MICHELIN STARS

Last night I was watching Three Stars, a documentary on Netflix following restaurants around the world that have earned the coveted three Michelin star rating. While watching the show, especially seeing how the rating system was received with an icy welcome in Japan, I thought back to my own experiences so far with the Michelin star system. To date I’ve been to 3 Michelin rated restaurants and thus far have enjoyed each meal and will continue to look for restaurants that have received stars when I’m travelling. I’ve also had outstanding meals at non star restaurants and currently there are no Michelin star restaurants in Canada.

My strategy is to look for tasting menus or lunches to make the dining experience more affordable. It’s been working so far and I do love researching new restaurants.

Dovetail – 1 Star – NYC, USA
Visited: July 2011

• Sunday dinner, 3 course set menu: $58, regular dinner, 4 course set menu: $88
  • I was lucky enough to be able to make a reservation for Sunday night and it worked with when I was in NYC
  • Dovetail also offers a Chef Tasting menu for each night with an option for wine pairings
• Dovetail is located right by Central Park and is a perfect stop after an afternoon of wandering through nature if you’re doing the tourist thing.
• Presentation was beautiful, rich and hearty flavours

Arbutus – 1 Star – London, UK
Visited: August 2011

• Pre-theatre dinner, 2 courses £18.95, 3 courses £20.95
• Located in the theatre district, this was the perfect location to grab dinner before watching Les Miserables while in London
• The restaurant offered a relaxed and intimate feel
• A great value option for London, their sister restaurant Wild Honey is also a great choice with a 3 course lunch menu for £29 and dinner entrees ranging from £12 to £35

Le Bristol Restaurant – 3 Star – Paris, France
Visited: September 2011

• Summer lunch set €85, including drinks, tax, coffee, came to €140
• Situated in Le Bristol hotel, our lunch spanned a good 3 hours, had over 10 courses (including cheese, petite fours and amuse bouches and special bread for certain course) and is still the best meal I’ve ever had.
• The service was impeccable, honestly they put up with three excited, giggling Asian girls who wanted to take pictures of everything with a level of class and friendliness that was exceptional.
• The food was too die for. This meal made me realize I didn’t dislike cheese, a belief that I had held for all my life, and opened up my palate to appreciate a whole new set of flavours.
• The technique of each dish was also mind boggling. One of the entries was squid, cut to mimic grains of rice and cooked like a risotto. That dish still haunts me today.
• It was an experience that made me fall even more in love with food and is one of the reasons why this blog exists.
• After a lot of Googling, I’m not sure if the lunch menu at Le Bristol is still available or not, which would be sad. I had an amazing experience and would have highly recommended the meal to anyone looking for a “affordable” Michelin Star experience in Paris