I find these interesting... I don't take a huge amount of stock in them as a diner, but they do say something about them so it's worth paying some attention... I'm mostly familiar with Austin so seeing the list there is fun... I like the diversity of the list. The BBQ spots, the fine and not so fine dining, just side by side. It's surprising to me, I guess. Maybe I just think of Michelin as stuffy, expensive, fine dining... And clearly, it's not.
Via Open Table: The first-ever MICHELIN Bib Gourmands are out for Texas
I know my fellow food nerds had a great time at Theodore Rex in Houston a few years back. Happy that made the list.
TX Michelin Stars
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Skillet Doux
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Re: TX Michelin Stars
I don’t want to get too in the weeds with a lot of TX restaurants I don’t have experience with, but speaking broadly, the problem with Michelin these days is that they’re desperately trying NOT to be all about expensive, stuffy fine dining, but they can’t lose the old habits and sensibilities, so their downscale picks end up being this really weird, arbitrary hodgepodge of good spots, tourist traps, and picks that seem almost as though they were plucked out of obscurity to try to make a point.
I appreciate and applaud the effort to expand their scope, they just aren’t very *good* at it yet. And I would caution that my experience with these places is rather old now. But based on *my* visits, just give T-Rex a fucking star, because what’s on the plate is that good and who cares if it’s a casual little postage stamp indie. Meanwhile, Mala was solid but unexceptional Sichuan that seems like it built a name on being approachable. It’s Sichuan in a really pretty, clean, tidy room, so that’s the one that gets the nod?
Again, my experience is outdated, but if it’s similar to what they tried, it absolutely confirms the issues I mention above.
I read one criticism from a Texas food writer (can’t remember who) who was saying that the Michelin picks aren’t *bad*, it’s just that when the inspectors visit, they eat like tourists because they *are* tourists, so they end up capturing a lot of stereotypical local cuisine (BBQ) as well as okay legacy tourist traps but miss what’s really going on in the scene.
I appreciate and applaud the effort to expand their scope, they just aren’t very *good* at it yet. And I would caution that my experience with these places is rather old now. But based on *my* visits, just give T-Rex a fucking star, because what’s on the plate is that good and who cares if it’s a casual little postage stamp indie. Meanwhile, Mala was solid but unexceptional Sichuan that seems like it built a name on being approachable. It’s Sichuan in a really pretty, clean, tidy room, so that’s the one that gets the nod?
Again, my experience is outdated, but if it’s similar to what they tried, it absolutely confirms the issues I mention above.
I read one criticism from a Texas food writer (can’t remember who) who was saying that the Michelin picks aren’t *bad*, it’s just that when the inspectors visit, they eat like tourists because they *are* tourists, so they end up capturing a lot of stereotypical local cuisine (BBQ) as well as okay legacy tourist traps but miss what’s really going on in the scene.
-Dom