michelin star? Is there really much difference between one with - 1 and one without?

I think I've only ever dined in oine michelin starred restaurant- Blue Lagoon Rejkyavik. It ws nice but...nothing I'd cream myself over.

What are your Michelin star restaurant experiences?


Tagged Ravers because I think one of his places might be one (could be wrong)

A Michelin star is a true badge of honour for a restaurant.

It also gives them the excuse to charge another 40 quid per dish.

My old man won the lottery in 1998 and was invited to one of the Camelot reunions for previous winners a few years later. The next day before heading home, him and his fiancee went to a Michelin restaurant near Covent Garden. He ordered lobster and his fiancee ordered the steak at £85. Eventually the steak was brought out, roughly the size of a small rump and she waited... And waited... After about five minutes she collared the waiter asking where her vegetables were.

"Vegetables? They're an extra £12.00 madam."

 

[NSP]

Michelin stars-what do they mean?

"Pretentious, over-priced but artistically arranged morsel in the middle of a massive plate, with the culinary version of a Banksy covering the 95% of it not occupied by alleged food."

A Michelin steak will be a 1" cube of beef with a couple of star-cut slices of carrot and a rectangle of grilled potato and all the artistically-drizzled jus. You will still be hungry afterwards but £75 lighter in the wallet.

Or you go to a nice pub, have a large chunk of juicy meat, acres of chips, mushrooms, onion rings and all the other go-withs on the same sized plate, only covered entirely in food. You will struggle to eat it all and be a mere £12.50 lighter in the pocket. Plus the price of a pint or two.

 

[Chef]

It's always struck me as the culinary equivalent of modern art. Being seen to 'appreciate' it gets you in with the in crowd and while the original chef may or may not actually be the bee's knees what happens when they open their second restaurant? Or supervise the food on a cruise line's ships?

As @NSP says it jacks the price up and not always the quality. Watch 'Masterchef' to see what you'll likely get for your brass.

 

[supermatelot]

A michelin star is the high rank structure upon which chefs base their progression...is that flawed?

Is it the equivilent of every lower rank aspiring to be a 3 star and...
Is there any point in it?

 

[Ravers]

A Michelin star is basically the ultimate accolade for a restaurant. It’s the top award you can get in this game and they aren’t given out lightly.

Going to a place with a star means you know it’s gonna be ******* good.

There are of course a lot of places that are at that level which might not have got their star yet. This will be due to slight issues on the day the inspection took place or that they just don’t meet the standard.

It took us 5 years of trying to get ours. The inspectors will come over and over again and if it’s not perfect each time you don’t get the star. They don’t even give feedback. You don’t know when the inspectors come or who they are, you only find out afterwards.

They are mostly given to fine dining places but some pubs and more “normal” restaurants have them too. Apparently there is even a chippy with one. The concept that it’s just for small artistically arranged bits of food is wrong.

It’s about everything from service to ambience to flavours.

Frankly if you’re the sort of peasant who just wants to fill their stomach with pie and chips then it’s probably not for you. It’s the food equivalent of comparing a fine single malt to a case of Tetleys. Both will get you pissed but not in the same way.

As for price you get what you pay for. We haven’t raised our prices since we got the star, although we easily could. Prior to Corona lockdown we were fully booked two months in advance, entirely a result of getting the star.

 

[AsterixTG]

Missus and I are big foodies. We'll look at a nice restaurant in Europe somewhere then build a holiday around the booking.

Problem today is there's are so many places pretending to be good when they're actually somewhat average, but still will charge too much. A star does pretty much guarantee a certain standard so while it's still expensive, there's value.

Going to sound like a total snob now, but the average joe wouldn't know a good meal if it smacked them in the face. Make it sound posh and make it not shit, and they'll pay loads thinking it's great. But they won't pay the extra to go for a starred place. They're not not all perfect, but they will lose it if they keep dropping standards.

So many times I've gone somewhere with great expectations only to get to the end really despising the fact we've just paid £150 for something I could do better at home. The really good places make you wonder at how they do stuff.

Best meal - Pierre Garnier in Dubai when we lived there. Needed a mortgage to pay for it but it was out of this world. Like nothing I've ever tasted before or since. Cost a fortune but it's the best value evening we've ever had.

Booked in for Ynyshir in June. So hope it still happens.

 

[fantassin]

Michelin stars are the MC, CGC and VC of great cooks.

From the moment you get one, you stand out of the crowd. Just like a decoration, it doesn't mean the others are bad, it just means you are something the others are not.

