Skift Take
There are excellent restaurants represented on the list, as well as glaring omissions that point to problems in the industry in New York City and beyond.
— Jason Clampet
In the battle of New York vs. San Francisco restaurants, last week the Bay Area moved ahead in the Michelin three-star category.
This week, the news got worse for New York.
When the Michelin Guide’s 2018 New York stars were announced on Monday, the vaunted Jean-Georges went from being a three-star restaurant to a two-star.
It’s the first time since the Michelin Guide made its debut in the U.S., in 2005, that Jean-Georges hasn’t received three stars. “We went there many times, with many inspectors over many months, and we didn’t find the level we expect at a three-star restaurant,” said Michael Ellis, international director of the Michelin Guide. Was this a consequence of chef-owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ceaseless expansion? He currently has 13 places in New York alone. “The chef can reproduce quality food all over the world. We will hope that he gets that third star back ASAP,” Ellis said.
New York now has only five three-star restaurants, including Le Bernardin, Masa, and Eleven Madison Park. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare retained its three stars in spite of a major move to Manhattan (more on that in a minute). So did Per Se, despite a chef change. Ellis confirmed that inspectors visited after Corey Chow took over Per Se’s kitchen in August.
San Francisco boasts seven Michelin three-star restaurants.
In better news for New York, there’s a new two-star spot, Sushi Ginza Onodera, up from one star last year. New York becomes the only U.S. city with a two-star Japanese restaurant; it’s also one of the few cities outside Japan with a three-star Japanese restaurant, Masa.
In fact, if there’s a bright spot in the 2018 Michelin list, it’s Japanese cuisine. Of the six new one-star restaurants on the list, three feature sushi or other Japanese fare: Satsuki, a counter spot from a New York sushi veteran; Sushi Amane in Midtown; and Bar Uchū, a kaiseki tasting from a Brooklyn Fare alum. (“We don’t like one cuisine more than another,” said Ellis, when asked if the best way to get a Michelin star was to open a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan.) Another standout new one-star, Cote, marks the first time a Korean barbecue spot has appeared on the New York Michelin list.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZM3ez2h_3F/?taken-by=satsuki.nyc
A major loser, according to Michelin: Brooklyn. In 2017, Aska, an elegant new two-star, represented one of 12 Michelin-starred restaurants in the borough; Brooklyn holds only nine slots on the 2018 list. Losses reflect closings at places such as the beloved tasting spot Take Root, as well as Brooklyn Fare’s move to Hudson Yards.
This year there are 72 restaurants on the New York list, down from 77 in 2017. “Things are cyclical,” observed Ellis. “New York is incredibly exciting. It’s also a very demanding place to have a restaurant.”
And then there are the places that are missing from the list altogether, while others seem like they couldn’t be knocked out with a sledgehammer. (When was the last time you heard anyone say they were going to Jewel Bako?) As per last year, many of us feel strongly that Le CouCou, Cosme, and Lilia deserve at least one Michelin star. A major omission from this year’s list is the Grill, which opened in early May and must have been under consideration, since the one-star Uchū opened in June.
See the full list below.
An asterisk denotes a new entry.
Three Stars
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
Eleven Madison Park
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
Two Stars
Aquavit
Aska
Atera
Blanca
Daniel
Jean-Georges
Jungsik
Marea
Ko
The Modern
Sushi Ginza Onodera*
One Star
Agern
Ai Fiori
Aldea
Aureole
Babbo
Bar Uchū*
Bâtard
Blue Hill
The Breslin
Café Boulud
Cafe China
Carbone
Casa Enrique
Casa Mono
Caviar Russe
The Clocktower*
Contra
Cote*
Delaware & Hudson
Del Posto
Dovetail
Faro
The Finch
Gabriel Kreuther
Gotham Bar and Grill
Gramercy Tavern
Günter Seeger
Hirohisa
Jewel Bako
Junoon
Kajitsu
Kanoyama
Kyo Ya
https://www.instagram.com/p/3kSwr6h9Lg/?taken-at=103879170
L’Appart
La Sirena
La Vara
Meadowsweet
Minetta Tavern
The Musket Room
Nix
NoMad
Peter Luger
Rebelle
The River Café
Rouge Tomate*
Satsuki*
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba0KAEAFMKP/?taken-at=479592999072928
Sushi Amane*
Sushi Inoue
Sushi Yasuda
Sushi Zo
Tempura Matsui
Tori Shin
Uncle Boons
Ushiwakamaru
Wallse
ZZ’s Clam Bar
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
This article was written by Kate Krader from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].
