Michelin Star Food

southsiderosie

Sparks wrote: »

(and hell, every so often I *need* to go somewhere like acapulco's and the michelin star can feic off Good meals aren't always about technical proficiency, sometimes it's just what you want to eat and who you want to eat with...)

Amen to that. One of the best meals I ever had was at a roadside stand in rural Jamaica where the owners made their own jerk rub and roasted the meat in an old oil drum. For $5 you got half a chicken dripping in sauce and its own juices served on a 2-inch thick hunk of bread which soaked everything up. Divine.

P. Breathnach

nompere wrote: »

A bottle (a perfectly good one) of Saumur Champigny, that Intermarche had for €3.00 was being sold for €15.00 in the town. That wasn't a starred establishment...

That's a €12 markup. Most Irish restaurant would have a bigger markup than that.

As a generalisation, the wines you find in French supermarkets are a bit lower quality than those you find in caves or buy direct from the producer. If the restaurant was selling you exactly the same wine as Intermarché, then I suspect that you were not getting the quality that you should expect from a decent establishment.

I have never found Saumur Champigny (a wine we like in this house) as cheap as €3. Generally I expect to pay €6+, and have happily paid more for some of the better ones.

I agree that €50 for a Sancerre (another wine we like) is high, unless the wine was exceptional.

sharonl

Have eaten in Guilbauds and the whole experience definately worth it. Food and service was amazing. We went to celebrate our honeymoon and marriage during the summer and have decided to make a tradition out of it and try and go for our anniversary every year. Got the 4 course lunch menu for 50 euros a head and thought it was fantastic value for such a high quality experience.

nompere

P. Breathnach wrote: »

That's a €12 markup. Most Irish restaurant would have a bigger markup than that.

It's a 500% mark-up on a retail price. Irish restaurants get pilloried (and rightly so) for a mark-up of more than 300% on wholesale.

If I was posting on boards.fr this would be in the Rip Off France forum!!

P. Breathnach

nompere wrote: »

It's a 500% mark-up on a retail price. Irish restaurants get pilloried (and rightly so) for a mark-up of more than 300% on wholesale.

It's only 400%, and it's still only €12. And are you sure that it was the same wine that you saw in Intermarché? Same producer, same year, same label?

2hellr2conaght

Hi all,

I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

Any questions please ask... thanks

unkel

2hellr2conaght wrote: »

Hi all,

I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

Any questions please ask... thanks

I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course

Malari

2hellr2conaght wrote: »

Hi all,

I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

Any questions please ask... thanks

You can get the same tasting menu for €85 or include optional selected wines to suit each course for an extra €40. I was there recently and thought it was excellent. We just ordered the €85 menu and bought wine separately.

antoniosicily

unkel wrote: »

I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course

You are forgetting the first 3-starred restaurant in UK which in 2010 got its 3 star for the 25th year in a row, the owner is also a very popular chef

catho_monster

One post to tell us that? Gee thanks, but I think I'll trust Beruthiel's taste more than yours.

EDIT: well now my post looks ridiculous, when the silly post before me was deleted

unkel

antoniosicily wrote: »

You are forgetting the first 3-starred restaurant in UK which in 2010 got its 3 star for the 25th year in a row, the owner is also a very popular chef

Oops forgot that one

Rusty Cogs 08

Is there a dress code for Guilbaud's ? (lunch)

Sparks

Rusty Cogs 08 wrote: »

Is there a dress code for Guilbaud's ? (lunch)

Yeah, shirt, pants, shoes, and most importantly, wallet

Seriously, there wasn't a dress code for dinner, so there's not going to be one for lunch beyond the usual "don't dress like a hobo" one.

tphelan

Its a strange rating system used by michelin. I thought it used be be more about the technical brillliance of the food along with hedonistic dining experience provided on a consistently excellent basis. Its seems to be changing however. They recently awarded a star to Hong Kong restaurant where main courses are ~€5 and has now become the cheapest michelin dining experience in the world with little to no service to be spoken of.

Compare that to the Byerley Turk restaurant at the K Club which is the best restaurant that I have eaten at in terms of technical brilliance and hedonistic dining - and they don't have one. Yet Thorntons on the Green which are way behind Byerley Turk [IMO] have a star??

Does anyone know the criteria that are used?

johnnysexsmith

unkel wrote: »

I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course

The issue with the Fat Duck was with Oysters specifically - served raw it could happen anywhere

catho_monster

tphelan wrote: »

Does anyone know the criteria that are used?

This article says 'The first star is for the food alone, two stars also takes in the service and ambience and three is exceptional'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/07/chefs-fear-editor-michelin-guides

tphelan

johnnysexsmith wrote: »

The issue with the Fat Duck was with Oysters specifically - served raw it could happen anywhere

yes - anywhere with lower than expected quality and safety standards to allow contaminated food be served to customers. You wouldn't expect food poisening from your local diner never mind paying a couple hundred pounds for the pleasure!

Seaneh

tphelan wrote: »

yes - anywhere with lower than expected quality and safety standards to allow contaminated food be served to customers. You wouldn't expect food poisening from your local diner never mind paying a couple hundred pounds for the pleasure!

