Weekly Michelin Restaurant Bulletin 2 – August 30th 2024
NEWS
The Michelin Guide Taiwan revealed its 2024 ratings including ten new one-star restaurants and a Michelin Star for gelato and ice cream restaurant Minimal. Making it the first Michelin Star ice cream restaurant in the world. Among these, three have been promoted from last year, while seven are new entrants, highlighting the dynamic and evolving nature of Taiwan’s culinary scene. These additions underscore the island’s growing reputation as a gastronomic hotspot, with establishments like Minimal in Taichung earning accolades for their innovative approaches to traditional cuisine Taiwan now has a trio of Michelin Three Star restaurants, five Two-Michelin Star restaurants and forty One Michelin star eateries.
Shaquille O’Neal or ‘Shaq’ has been tasked by the Abu Dhabi Tourism authority to help promote the City’s restaurants. The capital city of The United Arab Emirates has made a series of videos showing ‘Shaq’ eating his way through Abu Dhabi’s restaurants. The videos will be released periodically across Visit Abu Dhabi’s social media platforms. The first video released highlights the city’s street food scene titled “Street Bites with Shaq,” which was released to the six-hundred thousand subscribers of the Visit Abu Dhabi instagram page has gathered 1,500 likes. The experience Abu Dhabi Youtube page has over three-hundred thousand subscribers.
EA Rooftop, one of the tallest Empire Towers in Bangkok, Thailand has announced its opening date of September 18 for its restaurant with a host of Michelin-Star Chefs putting their name to eateries. The 10,000m² EA Rooftop, pronounced “ey-ah”, is a multi-level culinary haven featuring 2,500m² of outdoor dining. EA Chef’s Table floor features Michelin-starred chefs and experiences such as competitions and collaborations between high-end chefs. Highlights include on the 56th floor Le Du Kaan, the first rooftop Thai restaurant by Michelin Star chef Thitid Tassanakajohn; K by Michelin Star head chef Vicky Cheng, the first overseas venture by chef Vicky Cheng and Sartoria by two-star Michelin chef Paulo Airaudo.
Over the Pacific Ocean in America, several Michelin-starred establishments have launched new locations, much to the delight of restaurant goers. One of Colorado’s top Italian restaurants, the Michelin recommended Tavernetta, is set to open a new location in the nearby ski town of Vail in partnership with The Four Seasons hotel. This expansion is part of a broader trend where Michelin-recognised restaurants are branching out to new locales, bringing their acclaimed culinary experiences to a wider audience. The first edition of the Michelin Guide Colorado, released in 2023, awarded nine restaurants, setting the stage for continued growth and recognition in the state.
High VAT tax levels blamed for Michelin-star restaurant closures in the Germany. Two months from now, Berlin’s 5th Michelin-rated restaurant will serve its last dish following a string of other restaurants in closing its shutters. The driving factor behind squeezed profit margins has been a hike in VAT imposed on restaurants by the German government in 2024, from 7 to 19%. The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East caused inflation on the cost of goods pushing up prices further too. Set to close in two months, Restaurant Ernst had been lauded by restaurant critics as one of the most exciting places to eat but the Chefs table restaurant joins four other established fine dining restaurants in closing. Michelin Guide Kin Dee (which lost its Michelin Star in 2023) closed in May this year, following in the footsteps of One Michelin Star Cordo, Michelin-Star NoName, Lode & Stijn (who had a green Michelin star, symbolising their sustainability) at the end of last year.
In a video which has gone viral on social media and online newspapers ‘travel influencer’ Chloe Jade Meltzer criticises Two Michelin Starred Mugaritz restaurant in Spain’s Basque Country as the “worst meal” of her life after spending nearly Eur 897 for three diners on the 25 course tasting menu. Chloe Jade Meltzer describes herself as a digital creator and her job as World & Lux Travel blogger. Meltzer said the meal was so bad she felt sick even remembering it, adding on TikTok: ‘The flavours were just bad, some of the produce was nice, but it seemed like this was almost a social experiment.’ Two Michelin-starred Mugaritz in Errenteria, Northern Spain is renowned for its creative menus under chef Head Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. It’s Unknown if Meltzer has any culinary background to feel emboldened to publicly criticise a restaurants cooking. Meltzer has made four Tik Tok videos about this restaurant, Part 1, Part 2, the restaurant tried to block my google review and a video about the restaurants response. The videos have a combined 10 million views.
Job of the week – Latymer Surrey – Pastry Sous Chef Helmed by renowned British Chef Steve Smith The Latymer is looking for an experienced Pastry Chef to take up the role of Pastry Sous. Ideal chef should have michelin restaurant experience and full right to work in the UK. Applications can be made online by clicking here
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