[France] Michelin 2022 is out!

New 1 *

Paris
Granite, Paris (1er) Auberge Nicolas Flamel, Paris (3e)
Ogata, Paris (3e)
AT, Paris (5e)
Contraste, Paris (8e)
Il Carpaccio, Paris (8e)
Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée, Paris (8e)
FIEF, Paris (11e)
Bellefeuille - Saint James Paris, Paris (16e)
Don Juan II, Paris (16e)
Substance, Paris (16e)
Sushi Shunei, Paris (18e)

Elsewhere in France
Le Gavrinis, Baden (56)
Restaurant Hostellerie Cèdre & Spa, Beaune (21)
L’Alter-Native, Béziers (34)
La Rotonde - Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz (64)
La Table d’Asten, Binic (22)
Auberge du Vert Mont, Boeschepe (59)
La Bastide de Capelongue, Bonnieux (84)
Maison Nouvelle, Bordeaux (33)
L’Embrun, Brest (29)
Château de Beaulieu - Chistophe Dufossé, Busnes (62)
Le Favori - Les Sources de Cheverny, Cheverny (41)
Ekaitza, Ciboure (64)
Sylvestre Wahid - Les Grandes Alpes, Courchevel (73)
Origine, Dijon (21)
Le 1862 - Les Glycines, Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (24)
Le 1825 - La Table gastronomique, Gesté (49)
Le Kléber - La Maison Bonnet, Grane (26)
Sources, Lorient (56)
Une Table au Sud, Marseille (13)
Jardin des Sens, Montpellier (34)
La Dame de Pic - Le 1920, Megève (74)
La Maison dans le Parc, Nancy (54)
Hélène Darroze à Villa La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade (13)
Ceto, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (06)
Les Belles Perdrix de Troplong Mondot, Saint-Émilion (33)
Ronan Kervarrec - Le Saison, Saint-Grégoire (35)
La Chabotterie, Montréverd (85)
La Tête en l’Air, Vannes (56)
Le Grand Contrôle, Versailles (78)

New 2 **

Bommes (33)
Lalique

Nîmes (30)
Duende

Paris (1er)
Palais Royal Restaurant

Paris (12ème)
Table - Bruno Verjus

Paris (16ème)
L’Oiseau Blanc

Monaco (98)
Le Blue Bay

New 3 ***

Cassis (13)
La Villa Madie
Chef Dimitri Droisneau

Paris (1er)
Plénitude - Cheval Blanc Paris
Chef Arnaud Donckele

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Of the ones I am familiar (almost all Paris) with and the many that did not receive stars, it looks to me as though Michelin is going back to being very heavy for those restaurants where tourists feel comfortable. In recent years up to this, I had felt that Michelin had gotten away from that weighting and was going more heavily on pure quality.

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On my first trip to Paris in 2019 we had a wonderful first lunch at L’Oiseau Blanc. I thought everything from the decor, service to the food and wine was first rate. I wondered why it had no Michelin stars because I thought it was quite worthy. So, I figured I just must not have sophisticated “Michelin”
taste. A few months later it got its first star. OK, taste validated. I noticed the menu got a complete revamp with higher prices to match. Now it has its second star. This must mean a lot to them.

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Can you elaborate on this? Safe? Cossetted? Impressed by surroundings and service?

I can’t remember a restaurant in France where I have felt uncomfortable except for one impromptu sloping sidewalk “terrace” table where I felt I might slide to the ground at any moment.

I think a lot of weight must be given to surroundings and service, also places where you’ll find a fair number of other tourists as opposed to almost all locals.

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Just to clarify, I’m not criticizing the restaurants awarded stars, but rather noting that there are plenty of others of equal interest that don’t receive stars.

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From the local press, the criticism is on lack of recognition of potential restaurants in all the French major cities, except Paris.

To be noted, Arnaud Donckele’s Plénitude obtained 3 stars from zero in 2021, one of the fastest promotion in the Michelin history, besides Yannick Alléno.

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Anyone has tried this new sushi place?

Well perceived and described. I never thought of it that way but that speaks volumes to our response to many one-stars.

