On fine dining

[bellinghman]

There are apparently 4 restaurants in the UK that have 3 Michelin stars - 2 in London, 2 in Bray.

I dined at one last Friday - Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester. I had the tasting menu, because everything on it looked good and the chances were that I'd not get to try all those dishes any time soon.

Nom nom nom

(I note the Chinese meal we had in Tokyo was at a Michelin starred place. But not a 3-star one.)

(Eep! I've just seen what my meal cost - before wine. It makes the Rockpool look like a cheap eatery.)

Comments

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Bray has 8640 people, or 1440 people per star, it would seem.

Roses in Spain has El Bulli, but that's a town of 20,197 people, so a worse ratio.

And Sant Pol de Mar has a smaller population at only 5,102, but has only a single 3-star place listed.

However, Yountville in California, with a population of 2,916, has a 3-star place, thus managing less than 1,000 people per star.

(The above is looking at 3-star places. I've not included 1 and 2 star places.)

[happydisciple.livejournal.com]

If you're only looking at 3-star restaurants: "Oud Sluis" has 3 stars, and the village of Sluis has ~2300 residents.

(Are Yountville's other 3 stars in the form of 1 & 2 star restaurants?)

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Yountville has the single 3-star place, in the form of the French Laundry. The other three stars will be from lesser establishments (I'd guess three off of 1 star venues).

Sluis looks to be the smallest place that contains a 3-star venue.

Bray appears to be the smallest place with more than a single 3-star restaurant.

Oh, and Tokyo appears to beat Paris (but then it's a much, much bigger city). Michelin has discovered Japan, and has been handing out stars seemingly like confetti. It looks like the reviewers arrived in Tokyo in 2007, and got to Kyoto and Osaka in 2009. That place in Tokyo we ate at? It must have got its star about the time we ate there.