kottke.org

...is a weblog about the liberal arts 2.0 edited by Jason Kottke since March 1998 (archives). You can read about me and kottke.org here. If you've got questions, concerns, or interesting links, send them along.

Snack has the scoop on which NYC

Snack has the scoop on which NYC restaurants got how many stars in the new Michelin Guide. Ducasse, Jean-Georges, Le Bernardin, and Per Se got top honors...Daniel and Masa must be a little disappointed with only two stars. (via afb)

By Jason Kottke    Nov 1, 2005 at 12:50 pm    alainducasse   danielboulud   food   jeangeorgesvongerichten   NYC   Per Se   restaurants

There are 15 reader comments

Becky V    Nov 01 2005    1:06PM

Having made "special journeys" to both Babbo and Peter Luger, I was pleased to see they received a mention in the Michelin list. NYT has a full listing of the one-, two-, and three-star joints.

daniel    Nov 01 2005    1:26PM

You should charge people more for your site if they live in nyc. Seriously. Or rather, offer a discounted rate for those that live outside of nyc and don't care about every minor thing that happens in overpriced nyc restaurants.

You do know not everyone lives in nyc, correct?

jkottke    Nov 01 2005    1:50PM

Here's the NY Times article that Becky was referring to (and related article).

You should charge people more...

I usually don't respond to crap like this, but I'm in a mood today. Charge? I don't charge anyone anything to read the site...it's completely fucking free.

You do know not everyone lives in nyc, correct?

You do know you're not the hall monitor for kottke.org, correct? You do know you're not compelled to read the site if you find it uninteresting? You do know that you're free to delete the bookmark to kottke.org and never come back? Or free to ignore the items you don't find appealing? Or free to take a walk or read a book or fly a kite or paint a picture or do a million other things aside from reading anything about NYC or food on this site? Seriously.

me    Nov 01 2005    2:07PM

heh...I think he meant he was a "contributing" member...remember...your fund drive?

...thus not free. I guess he isn't getting what he thought he paid for ;-)

jkottke    Nov 01 2005    2:18PM

I guess he isn't getting what he thought he paid for ;-)

He should have thought more carefully about contributing then. It's been fairly clear for several years what I write about on the site. At times, I cover NYC and food to an extensive degree.

Ok, back on topic. Does anyone who may have occasion to eat out in Manhattan care about the Michelin Guide? Better/worse than Zagat's? Irrelevent because of Chowhound, Citysearch, and eGullet?

Ryan    Nov 01 2005    2:47PM

If you care about food at all, you care what's going on in New York City, regardless of where you live.

You are not obligated to care, however, what Michelin says about anything outside of Europe. Or Zagat. Actually, seriously consider throwing your copy of Zagat away. Yearly reviews? Christ.

Foodie community sites contain great information, but tend to be a bit overwhelming in terms of the width and breadth of topics being discussed. The reviews are good, but I'll stick to the advice of my friends who eat out.

lia    Nov 01 2005    3:49PM

Nothing is worse than Zagat! Charlie Suisman of Manhattan User's Guide worked there briefly and wrote a smackdown last year. I've never trusted any of their reviews.

When writing things for A Full Belly or trying to decide on whether or not a restaurant is worth a visit, my four best resources are Chowhound, eGullet, friends and food bloggers.

P.S. I'm with Becky on Babbo and Peter Luger. Hurrah for Mario Batali! Hurrah for steakhouses with excellent meat and surly waiters!

Jack    Nov 01 2005    6:03PM

New York is overrated. It is a decent sort of place to visit, but living there is a task.

AIM    Nov 02 2005    2:06AM

Zagat... I don't trust them. And I wouldn't want to live in NY either.

johnsson    Nov 02 2005    11:14AM

the video of the crab is crabtastic... for some reason i kind of wish it was a fish instead.

Scott    Nov 02 2005    1:59PM

I wonder how many two- and three-stars the whole rest of the country will get?

Patrick    Nov 02 2005    2:43PM

Love Batali's reaction to Babbo's 1-star neighbor, the Spotted Pig: "They're blowing it," he said. "They can't put the Spotted Pig on the same level as Babbo."

(Mario Batali is an investor in Spotted Pig so I guess it's alright for him to say that)

Rory    Nov 02 2005    3:51PM

Anybody know when the Michelin men are coming to other cities? I think I remember hearing that San Francisco is/was next, but now I can't find any sources for that online. And I agree that anyone who cares about food should care about NYC - I've been on the edge of my seat waiting for this list, despite living in California with no real plans to go to any of these restaurants any time soon. This is important not just in NYC, but in what it says about America within the global restaurant scene. As Scott said, it should be very interesting to see how many 3-star restaurants there end up being in the whole country as well.

Jack    Nov 03 2005    12:24AM

That other Jack has got it bass-ackwards. NYC is not as horrible to live in or difficult at all if you have half a brain. I will admit that real estate in this city is through the roof. But once you're over that, there are tons of ways to enjoy this city more and more and in ways that don't kill you or break the bank. Make an effort and you'll reap the awards.

Here's a task for all the whiners about NYC. Just go and explore neighborhoods outside of the 'usual' places. Get out of LES and Williamsburg, grab a Metrocard and explore. You'll be amazed at how little you really know about this city if you do that.

Don't be hatin'

yp    Nov 04 2005    12:07PM

Nobody appears more to care about the Michelin guide than the chefs/owers of the restaurants themselves. I think it operates less as a "guide" to eating and more as a seemingly customer-centered way of rating chefs. When the french chef Bernard Loiseau killed himself in 2003, supposedly a bi-product of depression induced by a 3-star to 2-star Michelin demotion, I doubt his customers really cared as much as he or his competition did. The rating doesn't make the food taste different, right?

This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.

kottke.org, quickly...

The best way to get a sense of what kottke.org is all about is to head to the front page or check out some random entries from the archives. Follow kottke.org via RSS or Twitter.

Want to share your something special with kottke.org's readers? Sponsor the RSS feed for a week!

Looking for work?

See more on the Job Board.

Recommended sites

David Archer    Matthew Paul Thomas    Rebecky    greg.org    jimr(ay)    evhead    panopticist    strange maps    Nivi    Type for you.    Airbag    Ikeepadiary    The Pop!Tech Blog    Eater    tremble.com    Frumination    Personism    NYT Science    Idle Words    The Laboratorium