OK, I'm too lazy to buy the guide myself, but is anyone aware of any 4 star Michelin restaurants in either of those cities? I'll be there in April and I want to splurge on my wife.
And in case neither city has a 4 star restaurant... any recommendations for a 3 star?
I believe the highest Michelin goes is three stars. Bon Appetit:
Hi Tom: I've got good news and bad news: the good news is you don't have to buy the Michelin Guide Rouge, unbeknownst to many the Michelin ratings of restaurants and hotels is now accessible online at ViaMichelin.com--there are a couple of tips that facilitate your unlocking this storehouse of info for finding good restaurants (see instructions below). The bad news: as Michael said, there is no such thing as a Michelin 4 star restaurant, the top Michelin rating is 3 stars, there were about 26 3-star restaurants in all of France in 2007, and there are no 3-stars in Brussels. The best we can do for you in Brussels is three Michelin 2-star restaurants:Comme Chez SoiBruneauSea Grill (unlikely name but well rated)Go here, the source of Michelin ratings, they've been doing it in Europe for over a century http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
select Tourism tab at top
for location input exactly 1000 Bruxelles
check Red Guide Selections and the star selection below it
the resulting search will give you the distance from city centerarray by distancescroll down to the right for lots of info on each restaurant, look for the 3 ** I listed above.
Thanks. I guess the movie "Ratatouille" must have infected my brain into believing that Michelin gives 4 stars... or maybe I had it confused with Zagat.
With it's growing reputation as one of the food capitals of Europe, I was surprised that Brussels doesn't have any top-rated restaurants. (I've eaten at Bruges' only three star, De Karmeliet, and it was INCREDIBLE!).
One more question about this star system. I'm guessing there has to be a certain minimum level of quality to even qualify for a single star?
Tom: Answering your last question, yes, absolutely, the minimum quality level for one star is pretty high. For many of us, a splurge restaurant will have one Michelin star. Americans tend to think of "one star" as mediocre--way wrong regarding the Michelin rating system.A one star in France, for dinner (not lunch) will generally be at least $75/person.I don't claim to know the details of all this, and I don't claim to know much about good food, but part of the trick is knowing whose opinions matter, if you're going to spend serious money in Europe on food. There are plenty of restaurants that will take your $50 or $75 per person and deliver only average food, and knowing how to use the Michelin system helps you get your money's worth. Michelin has been rating restaurants and hotels in Europe for over a century. An example with numbers will help illustrate the point: out of all Paris in 2008 the Michelin hard bound Guide Rouge lists about 350 restaurants, these you could say are Michelin rated, but of the 350 that are Michelin rated or recommended, only 40 of those were awarded 1 star, 15 had 2 stars, and 9 (in 2008) had 3 stars. 64 restaurants in all of Paris with one or more stars. Many cities have no 3 star restaurant, not just Brussels, another that comes to mind is Venice. Of course it's just opinion, but in Europe Michelin has established--over the last hundred years--an authoritative opinion for rating restaurants and hotels that is respected by Europeans. (we've had people here say, "Michelin, don't they just make tires?")People often write in here looking to spend money on a splurge restaurant, say in France, and if you're going to spend more than $75/person, my feeling is they should at least be aware that the Michelin ratings are out there; and these days accessible for free online, for those who care to sample what European experts consider to be good food.
Kent - how do you know what number to put in front of the city name in order to pull up the listings?
For example: when I try to pull up listings in NYC it says nothing found. That can't be right. Do I need to put "1000 New York City" or something like that since you did that with Brussels?
Thanks!
"for those who care to sample what European experts consider to be good food." And from a non-food expert, I can verify that my one experience with a Michelin-starred restaurant was a meal that I will never forget.
Tom: Exactly. What they (Michelin) say is that they focus on rating what is on the plate, and not the interior decor, service, etc. Zagats and others rating US restaurants, I think, do consider and separately rate service, decor, etc--with service being considered more important (I have a feeling) by US customers in US restaurants, than it is in the Michelin ratings of European restaurants. Michelin in Europe tries to focus on evaluating the quality of what's on the plate--and your experience is consistent with that.
