The stars came out the other day and Sacramento was all a
twinkle. The Kitchen, an upscale restaurant in the area, received a Michelin
Star! Finally, the recognition that the inland town that takes pride in its
farm-to-fork culture really can cook food – good food.
The local newspaper erupted in articles, columns, and
letters wondering why other favorite and arguably good restaurants didn’t get
one or more stars. If you are not familiar with the Michelin restaurant
ratings, think Oscar, the Tony Award, or Golden Globe, but for the food world.
Michelin does not hand out many stars, and that is the way
it should be. There are few measures of quality left in this world, but
Michelin is one of them, even if you don’t agree with their choices.
In its simplest terms, Michelin sends highly trained
undercover agents into thousands of restaurants around the world. They eat,
they observe, they compare, they rate, and at the end of the search, they award
one, two, or three stars to the best. They have a couple of lower categories
that indicate good food for a reasonable price; awarded to the up-and-coming.
There are great restaurants all over the world. They
produce fantastic meals every day, except for those who close on Monday. People
flock to them, in droves. Yet, they don’t have the stars. What is there about
the stars?
There are 2,800 one-star restaurants in the world, defined
as “very good.” A two-star restaurant is “excellent, worth a detour.” The 121
three-star restaurants are “exceptional, worth a journey.” Michelin is a French
company, so you might expect many French restaurants with stars; it has 27
three-star restaurants. The US has 15 three-star locations, eight of them in
the Bay Area.
So what? What is the big deal? That depends on how important
exceptional food is to you. If you are on the KETO diet, you couldn’t care
less. However, if you are looking forward to a nice meal with friends with an
entree of “Young Pigeon from Costieres,
in a hay nest, mushroom from Paris slightly smoked, apricot pulp,” and you
happen to be in Arles, France, Austo de Baumaniere is well worth the thirty-minute
detour. Several years ago when it had three stars, it was a highlight of our
journey from Paris to the South of France. I am glad pigeon wasn’t on the menu
that night.
My experience is that the one-star restaurants are a cut
above normally good eating spots, and the better is noticeable. Les Santons
looked like any other building in an ancient French mountain town in Haute-Provence;
the stone building with light blue shutters and a red door overlooked a steep
ravine, just off the main street. Moustiere-Sainte-Maria was crowded with
tourists, in town to buy its famous Faience pottery. In the early afternoon, the
sky opened and it poured rain on the cobbled stone street. The eight of us were
standing at the front door; why not go in for lunch. We were met with bright
white and starched tablecloths, sterling silver flatware, crystal water and
wine glasses, and waiters in long white aprons. You could feel the one-star
rating. It looked expensive, but what were we to do? It was raining out. It was
one of the best three-hour lunches in memory.
That same trip took us to Chez Bruno’s, about 30 minutes
from Marseilles. It was one-star with a twist. Each course on the menu included
truffles in some way. The creations were outstanding, the ambiance over the
top, the rabbit stew to die for, and with a table of ten friends, a wonderful
evening. You can’t make this stuff up.
We’ll always have Lyon! We made a special journey there one
year because we read in a Patricia Wells book that if you truly believe there
is no such thing as too much garlic, then you must be introduced to Chez Tante
Paulette; it would be worth the trip even if it didn’t have a star. And, it
was. Tante introduced us to her famous 40-garlic chicken which has been a mainstay
in our house ever since. The restaurant is down a narrow dark street in the
heart of old Lyon, the room small, the tables smaller and very close together,
with Tante supervising every detail. The smells were intoxicating: the food
very much like a French aunt would cook at home, served with good local wine. The
cheese-board, with ten or more varieties, was passed from table to table and
from person to person, to take what they wanted. She is gone now, but her
recipe and the memories linger on; a favorite restaurant that deserved a star,
but alas….
Pierre Orsi, across town had two stars and well worth the
cab ride. “Come at 8:30 pm, the table is yours for the evening.” We were
welcomed with miniature flags of France, Lyon, and the US in a small sterling
vase at center table. The service was outstanding and unrushed. The food was
beyond expectation. The evening was topped off by a visit from the chef, in
starched-whites, the toque-blanche reaching toward the heavens, greeting his
guest in whatever language the flag indicated: German at one table, Italian at another,
Spanish at yet another, and in perfect English at ours. He knew the Bay Area
restaurants of note at the time; Fleur de Lis, Auberge de Soleil, and others.
The women swooned-who doesn’t like a uniform- while the men paid the bill. The ashtray is still somewhere in a cabinet at home.
The small town of Yountville in nearby Napa Valley has too
many choices of Michelin-stared restaurants. They are all beyond good. The
French Laundry, considered by many to be the best in the nation, Meadowood, Bouchon, Solage, Bottega, the Farmstead,
Kenzo, are all amazing. They feel different: the aura, the wait staff, the
smells, the rhythm; everything is special.
So what? It’s the question asked earlier. Michelin restaurant
ratings sometimes appear biased toward the French way of doing things, less
today than twenty years ago - maybe. However, they are still a barometer of
outstanding cuisine, a brass ring to reach for, a plaque for the wall, a
standard of excellence, and millions of dollars in new revenue. Then, there is
the fame that comes with it or them.
If food is important to you, the stars impress. If you want
an eating experience of a lifetime, try one with three stars. If you think of
food as fuel, keep using your whey protein shakes. However, sometime in one’s
life, on one’s bucket list, should be a nice dinner at a three-star. It will be
worth the journey, and it will show you why all those other restaurants in town
did not get a star.
In the meantime ….
