2019 Michelin Star list released

Here it is.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/restaurants/chicago-losing-its-fine-dining-cred-according-michelin

No star for Publican. The chief says, not low enough price for a Bib, and not good enough for a Star.

What says the board?

Edited to add:

Three stars:

Alinea (Lincoln Park)


Two stars:

Acadia (South Loop)

Oriole (West Loop)

Smyth (West Loop)


One star:

Band of Bohemia (Ravenswood)

Blackbird (West Loop)

Boka (Lincoln Park)

Dusek's Board & Beer (Pilsen)

EL Ideas (Pilsen)

Elizabeth (Lincoln Square)

Elske (West Loop)

Entente (Lakeview)

Everest (Loop)

Goosefoot (Lincoln Square)

North Pond (Lincoln Park)

Parachute (Logan Square)

Roister (West Loop)

Schwa (Wicker Park)

Sepia (West Loop)

Spiaggia (Gold Coast)

Temporis (Noble Square)

Topolobampo (River North)

The only new star is Temporis. The only stars lost were places that closed: NaHa, Green River, Sixteen and Grace.

=R=

I'm with Michelin for the Bib. Taking a look at the dinner menu you'd be squeezing very hard to get under $40 before drinks. Food wise I'm not sure. Is the food quality the same as some of the other 1 star places? Maybe/probably. Maybe it's a little too informal for that tier. To me it doesn't seem like a crime that it doesn't have a star, but I would not have been surprised if it did.

Time for my annual reminder to anyone in earshot that Michelin is some real bullshit.

gnarchief wrote:Time for my annual reminder to anyone in earshot that Michelin is some real bullshit.

It couldn't/shouldn't be of much use to any well-informed local resident, that's for sure. It's mainly a list of places where foreign visitors can feel safe both personally and culinarily.

=R=

After having had a terrible but very expensive meal at a 2-star spot in Milan, a very mediocre but expensive meal at a 1-star spot in Venice and a solid but not particularly memorable meal at a 3-star restaurant in Hong Kong, I have mostly given up trusting Michelin and do not rely upon it when traveling. If Michelin recommends a restaurant but local reviewers do not, then I will not be visiting that restaurant. That and the fact that I've had better meals than the above referenced meals at restaurants in Chicago that have not been awarded stars by Michelin.

I've had nothing but positive experiences at the starred places that I've been to. So from that regard, I do appreciate it for what it is. But by no means is it close to a list of places I want to eat at or would recommend.

If anything, I think the stars inflate my expectations and has led to some disappointment at a perfectly good meal.

I think I have had better luck (at least bang-for-the-buck-wise) with Bibs than stars.
A 1-star in Athens was 10-year obsolete haute cuisine that could have been served anywhere (foams, foams, foams!).

Interesting that, if Le Francais were still around, it wouldn't be eligible for a star under Michelin's current standards.

Why did Michelin snub Chicago suburbs again? Guide's inspectors don't even go there anymore
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct ... story.html

{exhales}
Fine. Let Michelin defend its criterion geographically as such.
I have given up on saving everybody from crapulous dining (and drinking, and.. a lot of other stuff) Enough people will file into the venue for an expensive evening that will contribute funds to the City of Chicago, which will hopefully mean that Chicago will not have raise some local tax in order to balance its budget.

LTHF'ers, as much as this pains us to accept, some people are just not going to heed us. They're going to wind up at venues which will keenly accept their dollars (or another currency), after which the patrons which were there will describe the evening there as one of the best in their entire lives. Because, should there ever come a report that the venue at which they were was not that good, they must dismiss [& | or defend] lest their id be crushed.

This is sad; but conversely, illustrates what LTHF and, to a lesser extent Eater, are better at: We know the metropolitan area. The anonymous Michelin reviewers are not cognizant, as well as, what gnarchief scribed earlier in this thread; of the communities in metropolitan Chicago which also have quality cuisine. [Ohmigawd - my memory just clicked: Fat Johnnies on south Western Ave. has no chance of ever being mentioned in a Michelin publication. ]

That is just wrong. If I ever espy the Michelin Man needing assistance on the shoulder while I'm driving [The 1987 Chevrolet Sprint does not have Michelin tires, because Michelin sees no market for P145/80R-12 t(i|y)res.], I will not merely decline to provide such help. I will manuever to splash road wash on him as I roll on past.

ronnie_suburban wrote:It couldn't/shouldn't be of much use to any well-informed local resident, that's for sure. It's mainly a list of places where foreign visitors can feel safe both personally and culinarily.

=R=

Yeah, as a hierarchy of restaurants that are serving fussy food through classic French + modern American technique, they're fine. Michelin is not here to point travelers to Calumet Fisheries, and they're not here to serve locals. It's a travel guide/safety net for people from out of town who want a nice meal and are happy to pay up for it.

The Bibs are the group that could use the most work and could probably be expanded threefold if not more. Are Semirami's or Rainbow or L'Patron not just as consistently delicious as roughly 90% of the Bib list and well within the parameters of "affordable"? I'd argue that a lot of places like those--storefront mom and pop "this is how my grandma made it" restaurants--deserve a place in the Bibs and are truly indicative of great Chicago neighborhood restaurants worthy of repeat visits.

jhdouglass wrote:The Bibs are the group that could use the most work and could probably be expanded threefold if not more. Are Semirami's or Rainbow or L'Patron not just as consistently delicious as roughly 90% of the Bib list and well within the parameters of "affordable"? I'd argue that a lot of places like those--storefront mom and pop "this is how my grandma made it" restaurants--deserve a place in the Bibs and are truly indicative of great Chicago neighborhood restaurants worthy of repeat visits.

That's what the LTH Forum Great Neighborhood Restaurant awards are all about. I always direct food loving visitors there. It's the best guide to those types of restaurants in town!