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It’s been 305 days since I first wrote about the red guide coming to New York City, and now I have finally the book in hand. In hindsight, the race for the story was much more exhilarating than the actual results.
The contents of the first American book have been sufficiently dissected, assessed and dissed this week by food writers around the world. Amidst the avalanche of coverage, what can I add?
The book purports to be a selection of the best 502 restaurants in all five boroughs. It is not the list I would have compiled, but then I am not a Frenchman trained in the wiles of the inspection process.
You may ask: why did it take Michelin so long to get here? Is Gotham just now reaching the red guide’s standards? Consider Le Bernardin’s uninterrupted, 19-year reign of New York Times four-star excellence. Theoretically, they could have gotten trois macaron back in 1986. My guess is, it’s the corporate mantra of expand or perish, and make new books for new markets. How many diners (and potential tire buyers) are there in America? Add the fact that it’s been widely reported that European chefs have been less and less enthused about the stars (nay some have tried to return them), given the increasing financial impossibilities of achieving and maintaining the top ratings. So let’s ship Bibendum to the new world.
Of course the hot topic is: What relevance does Michelin have here? That will not be determined this week. The impact can only be judged over time. Michelin publishes annually. Will business have increased for those with stars? What are the demotions, promotions, deletions and additions? How many people will go to the party next year? How about 10 years from now?
I happened to see le maître, chef Paul Bocuse, on Wednesday afternoon. Circo, it seems, was the place to lunch before the main event. When asked if he was in town for the Michelin, and he nodded, mais oui. And what did he think of the stars? “Yes it’s very exciting,” but then he looked away with a small frown and said “but we are sad for Daniel.” Then he shrugged, “You know the Michelin, it’s very complicated.” Then he turned and, with a smile, said, “You know, I have had my stars for 41 years.”
Is Michelin relevant? Let’s see whose stars are still standing in the 2047 guide.
By the time the hundreds of guests had assembled in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Wednesday night to fete the first American red guide, the details of the book had been discussed, dissected and assessed. The atmosphere was relaxed, jovial and attentive. A little after 8PM, Jean-Luc Naret took the podium to make the announcement – which was basically we’re here, we’re Michelin and here come the books! The thousand guides were piled high on silver trays ported by a fleet of waiters that made the spiral descent into the crowd to hand them out like Halloween candy. (I’m sure there would have been a nice toast, had they not run
out of champagne a half-hour earlier.) Everyone reached for
a copy and the stars happily signed their entries for the adulating crowd – a teeming mass of chefs, media, publicity folks, a model and a DJ, and a guy in a Michelin man suit, doing the worm. After the flashbulbs died down, people started to disperse into the night. Most of the restaurants had celebrated their 
stars on Tuesday evening, so many chefs simply went back to work or out to dinner.
I’d ruminated and queried sources on the party possibilities all day and will confess that all of my speculation was wrong. I’d have guessed they’d bring up all the European 
three-star chefs to welcome their New York brethren into the fold. (My personal highlight was meeting Guy Savoy.) Or perhaps announce the imminent arrival of the Michelin California Guide for 2007. (The obvious road to travel for the next US edition, which would make Thomas Keller the first American to have two three-star joints –though Chicago 
is worth the detour and would be a smarter second choice.) All in good time.
Coming soon…my book report.
Photo credit: Scott Wintrow/Getty Images
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