I wonder if it’s not chicken or egg. Do tourist follow stars or do stars follow tourists?

When a local place starts to see a lot of tourists, locals will move on to elsewhere.

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I know that its only tangentially related to the topic but, since I’m interested in the side conversation that’s been happening, I’ll add to it. My wife and I have always, in our travels, seen our dining choices as a balancing act. Although there are days where we want to immerse ourselves in a “genuine” local place and not run into other Brooklynites (or tourists in general) & there are other days where we genuinely want to be amongst other tourists (really, there are those days), most of the time we “balance” where we go so that we’re not the only non-locals nor are we in a tourist destination. And I don’t specifically mean that we do this in France… we do this in our domestic travels too, especially in places that are ethnically specific (Chinese, Indian, East European, African, etc). Many years ago, when we were younger and CH was just starting, there was a strong “pioneer” ethos around, where folks wanted to “discover” a place. You know, like Columbus “discovered” America. For us, for several reasons, those days are gone & good riddance. I guess what I’m saying is that we weigh, as variables, the environment of a place & how we’re feeling that day. Not above the food, but as a serious consideration before we go. Getting back to the main thread topic, I wonder if Michelin weighs these variables more in big cities/tourist destination places then we think. Too bad if they do, because (in my opinion) that defeats the purpose of a restaurant “guide”. Let the place speak & let the consumer “add in” whatever other considerations they may personally have.

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Indeed. But to what extent do local pay heed to Michelin today?

When we’re out, we like to savor the place. It’s our intent not to influence the ambiance of a room by our presence. Low profile, quiet voices. It’s hard to do that among celebrating visitors.

As onzieme can hopefully attest to, I think I can pull that off & have. However, my 3rd grade teacher commented on my report card “his voice carries”. And, as you know, I’m not the shy/reserved type. But I do get it. Obviously, your approach is definitely in line with the atmosphere at, say, Korus or Fulgurances, but I also enjoy a dinner at Chez L’Ami Jean, where even the locals are talking to adjacent tables & the room is generally loud.

If only more teachers had taken time to make a student aware of it. I really think many/most people are totally unaware of the timbre or decibels of their normal speaking voice. Some voices while not loud just carry, and in doing so dictate the tenor of an area.

Very often while out for dinner, husband will say, “Speak up! I can’t hear you.” And rather than raise my voice to compete with the ambient noise, I usually just wait 'til later unless it really needs to be said then and there. It gets into a yelling match.

Donckele was already a 3-star chef at the resto of Hotel Cheval Blanc Saint Tropez so maybe not so surprising that he gets 3 stars so quickly for Plénitude at the Cheval Blanc Paris.

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Speaking as a local, it’s very much a matter of economics. A Michelin star almost always means a huge price increase and, unless it’s expense account entertaining, I and almost every one I know never consider a restaurant above 100€ except for a very special occasion. Vibe is also very important and very few Michelin stars have “soul”. I can only think of La Condesa and Virtus, both 1-star (and both under 100€).

Indeed the more the stars, the more subdued and more reverential the vibe becomes. I sometimes enjoy the theatre of a starry restaurant (thank you, expense account) but I miss the sense of “joie” that you find in less rarified places.

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Absolutely agree. Must also note that, dining among locals in France, the French are able (if not always) to express joie under 90 decibels.
I often quote one of your best Chow lines: “The French like to enjoy their meal, not yours.”

We should also note that size matters. Our favorite rooms have been tiny, as few as 10-12 sears, maybe 16, with 24 the norm. A super loud table drastically altered the room.

I agree with both of your posts, although I have been to several restaurants in Paris, Lyon & Provence where the volume rivaled anyplace in NYC & where the noise was not from non-locals. Since we, as I said above, go out to a very wide range of places (for a wide range of reasons/moods), norms vary & we adjust to the context.
And, as an aside, Detour was an example (for us, anyway) where she went out of her way to not only have us try to guess the ingredients in the dishes, but did so by involving adjacent tables, who were strangers to one another, in the process. That got us talking to others throughout the meal, something we never would have done otherwise at a small place like that. And, we were the only non-French speaking couple there at the time (I don’t know if the others were from Paris or elsewhere).