2012 Michelin Stars

THREE STARS ***
Alinea

TWO STARS **
Charlie Trotter's
Ria

ONE STAR *
Blackbird
Boka
Bonsoiree
Courtright's
Everest
Graham Elliot
Longman & Eagle
L2O
Moto
Naha
Schwa
Seasons
Sepia
Spiaggia
Takashi
Topolobampo
Tru
Vie

Changes from last year:
Added: Moto, Courtright's
Removed: Avenues (closed), Sixteen, NoMI, Crofton on Wells
Demoted: L2O (3 stars to 1 star)

Ref: Vettel/Pang in Tribune

NoMi has closed as well, hasn't it?

Anyone eaten at L20 recently & can comment on the reasons for the drop?

Athena wrote:NoMi has closed as well, hasn't it?

Anyone eaten at L20 recently & can comment on the reasons for the drop?

NoMi re-concepted...

Personally I never thought L2O under Gras deserved more than one star, but had been excited by reports since his departure.

Somewhat surprised...are we allowed to be uproariously disappointed that there was so little change? This year Michelin has even robbed us of our griping.

kl1191 wrote:are we allowed to be uproariously disappointed that there was so little change?

I hope so, because I sure am. I was hoping for a big increase in the number of starred restaurants, not a decrease. Especially given the significant increase in the number of Bib Gourmand winners.

NoMi reconcepted, Sixteen is yet without an executive chef (I believe). The only restaurant to get outright dropped is Crofton. I am still surprised that MK, North Pond, and Les Nomades aren't included, as they seem to be the caliber of restaurant that the Michelin folks are looking for. And I'm still mystified by the inclusion of Longman & Eagle. If they are going to reward that type of restaurant as star-worthy, there are at least a half dozen more as good (or better) that I'd throw on the list.

It's pretty much non-news news. Oh well, better luck next year.

Courtright's?

Also, apparently Next isn't even mentioned in the guide which is completely ridiculous.

Athena wrote:Anyone eaten at L20 recently & can comment on the reasons for the drop?

I had my first experiences at L2O and Ria this past weekend. Granted, only one data point each, but L2O came out on top for me in every category - creativity, execution, and service. I can't compare L2O to what it was before, but based on comparison to Ria and the 1*s on the list that I've been to, something is awry.

-Dan

There are an additional 90 recommended restaurants, but it's still a bit disappointing.

dansch wrote:

Athena wrote:Anyone eaten at L20 recently & can comment on the reasons for the drop?

I had my first experiences at L2O and Ria this past weekend. Granted, only one data point each, but L2O came out on top for me in every category - creativity, execution, and service. I can't compare L2O to what it was before, but based on comparison to Ria and the 1*s on the list that I've been to, something is awry.

-Dan

Dan, by the time you ate at L2O this past weekend, Francis Brennan was long gone, so you probably weren't experiencing L2O in the form it was over the past year. Having said that, I don't know if post-Brennan changes had taken effect already.

My sense is that Michelin was not impressed by Brennan's credentials, and was wont to award 2 or 3 stars to a restaurant under his tenure regardless of the food. From what I understand from people who work at Lettuce, Brennan is a talented, but essentially, a corporate chef; a guy who you can count on to do the job, but who doesn't have the pedigree that most Michelin 2 or 3* chefs have.

incite wrote:There are an additional 90 recommended restaurants, but it's still a bit disappointing.

Has anyone seen this list online?

Per Next on Facebook:

Next Restaurant
It seems that the Michelin inspectors, while famously anonymous, are also famously luddites.... did they not see the daily sales on Facebook?

aschie30 wrote:My sense is that Michelin was not impressed by Brennan's credentials, and was wont to award 2 or 3 stars to a restaurant under his tenure regardless of the food. From what I understand from people who work at Lettuce, Brennan is a talented, but essentially, a corporate chef; a guy who you can count on to do the job, but who doesn't have the pedigree that most Michelin 2 or 3* chefs have.

