I’m one of them Armenians who thought Adana was most basic.
Basic, but how’s the cooking there for the food that they serve? Good? Bad? Average?
How’s it compared to Raffi’s in Glendale? I’m interested since I work relatively close by.
Not all restaurant lists are lame. Depends on who’s making them and whether you share their taste.
They couldn’t book a nice ball room in Beverly Hills?
Some of the judges probably do live in the greater Los Angeles area since they have to eat so many meals there.
Not my understanding about inspectors. But maybe they picked up some locals with Visit California paid Michelin $600k.
Never thought I’d be against globalization… the advent of the internet and easy access to the Bourdain, Zimmern, Michelin, Pellegrino 50, Neflix I think has created this ‘global’ class of foodies. They all chase the same restaurants and hold things to the same standard. In some ways I think this is an easy and safe route to obtain one’s credibility as a ‘serious’ foodie. Rattling off names like Noma, Chang, Momofuku, Per Se, Saito, Arpege, Robuchon, Keller, Tim Ho Wan etc etc easily recognized by their peers regardless of whether they’re in Dubai, Singapore, New York, Rome, Beijing etc… I have some cousins abroad who never considered visiting LA for food prior to Neflix’s Inaka feature. I’m mean why would you? There were no Pellegrino, Michelin rated restaurants to brag about back home. You’re better off visiting NYC, SF or Chicago. But now you can brag about dining at the world famous Inaka and in a month Michelin too!!! 
Based on my personal experience Michelin has been more misses than hits specifically as it relates to non-French cities (perhaps you can include Europe). The 1* list in NYC over the last few years have been quite awful… the 2 and 3* for the most part are predictably boring. Think anywhere’ville nordic, frenchy plated fare.
The crowd that travels the world collecting stars all dine at the same restaurants, stay at the same hotels, buy the same clothing ‘luxury’ brands, watches, toting the same Leica cameras etc… don’t they all eventually start looking the same? Restaurants as a result are all morphing globally in the same fashion… they’re all updating their traditional cuisines with the same techniques and presentation. Seriously just pick the account of X heavily trafficked instagram foodie and you’ll have a tough time telling which country the pictures are from.
I think this is why CH came about many years ago and FTC exists today and I expect some derivative of these will continue to exist in the future. These forums exist for those tired of the au courant formulaic or mass adopted dining references or ranking readily available. Don’t you wish you stumbled upon El Bulli, Noma, Faviken, Inaka when its was crickets in the dining room? The CH manifesto does a good job summing it up.
Coming back to Michelin, it offers a view of the food world through the lens of your distant French foodie uncle. It’s a great starting point but if you rely on this exclusively, you’ll miss out on a whole lot of what a city has to offer (except maybe if you’re in France). So boils down to - do you want to be surprised or just follow the well trodden path?
11 Likes
Thanks for the thoughtful reply!
I really don’t care about being a foodie or not. I just like eating in general. 
Only if you dine at the absolute top end but even then that segment of restaurants only represent perhaps .1% of the overall food scene.
As with any sort of list or guide and even on FTC, food is pretty subjective so I’m not surprised. We just need to find a guide, critic, FTCer, blogger, or Yelper that matches your palate. That’s why I always tell my friends that they might not like my recs and bring up how my mother absolutely hates the places that I bring her to (from hole in the wall to Michelin restaurants).
After watching many interviews with chefs, the ones that are passionate simply want to improve their cooking so they try not to be held back by traditions and learn from other cultures and their techniques. So I don’t really see harm in that if it yields a superior product.
Yes, but I’m gonna play it very safe when I’m paying big bucks. I want a proven product! The reason why I’m on FTC to begin with is to get info on restaurants that I never would’ve gone to so it’s the same reason why I would use Michelin.
I probably just haven’t been to enough of these Michelin places to feel that they offer the same thing other than perhaps the format. Of the 3 star places I’ve been to, their flavors are nothing alike. In fact, their combination of flavors are nothing like I’ve experienced. So I’m in the camp of being surprised AND following the well trodden path.
1 Like
Nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re happy.
Thank you for seeing things so closely to my own feelings. Admittedly, I used to do the international star chasing thing as well. San Sebastian, Paris, Napa, Tokyo… It does all start blurring after a while, and I no longer felt the joy and exhilaration in what should have been an incredible meal. Then I realized: It was because of that Michelin formula.
These days, I find much more joy in discovering the quixotic, the unusual, and the daring in my dining experiences. Sure, a trip to Japan or France will sometimes still contain 2 or three starred places, but I go to them not with the stars in mind at all, but because my friends or family recommended them. I’m often far more interested in the street stall I passed by on the way to the Michelin restaurant.
LOL! I posted one of the first online reviews of n/naka soon after its debut in 2011.
9 Likes
Damn. I was going to say I didn’t even know FTC existed in 2011.
That’s exactly what that money was for.
If you read the interviews with inspectors, it wouldn’t be practical for them not to live where they’re working. The SF guide has 309 restaurants, they have to visit them at least once a year and for stars they need multiple visits.
@moonboy403 
a view into your future 
2 Likes
Ha! With my blue collar background, I can only dream!
To summarize: I don’t have the means not to be a follower when I have to pay big bucks!
Not me. I don’t like to eat that way.
Raan Jay Fai, Tim Ho Wan @ OG HK location, Howlin Ray
I love this philosophy so much!
I’m surprised Okiboru doesn’t get more attention for its tsukemen. I like Tsujita like everyone else, and have had great tsukemen at Rokurinsha in Tokyo, so hopefully I’m not completely without reference points. To me, Okiboru is excellent and I don’t have to deal with the Tsujita wait.
3 Likes
I think ethnic restaurants tend to be overrated because of relative novelty. For example: would Chengdu Taste or Sichuan Impression be anything special in Sichuan? I don’t think so.
Thoughtful response. Each person has their own perspective on food; there isn’t one that is more valid or correct than the other. What’s ethnic and exciting for you may be mundane and boring or disgusting to someone else.
I will say the crowd on this thread is more adventurous than most. A majority of Americans would probably take McDonalds over the The French Laundry anyday, and find some place like El Bulli absolutely vile. While you may find the food perspectives of Michelin to be distant and tired, perhaps rightfully so, just to put things in perspective, a large portion of Americans would probably consider the food perspectives of everyone here on this forum to be absolutely bonkers. After all, who the hell as the time–and money–to stumble upon El Bulli and Noma, to try Japanese kaiseki and omakase and Chinese chateau cuisine and venture to Indian food trucks and Ethiopian dives and all. Most Americans view food as enjoyable, as a good memory, but not as something to seek after, much less create a manifesto about. Most Americans have probably never had Chinese or Japanese food beyond your known chain restaurants. And I don’t blame them–their food perspectives are just as valid as Michelin’s and yours and mine, and I absolutely wouldn’t tell them they are “missing out on anything”. Each person has their own path, their own way of living. Michelin is just a description of one such perspective, you can follow it or not–either is perfectly valid. Personally, I think my taste aligns with Michelin’s more than most so I follow the results more, but I know that is not for everyone and I am totally open to others who prefer different things. I would just say the majority of American’s prefer the well-trodden path, and that path is certainly not Michelin, it’s places like McDonalds, chain restaurants, etc. I don’t hear anyone sounding off on America’s culture of chain restaurants, so it’s odd than Michelin is targeted so much. It’s ONE perspective, you may not agree with it, it’s not better or worse than anyone else’s perspective, you don’t have to read into it at all. The vast majority of Americans have never heard of Michelin (maybe for tires they have).
2 Likes