A number of great cooks have decided to relinquish them, but only after having received them. It's a badge of honor you carry with you for the rest of your cooking life, just like you can add "MC" after your name.

I have been to a couple of ***, always invited, not paying the massive bills they imply. The bill is massive because the restaurants, according to the numbers of stars, are held to standards in all aspects, from the number of staff to the quality of the silverware, to the floral arrangements to the choice of mineral waters, etc, etc.

I cherish the moments spent there as exceptional because everything was perfect. I would not have spent the 250 Euros the meal cost, but I enjoyed them tremendously.

Personally, when I pay, I rarely go above **, and only with people who will appreciate.

If it's to hear complaints because there isn't enough grub in the plate or beer on tap is not available....I prefer to do without the said commensal.

 

[alfred_the_great]

It originally meant "worth a detour" to "worth a bespoke drive to get there" (1* - 3* respectively).

 

[dingerr]

Theres a street vendor in Singapore with a Michelin Star.

You don’t have to go to a Michelin starred restaurant to have a really good meal, but in this day and age of pub chains trying to squeeze every last penny of profit decent places are getting more difficult to find. I’m always looking for decent places as I hate the “2 for 1” microwave pub food shít.

be wary of places who use a Michelin starred chef to advertise their food, if they aren’t patron chef, they won’t be overseeing standards and you’ll be disappointed.

 

[supermatelot]

A Michelin star is basically the ultimate accolade for a restaurant. It’s the top award you can get in this game and they aren’t given out lightly.

Going to a place with a star means you know it’s gonna be ******* good.

There are of course a lot of places that are at that level which might not have got their star yet. This will be due to slight issues on the day the inspection took place or that they just don’t meet the standard.

It took us 5 years of trying to get ours. The inspectors will come over and over again and if it’s not perfect each time you don’t get the star. They don’t even give feedback. You don’t know when the inspectors come or who they are, you only find out afterwards.

They are mostly given to fine dining places but some pubs and more “normal” restaurants have them too. Apparently there is even a chippy with one. The concept that it’s just for small artistically arranged bits of food is wrong.

It’s about everything from service to ambience to flavours.

Frankly if you’re the sort of peasant who just wants to fill their stomach with pie and chips then it’s probably not for you. It’s the food equivalent of comparing a fine single malt to a case of Tetleys. Both will get you pissed but not in the same way.

As for price you get what you pay for. We haven’t raised our prices since we got the star, although we easily could. Prior to Corona lockdown we were fully booked two months in advance, entirely a result of getting the star.

Is the star attached to the chef or the restaurant..or both? And what happens if removed?

 

[Mrs Slocombe]

There's a burger van near where I live with no fewer than three Michelin
tyres.

 

[supermatelot]

Theres a street vendor in Singapore with a Michelin Star.

You don’t have to go to a Michelin starred restaurant to have a really good meal, but in this day and age of pub chains trying to squeeze every last penny of profit decent places are getting more difficult to find. I’m always looking for decent places as I hate the “2 for 1” microwave pub food shít.

be wary of places who use a Michelin starred chef to advertise their food, if they aren’t patron chef, they won’t be overseeing standards and you’ll be disappointed.

Dingerr...stop being "bored" on arrse mate.

 

[Ravers]

Is the star attached to the chef or the restaurant..or both? And what happens if removed?

It belongs to the restaurant, but the head chef carries that accolade with him for life.

Ultimate thing to have on your CV for a chef.

Edit: we used to have the former head chef of Le Gavroche (3 stars) working for us, it certainly upped our reputation but didn’t get us a star.

 

[supermatelot]

It originally meant "worth a detour" to "worth a bespoke drive to get there" (1* - 3* respectively).

You either look a bit like Alan Partridge or....failed the test in your naval career path.

Now, do you have a bit of Alan Partridge about yourself?
You'll never be a "proper officer" otherwise

 

[RIGRAT]

The Michelin Man is a right fat looking c unt though.

Fcuk that I'm out.

 

[Daxx]

A tyre company star = you can charge a metric fork tonne more for serving less food, as long as it comes with jus, not gravy!

 

[supermatelot]

Off the back of that could you say...Phone whoever famous chef and say "If you are free, can you cook here next month on whenever day"?

Does it work like that or would you be fecked off?

 

[AsterixTG]

Off the back of that could you say...Phone whoever famous chef and say "If you are free, can you cook here next month on whenever day"?

Does it work like that or would you be fecked off?

Money talks.

 

[Daxx]

It's a bit like buying a £10 polo shirt or a £50 polo shirt becos it has a small crocodile logo.