
The secretive life of a Michelin inspector - bootload
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/09/top-chefs-michelin-stars
======
song
> There are 30 three-star restaurants in Japan, as of this writing, compared
> with 26 in France and 12 in the U.S. Michelin began rating restaurants in
> Japan around the same time the guide came to America.

As a French guy who lived in Japan for some time, I've got a very simple
explanation for why Japan has more Michelin stars than France.

If you go to a normal average restaurant in France, the food will usually not
be very good, they will serve dishes prepared with pre-made sauces from Metro,
they won't serve anything amazing. There's a very big discrepancy in France
between normal restaurants priced less than 20 euros per person for lunch
without wine and the gourmet more expensive restaurants.

People also go out to restaurants a lot less than in Japan so there are less
restaurants in France. In Japan, Osaka has 16,000 restaurants. Tokyo has
55,000 restaurants. Paris only has 14,000.

Even restaurants that are not very expensive (1000 yens lunches) in Japan tend
to only use homemade ingredients. They don't use pre-made sauces. The average
quality of normal restaurants is much higher and a lot of the Chefs at those
restaurants are actually passionate about the food and try hard to improve
their skills.

So, it's simple, Japan is a country with at least twice the number of
restaurants per population as France and with a much higher percentage of
passionate chefs that want to improve their skills and are there for the love
of food rather than for earning money. It's actually surprising that Japan
still has so little Michelin stars.

As for michelin stars, I actually trust the Gault et Millau guide a lot more
in France, they don't care as much about the atmosphere and the service, they
care about the food and ultimately that's the only that matters for me.

~~~
ngoel36
Anecdotally, the Michelin restaurants in Japan optimize for much much more
than just food. The most expensive meal I've ever had was at Kikunoi in Kyoto
(3 Michelin stars). I was excited about this meal for MONTHS. And although I
do love traditional Japanese food, the meal was - to be honest - worse than
most Bib Gourmand meals I've had here in SF. Atmosphere and presentation -
divine - but the food wasn't nearly as tasty as the 1000 yen bentos.

~~~
paulsutter
Kikunoi is excellent, but it can be challenging for westerners to appreciate,
especially some seafood dishes. I've adjusted a lot, but I still don't eat
shirako[1] for example, which they often serve (male fish sperm).

Once you're accustomed to the food in Japan, the ingredients taste ... low
grade even at most of the "nicer" restaurants in San Francisco (especially the
meats or fish). Japanese say this secretly to each other, only Japanese can
taste it, but actually anyone who lives in Tokyo long enough can taste it.
song is very correct.

The quickest way to appreciate the food in Japan, try the $10 pasta at any
place highly rated on Tabelog, and you will see that the quality difference is
just as song describes. The difference extends far beyond the chefs, it's the
farms, fisheries, logistics and overall high standards all working together.

[1] [http://www.thekitchn.com/the-strangest-food-i-ever-
ate-2-919...](http://www.thekitchn.com/the-strangest-food-i-ever-ate-2-91992)

~~~
jawngee
Shirako is one of my favorite dishes, though the first time I ate it nobody
told me what it was until we were in the cab ride home from the restaurant.

I was wondering why my ex-wife's mom kept giggling during dinner.

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FireBeyond
There's very little in this article about the life of an inspector. It's all
about the restaurants.

(this is an 'editorialized' title)

~~~
partisan
Agreed. There is not very much at all about the inspectors. It was a good read
all the same.

~~~
bootload
Somewhere in the last 5 or more years, web articles started using summaries
for titles. I wouldn't say editorialised, I'd say it's more a case of "Article
has ridiculously long title" and try to shorten it before I post.

------
jasondc
> she explained that for the job the inspectors, on average, eat two
> restaurant meals a day almost every day of the week except weekends, at
> least 200 meals a year. They are on the road constantly. “It’s not that
> we’re trying to be secretive for its own sake,” she said, “but … we want to
> maintain the quality and integrity of the process.”

Being an inspector isn't the easy job I thought it would be :)

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BashiBazouk
It's interesting that high star restaurants are expected to not serve more
common ingredients. I went to Manresa in Los Gatos once. Very good but I felt
that I was being filled with bread (which was divine) between courses but
would have preferred to see what they could do with chicken as a cheap filler
instead. Now I have some idea why they would not use it as a filler dish.

I also find that if a place like Oaxaca has no Michelin stared restaurants,
the Michelin guide is limited to a kind of food and not necessarily the best
food the world has to offer. Though I am probably overly partial to mole in
it's various forms...

~~~
enjo
In order to win a star, Michelin has to produce a guide for the area. There
are only three cities in the United States that have a guide (I believe: San
Francisco, Chicago, and New York). So you won't find a michelin starred
restaurant in New Orleans for instance, which sort of undermines the prestige
of the whole thing.

There are many many great restaurants in the world that are not Michelin
eligible, which is a real shame.

~~~
acheron
Las Vegas had one as well but it's been discontinued.

------
afarrell
I am suddenly very curious about how quality control in tyre manufacturing
works.

------
gooseyard
Criticism is the lowest form of art.

~~~
hugh4
Then we should be happy that some people are willing to humble themselves to
this "low" art form.

