I wouldn’t consider any of these “booked up” at all - in SF or NY equivalent spots are fully booked 1-2 months out. Looks like all of August is available at Melisse other than 1st week + 12th. Also FYI Chef Ian is leaving the restaurant.
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Whether a restaurant books up two months in advance or two weeks it’s still full every night.
i wouldnt necessarily argue for holbox getting a star, because michelin often exerts their finickyness about a more formal dining atmosphere, and holbox is not really building itself in the style of a michelin restaurant even though it does a tasting menu,
but as far as i can tell, kato fits the bill for 2*, and the food is of the level… is it maybe very slightly more informal in dining room atmosphere? maybe, but there are 2* restaurants in paris with more or less the exact same level of formality
given that it took a couple years for nari to finally get a star, maybe kato will finally reach its rightly-deserved place next year…
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there must be some disconnect in this thread as to what “full” means.
English isn’t my first language, but I assume a restaurant is NOT full if there are online openings, especially openings in the near future.
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we can argue back and forth on what “full” means - but as someone that supplies ingredients to some of these 2 star restaurants, I can tell you confidently that they are not “full” every night. I know the weeks they are busy and the weeks they aren’t based on what they order.
LA is getting CRUSHED right now at the fine dining level. Everyone in the industry is talking about it. It’s scary. I’m glad we’ve expanded our reach significantly outside of LA or i’d be really worried about revenue.
We only have 5 2-star restaurants in LA. If one of them (20%) has a VERY difficult time filling seats and another has availability in the immediate following week, this should disprove the idea that having a 2 star in LA means you’re fully booked every night.
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making us watch this terrible production again. why
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Personally, I think Michelin stars are pretty much spot on. I would choose exactly the same two stars. Kato is borderline two star for me, but I don’t feel strongly it should get two stars. (My complaint is that I find that some of the sauces overpower the seafood.) For the one stars, I personally don’t think Hatchet Hall or Gwen is good enough, and Osteria Mozza is borderline. There’s no restaurant that I feel strongly should be added as a one star–the only contenders for me would be Republique, Mother Wolf, and Chi Spacca.*
I don’t agree that Michelin is biased. I love Holbox, but I think it would be a marginal one star and I agree with it not being included. The seafood itself isn’t that tasty to me (though the cooking is very good). The Japanese starred places are using wild fish from Tsukiji, whereas Holbox is using farmed fish. Holbox is much cheaper, and that’s great, but I don’t think the lists should consider price.
*We have not been to Shin Sushi, Pasta Bar, or Heritage
I wonder if they also don’t want to “award” The Row with two 2 star restaurants and will be more critical of Kato for a while
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That makes sense, and further cements my belief that location & geography matters a lot to Michelin.
Some starred restaurants would have stars regardless of where they are, and others really have to stand out and fit into the city/country’s narrative for it to make sense to be star worthy.
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Why wouldn’t they??
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the time warner center has two three stars within 100 ft of each other
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Just a random thought more than anything else. But with so few stars being in LA (whether that’s deserved or not is a different question) maybe they don’t want to rush to make The Row a place with two 2 stars or eventually one 3 & one 2 or two 3s
I think it’s also a much different beast. TWC has Lincoln Center, a hotel, office spaces, restaurants, broadcast spaces and a shopping mall. Keller and Takayama were already well into successful careers before opening their spots
The Row is very much a space that’s trying to build a name for itself. They’re trying to become a brand, in a sense. A way bigger destination than what they currently are. I think Michelin may be sensitive to that
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Wikipedia has tables tracking stars back as far as they exist.
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so when Masa got their 3rd star two of the four 3 star places in NYC were in 100 feet of each other. Per Se always had the 3, Masa spent three years with 2. Still tho that’s Keller and Takayama decades into their careers
I mean, there’s a reason Michelin doesn’t have a guide in Latin America
There’s always going to be an uphill battle for restaurants that aren’t French or Japanese, both are cut from the same cloth in terms of that dining style. And informality. That puts LA at a disadvantage. There’s an unspoken class system. Developing world cuisines like Southeast Asian and Latin have to be twice as good as a Japanese place to be on that same level with Michelin. And of course, throw in a wine list to up the odds. (Bordeaux with your bun bo hue, anyone?) In a world with so much rich cultural history, Michelin standards are only compatible with a portion of the world. That’s fine. But anyone who thinks Michelin is a universal standard for what’s “the best" are just Michelinsplaining.
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Also to defend Michelin on one point, has 2023 really been a good year for new restaurants in LA? Seems like places are dropping like flies or are have gone through a lot of obnoxious controversies.
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Kinda reminds me of this article too