It's more an issue of a trusted seafood supplier failing than the kitchen. There is NO way for the people in the kitchen to know the oysters were comtaminated.
The only thing they can check is if the oysters are fresh, alive and healthy, once this is confirmed there shouldn't be a problem. The problem seems to have been that the oysters came from an area where human waste is present in the water and were not subsquently filtered properly.


Like the previous poster said, it could happen ANYWHERE. I highly doubt They will be using that supplier for anything again, ever.

looperman1000

Thanks for that Seaneh, i had always wondered what had happened there with Heston's place. That clears it up totally.

For myself, not so long i ventured to L'Ecrivain and Chapter One for my Girlfriend's birthday. I found them both out of this world. I picked a fault with the coffee in L'Ecrivain that i felt was rushed out and didn't looked great.
I actually met Derry at the Taste Of Dublin Food Festival and mentioned it to him. Nice chap, he acknowledged the comment and told me that his coffee was not in the right place yet.
Prices were in around the same price i think. I think if its a once in a while treat its well worth it. I think its important for food to look great and smell good for eating, it really enhances the experience of diniing, at least for me.
Service in both places, again, excellent.
About the small portion sizes, i feel if you go for a tasting menu, you think to yourself, yes, the portions are small. Upon leaving though, you really are totally satisfied and i really like my grub! :-)

Bigcheeze

For those looking for a value Michelin experience, Bon appetit are doing kir royale + 3 course dinner + bottle of wine for €99.95 for 2 people during the month of November. Tuesdays to Fridays.

gandalf

In answer to the original query, yes from my perspective Michelin Star Food is definitely worth trying.

I have only eaten in one Irish Michelin Star restaurant and that was Chapter One which was excellent.

However I have eaten the tasting menu with selected wines in L'espadon in The Ritz in Paris and that was a absolutely wonderful experience so much so that me and the missus are still convinced that the chef is in league with Satan

shaneon77

the pricing relates to the price of the raw ingredients. your head of cabbage in tescos won't be the same as the head of organic/ hand harvested cabbage, that the likes of michelin star chefs need to produce the consistent results that gets a star in the first place. It won't carry the same price tag either. its all relative.

duploelabs

Having eaten and cooked in micelin starred restaurants, it's an experience and the level of detail is unsurpassed but remember this fact.

On average, in a michelin star restaurant, your food is touched by 14 separate pairs of hands

touts

I have eaten in Michelin star restaurants and as people have said if you are into the highest level of food taste and presentation then you will love it. If you prefer a big plate of meat and two veg then you'll hate it, especially when you get the bill. I suppose its like HD tv. Some people swear by it and dislike standard definition. But I dont see the point of HD and wont pay €15+ just to be able to read the number on Ryan Giggs back.

But you are paying a premium for the star. If you can find a restaurant aiming for a star but not yet there then you can get Michelin star experience for a bit less. Gregans Castle in Clare, Ballymaloe in Waterford, Old Convent in Tipperary are all excellent and would have a star if they were in France. Gregans is very much the modern style the UK judges like so must be close to a star if the judges ever venture that far outside the M50. Ballymaloe is more traditional and will only get a star if a French judge visits them. The old convent dont give you a choice in what you eat. It is 8 courses determined by what is fresh that day. The Michelin judges dont like that lack of choice.

uberwolf

I like my food, and I love a little bit of Michelin. As mentioned, the attention to detail, the deliberateness of ingredient choice, the sense of theatre.

the beer revolu

touts wrote: »

I have eaten in Michelin star restaurants and as people have said if you are into the highest level of food taste and presentation then you will love it. If you prefer a big plate of meat and two veg then you'll hate it, especially when you get the bill. I suppose its like HD tv. Some people swear by it and dislike standard definition. But I dont see the point of HD and wont pay €15+ just to be able to read the number on Ryan Giggs back.

But you are paying a premium for the star. If you can find a restaurant aiming for a star but not yet there then you can get Michelin star experience for a bit less. Gregans Castle in Clare, Ballymaloe in Waterford, Old Convent in Tipperary are all excellent and would have a star if they were in France. Gregans is very much the modern style the UK judges like so must be close to a star if the judges ever venture that far outside the M50. Ballymaloe is more traditional and will only get a star if a French judge visits them. The old convent dont give you a choice in what you eat. It is 8 courses determined by what is fresh that day. The Michelin judges dont like that lack of choice.

My post mentioning Gregan's Castle and The Old Convent got deleted without explaination.
Two fantastic restaurants (that I have no affiliation to).
Shhh don't tell everybody.:D;)

Faith

the beer revolu wrote: »

My post mentioning Gregan's Castle and The Old Convent got deleted without explaination.
Two fantastic restaurants (that I have no affiliation to).
Shhh don't tell everybody.:D;)

There have been no posts of yours deleted from this thread. Is it possible it didn't post properly?

FYI touts - Ballymaloe is in East Cork, not Waterford.

touts

Faith wrote: »

There have been no posts of yours deleted from this thread. Is it possible it didn't post properly?

FYI touts - Ballymaloe is in East Cork, not Waterford.

OK sorry. Not from around there just know I got lost looking for it a few years ago . That said maybe I got lost because I was looking for it in the Waterford direction.