And the new Gourmet capital of the world is .... drumroll please ....

Tokyo !

Sez who?

Sez who?

Michelin!!

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyl ... 19?sp=true

Michelin!!

They've got their heads firmly up their asses.

-Paul W.

I thought that it was my place.





rwj

Robert,

Do you mean that your place is the gourmet capital of the world, or that you have your head firmly up your ass?

That's a GREAT looking dinner you have there. You get my vote for gourmet capital.

-Paul W.

Paul, do not exclude the possibility of both.

This absolutely encapsulates why I have such a low regard for Michelin.

Robert, what is on the plate in the second photo? Cookies? Truffles? Mmm.

So...you guys have all been to Tokyo and think it's crap ? Or are you just assuming it can't be that good because it's not Paris or London or New York or Sydney ?

I've never been to Tokyo, but there's a lot of money in Asia, and more and more, there are very discerning diners. I know that the food I had on our last trip to Singapore was of an unbelievable standard (and price). I'm biased, because I love the fresh produce we get here in Sydney, so I prefer eating here over anywhere else, but Singapore had an astounding variety of food from different cultures, much of which we'd never see here. I'm sure it would be even more the case in Tokyo...

Just my 2c. :)

Celia

I've been to Tokyo about 20 or 30 times. It's not at all crap, it's just not my idea of a great culinary center. Like any big city, it has some excellent restaurants (at absolutely insane prices), but I'd much rather eat in Hong Kong.

Michelin loves pretension, and at the high end eateries in Tokyo, pretension is definitely not lacking.

BTW, I would also not consider London to be a culinary capitol, either. Paris, marginally so- the great cuisine there has its origins in Lyon.

edit: Never been to Sydney, so can't judge. New York has some fine restaurants, but for me is not a culinary capitol because it does not have a distinctive local cuisine- the top restaurants there are French, Italian, and Japanese.

Robert, what is on the plate in the second photo? Cookies? Truffles? Mmm.

Chocolate covered grapes in a chocolate bowl.

rwj

I've been to Tokyo about 20 or 30 times. It's not at all crap, it's just not my idea of a great culinary center. Like any big city, it has some excellent restaurants (at absolutely insane prices), but I'd much rather eat in Hong Kong.

Fair enough, Stuart. :)

Robert, what is on the plate in the second photo? Cookies? Truffles? Mmm.

Chocolate covered grapes in a chocolate bowl.

rwj

OK, dude, more info needed. What kind of grapes, what type of chocolate, etc.

Sounds very intriguing!

Stuart, with all due respect to vegetarianism...

Michelin claims to rate restaurants based on the food. You don't eat most of the food that Michelin rates. So the number of times you visit a city is irrelevant to your experience with what is being rated - which is practically zilch. Now if Michelin were rating the great vegetarian centers in the world...

Your comment about Paris vis-a-vis Lyon is quaint, as the top chefs in Paris are worldly, not mere interprtors of a narrow historic style of Parisian cooking. Indeed, it is much easier to find Provincial cooking in Paris as well as many international cuisines. And in my experience, the standards there have not slipped. Like all over the world, the chefs of Paris are no longer bound by or constrained by tradition, except in certain types of bistros and brasseries that have to keep up that tradition.

If Paris was once the greatest culinary city in the world, it hasn't been surpassed because of any decline - it is only that there are now many more innovators who have established themselves elsewhere, including the Provinces. Thus, it is harder for any city to stake claim to being the greatest culinary center. Conversely, it is not apparent that any place has wrested that mantel away from Paris.

Bernie

New York has some fine restaurants, but for me is not a culinary capitol because it does not have a distinctive local cuisine.

Different definitions I suppose. And different restaurants.

The Bay Area certainly has a distinctive local cuisine, and in many ways is more exciting for certain food preferences (and budgets) than New York. But you can't ignore the concentration of high-end and interesting restaurants in New York, that certainly make it one of the centers of global food today.

Michelin claims to rate restaurants based on the food.

Yes, that's their claim. I'm... unconvinced.

In any case, they rate restaurants, not food. A great restaurant will make great food, even for vegetarians. Even in Paris, where (in fact) your comments agree with mine- the cuisine is derivative, not autochthonous.

A great restaurant will make great food, even for vegetarians.

The BBC World Service broadcast a story on the large number of Michelin stars awarded to restaurants in Tokyo, more than to any other single city in the world. There were two interesting points that they brought up:

1) Just about everything at many of these restaurants is built upon a base of fish broth, and thus it can be nigh on impossible for a vegetarian to find something to eat there.

2) Many of the restaurants are openly hostile to non-Japanese, in part because they are fussier than Japanese customers and more likely to demand dishes with dietary restrictions attached.

The new stars apparently have made these restaurants almost impossible to get into, which is probably just as well for foreign visitors, anyway.

-Paul W.

Robert, what is on the plate in the second photo? Cookies? Truffles? Mmm.

Chocolate covered grapes in a chocolate bowl.

rwj

OK, dude, more info needed. What kind of grapes, what type of chocolate, etc.

Sounds very intriguing!

Sorry for the late response Mike. I hope that you get it. This dish was really simple. It comes from Michele Richard, with whom I was cooking that night.

Any grape will do. We used some kind of big, fat red grape (seedless).

We used El Rey 70%, melted

Scharfenberger Cocoa.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl.

Toss in the grapes.

Toss the grapes with cocoa.

Toss the grapes back in the chocolate.

Toss the grapes with cocoa, again.

Do this until you finish with cocoa and the grapes look like truffles.

rwj

Sorry for the late response Mike. I hope that you get it. This dish was really simple. It comes from Michele Richard, with whom I was cooking that night.

Any grape will do. We used some kind of big, fat red grape (seedless).

We used El Rey 70%, melted

Scharfenberger Cocoa.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl.

Toss in the grapes.

Toss the grapes with cocoa.

Toss the grapes back in the chocolate.

Toss the grapes with cocoa, again.

Do this until you finish with cocoa and the grapes look like truffles.

rwj

Damn! Those sound about as decadent as grapes can get (assuming they haven't been made into wine).

Thanks!

Sorry for the late response Mike. I hope that you get it. This dish was really simple. It comes from Michele Richard, with whom I was cooking that night.

Any grape will do. We used some kind of big, fat red grape (seedless).

We used El Rey 70%, melted

Scharfenberger Cocoa.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl.

Toss in the grapes.

Toss the grapes with cocoa.

Toss the grapes back in the chocolate.

Toss the grapes with cocoa, again.

Do this until you finish with cocoa and the grapes look like truffles.

rwj

Damn! Those sound about as decadent as grapes can get (assuming they haven't been made into wine).

Thanks!

No problemo. But be prepared to make a mess. This is a messy job; fun but messy.

rwj