I was at L2O under Gras and it was spectacular. Probably the best meal I've ever experienced. In reading about the chef saga in the media, it appears that Rich Melman continually butted heads with Gras and hired Brennan because he was more "manageable" (no surprise given his experience as a corporate chef). While I haven't dined at L20 since Gras' departure, I'd imagine that the quality must have inevitably declined without the presence of a powerful visionary such as Gras.

If Courtright's can get a star, there is hope for Pensiero. (OK, that is unkind, but . . . )

North Pond should have received a star.

I am also surprised that with Matt Kirkly (as Chef d' Cuisine) at L20, they didn't keep a second star. The meal that I had after Gras left was as stellar, and more consistent, that the meals before Gras vanished into the ether.

Michelin inspectors seem to like Courtright's a lot. They tweeted every time they come back from them. That convinced me to eventually go out of my way to visit Courtright's for their Summer truffles degustation. Unfortunately, the meal was disappointing.

Re: Next. I wonder how many times they actually managed to visit.

theskinnyduck wrote:Re: Next. I wonder how many times they actually managed to visit.

And yet Schwa has a star. Not that I disagree with that (in the slightest), but they were all apparently able to get in there (a feat I've only managed once after three years of trying), so the reasoning of "it's hard to get into" strikes me as a total cop out. They must have something against eating at 9:30 at night.

See this post for comments by a Michelin inspector to Kevin Pang about why Next didn't receive any stars.

This article has some more info on the guide.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 5366.story

justrnr500 wrote:

theskinnyduck wrote:Re: Next. I wonder how many times they actually managed to visit.

And yet Schwa has a star. Not that I disagree with that (in the slightest), but they were all apparently able to get in there (a feat I've only managed once after three years of trying), so the reasoning of "it's hard to get into" strikes me as a total cop out. They must have something against eating at 9:30 at night.

Agree, and not that I'm Ruxbin's biggest fan, but their absence on the list also speaks to Michelin's laziness. There's no reservations at Ruxbin, so you have to wait. At least at Schwa, Carlson seems to be answering the phone these days (despite plumbing problems) and taking reservations, if only to fit in last minutes like Patton Oswalt. At the very least, it proves to me that Michelin is solely in the business of selling guides to business travelers from outside of Chicago, so they have zero interest in places that require advanced planning/scrambling (Next) or the inconvenience of a no reservations policy at a popular restaurant (Ruxbin) as that doesn't serve their target audience. For a very shrewd perspective on the direction that the Michelins should take, Ellen Malloy's recent blog post is informative.

aschie30 wrote:they have zero interest in places that require advanced planning/scrambling (Next) or the inconvenience of a no reservations policy at a popular restaurant

The star for Longman & Eagle and the Bib Gourmand for Avec testify to the contrary.

nsxtasy wrote:

aschie30 wrote:they have zero interest in places that require advanced planning/scrambling (Next) or the inconvenience of a no reservations policy at a popular restaurant

The star for Longman & Eagle and the Bib Gourmand for Avec testify to the contrary.

You can get into both places without much of a wait, especially on weekdays or at 4:00 (in the case of Avec). It doesn't change the fact that very difficult tables (Next & Ruxbin in particular) would be the least attractive to Michelin's target buyers, and hence the easiest to blow off.

aschie30 wrote:

dansch wrote:

Athena wrote:Anyone eaten at L20 recently & can comment on the reasons for the drop?

I had my first experiences at L2O and Ria this past weekend. Granted, only one data point each, but L2O came out on top for me in every category - creativity, execution, and service. I can't compare L2O to what it was before, but based on comparison to Ria and the 1*s on the list that I've been to, something is awry.

-Dan

Dan, by the time you ate at L2O this past weekend, Francis Brennan was long gone, so you probably weren't experiencing L2O in the form it was over the past year. Having said that, I don't know if post-Brennan changes had taken effect already.

My sense is that Michelin was not impressed by Brennan's credentials, and was wont to award 2 or 3 stars to a restaurant under his tenure regardless of the food. From what I understand from people who work at Lettuce, Brennan is a talented, but essentially, a corporate chef; a guy who you can count on to do the job, but who doesn't have the pedigree that most Michelin 2 or 3* chefs have.

Matt only arrived about 4 months ago, not enough time to restore it to 3 *** glory. Give it some time.

