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Objectively, or at least that was my intention, I perused my copy of the Michelin Guide, hoping to see what all the fuss is about. I confess that it is still a bit of mystery to me, but here are some notes:
Michelin Pros:
- If one has already formed a Michelin habit elsewhere, one will immediately bond to the format and layout.
- The symbols/icons are useful,especially the little bunch of grapes that indicates a notable wine list.
- The neighborhood divisions make total sense if you are visiting from out of town and do not know have to navigate the subway system.
- The blurbs on each “resto” are a little longer than those provided by Zagat.
- For the most part, the blurbs are fair assessments.
Michelin Cons:
- If one is a Zagat user, the Michelin format will be annoying.
- The “cash only” is the only payment icon, which can be a problem if all you have in your pocket is Amex and the “resto” only takes Visa or Mastercard.
- If you travel by subway and know where you are going, the lack of cross-listings can be annoying – too much of a burden on the resto-goer (the alpha-listing doesn’t give the street/neighborhood, but does give a referring page -doh!).
- The blurbs might be a little longer than those in Zagat, but some seem to be culled from Zagat, the New York Times, CitySearch, Fodor’s and the endless PR materials that high-priced ad agencies send out on behalf of owners.
- For the most part, the blurbs are fair assessments – and we do not always like that. It’s hard for us to admit, but it’s true. That’s why we have the “bell-curve” for grading, even in math. We can score 50% and still get a B. Awesome!
The Boo Hoo Factor
We are steamed that the only “3-starred” restos are French (ok, Per Se isn't really French... and most of the one and two starred restaurants lean towards French). We have been whining like the US Swim Team in the last Olympics whenever they didn’t a gold medal, the big fat babies. Stop whining! It’s the Michelin Guide for Bacchus’s sake! The more we piss and moan that this and that didn’t get in the guide, or didn’t get a good review or blah blah blah, the more we sound like the complaining provincials that we already think that they think we are – I think.
The fact that most of the blurbs are decent enough assessments – especially if the user of the guide is probably only going to visit the place once– doesn’t seem good enough for us.
No! (stomping my little feet) I want MY favorite restaurants in the guide! WAH! I want MY opinion to be heard! WAH! Read all about ME and MY opinions! (stomping fit over, pout now on full). I am so much more interesting than YOU!
Michelin is not a Neighborhood Guide, nor is it a venue where critics get as much credit as the Chef for making a resto popular. No. It’s a visitor’s guide.
Readers of the
Guide
Now that I can claim that I am a reader of the guide, I have a few more things to say. First, it is a very nicely presented guide (I have found a few typos – which is like throwing a brick in a glass house, since there are plenty of typos in my blogs. Shame on me! However, I can go back and fix them, but in print…). I seriously doubt that the Michelin will have a real impact on how I chose or review a restaurant. But if I were a traveler to New York City , especially a first time traveler, I would probably choose the Michelin over Fodor’s or over Zagat. However, I would probably choose the Lonely Planet Guide above all others, since for me it has always been the closest to on target of any guide I have ever used. There is a Lonely Planet Guide for New York City, which is grittier than Michelin, and in my opinion more interesting for it. Which brings me back around to another and important point: the Upscale Traveler will pick up a copy of the Michelin Guide, slip it into that Louis Vuitton handbag,dawn the Gucci sunglasses and grab a cab.
Tags:
boo hoo, fodor guide, lonely planet guide, michelin guide, travelers, us swim team, zagat guide
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Posted on 11/17/2005
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