I posted this on the Crofton thread, but after dining there last week I'm not surprised by the loss of the star.

It is a nice place, but the food just was not very good.

The guide has outlived it's usefulness. I am sure that at some point the guide made sense with what was going on in gastronomy. However, it seems unwilling to outside of it's preconceived notion of what fine dining should be and this image is outdated by years if not decades.

Chefcon wrote:The guide has outlived it's usefulness. I am sure that at some point the guide made sense with what was going on in gastronomy. However, it seems unwilling to outside of it's preconceived notion of what fine dining should be and this image is outdated by years if not decades.

I have to agree. Before last year's guide was released, I was actually excited about Michelin coming to Chicago. But now, after 2 editions, I've come to the realization that it's just another irrelevant list; this one compiled by outsiders with limited knowledge and questionable taste.

=R=

In reading about the chef saga in the media, it appears that Rich Melman continually butted heads with Gras and hired Brennan because he was more "manageable" (no surprise given his experience as a corporate chef). While I haven't dined at L20 since Gras' departure, I'd imagine that the quality must have inevitably declined without the presence of a powerful visionary such as Gras.

just for the record, Francis Brennan came to Chicago and LEYE at the same time as Laurent Gras. Brennan is a native of the bay area and worked under Gras at Fifth Floor before coming to Chicago as part of Gras' team for the then-upcoming new LEYE fine dining project. Prior to that, he worked in France and Ireland, in NYC at Aquavit under Marcus Samuelson and with Francois Payard, in Chicago at Trotter's, and in SF at Fifth Floor and The Ritz Carlton.

No clue where you got the idea that he's got experience as "a corporate chef", since, really his only experience in that capacity has been with LEYE, and that's mainly because L20 took forever getting off the ground. Brennan is a first-rate chef with classical cooking experience and serious chops. Dismissing him as some "corporate chef" who's only there because he's "manageable" doesn't seem fair. Especially due to the fact that its completely inaccurate.

My take on L20 losing two stars is that the Michelin folks were somewhat taken aback by the soap opera of Gras abandoning ship last year the day after the awards, and just took stars away because the big name chef left. From what I've heard, the food has been stellar under Brennan.

From what I understand from people who work at Lettuce, Brennan is a talented, but essentially, a corporate chef; a guy who you can count on to do the job, but who doesn't have the pedigree that most Michelin 2 or 3* chefs have.

I'm not sure who you're talking with at Lettuce but I agree with the last poster on Brennan's experience. I personally worked with him as a sous at NoMi and he was an extremely talented and accomplished chef back then. I'm pretty sure LEYE is his first corporate gig.

Chicago has a self esteem problem, when Michelin came to Chicago everyone got excited to be recognized as a culinary city amongst the big boys, however when we lost stars second time around and the big boys out paced us we got all upset and Michelin became irrevelant to us. Of course Michelin is irrevelant, their source is what is already established here, mostly by the media, then their "inspectors can in turn tell us as the ultimate authority which of those restaurants actually deserve a star.
"inspectors" ?? these are restaurants, not pieces of meat, we like them, we don't like them, God only know we fuss about them endlessly, however in the end it is our restaurant scene, we support them or don't and ultimately they all depend on customers who are the ultimate "inspectors".

Is our reaction here any difference than the reaction in Paris? Sounds like we are being a bit hard on ourselves. Places in Paris lose or gain stars and the earth shakes. Places in Chicago lose or gain stars and the earth shakes. Don't beat yourselves up for caring. Everywhere people both care tremendously and write it off as meaningless. In either city, it is fun to watch. Enjoy the show.

Remember, there was a point of view that Michelin had to dumb down their standards when they came to the US.

I'm also curious whether there has been the same dismissal of Michelin ratings in NY and SF. What I've read about NY was along the lines of getting the 2 and 3 stars right and some head scratching about the 1 stars. No idea about SF.

I might add though, for the restaurants that did receive a Michelin recognition the feeling of pride must be acknowledged, although it must be exciting to be listed in any publication. Michelin guide to many is still the ultimate restaurant guide, at least in Europe and their tires are no too bad either.