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I thought Michelin stars were about the whole restaurant experience, and especially the consistency. That's interesting they said it was just about the food in

I thought Michelin stars were about the whole restaurant experience, and especially the consistency. That's interesting they said it was just about the food in the video, that really opens up the award to a more contemporary foodie audience, which is interested in where to get the most delicious X, which is rarely even expensive.

skc 10y ago
Me too, but I suppose they are attempting to get with the times. There's always been an air of pretension and stodginess around the whole process. Undoubtedly the food must be excellent, but this is also a feel good story for Michelin and great PR.
sliverstorm 10y ago
Street food can have an experience too, if you open your definition of experience beyond white tablecloth
davidmr 10y ago
I think in general the hawker stands are such an integral part of the Singaporean culinary culture that, even as an homage, you'd have to honor that culture by finding the best one to give a star to. I'm certain that his food is outstanding, but it's also a good move to ingratiate yourselves with the locals as you start your business there. As an aside, I have never been anywhere with more consistently amazing food than Singapore. You can pay $300 for a fabulous meal or $7 for an almost equally fabulous one. The first time I went, I ate at a couple of high-end restaurants, but on all my subsequent trips, I've basically just wandered around and eaten at random. I've never been disappointed.
- klausa 10y ago
  Just curious - have you been to Bangkok? "Just wander around and eat at random — you have a decent chance of having one of the best meals of your life" was my impression of it — but I haven't had chance to visit Singapore yet, so I'm wondering how it compares.
  - contingencies 10y ago
    Bangkok is much cheaper and has more variety than Singapore. It has real communities from different parts of the region and the world who maintain their culture, run their own schools, and speak their own languages... not some kind of silly-Singlish with cheapened versions of iconic dishes of everywhere, like this Michelin stared foodstall selling soy sauce meat. The ignorance of western culinary practitioners to mainland Chinese cuisine is really staggering. It wouldn't surprise me if the Michelin star reviewers they used here were those "considers-self-Chinese, can't-even-properly-speak-Mandarin" Singaporeans with some kind of half western/half-Singapore restauranteur career and a Cantonese family. The first time I went to China, 15 years ago, I flew through Singapore. "Eat well here, the food in China is terrible!" my ultra-rich Chinese-Singaporean friends told me. Still in China now, and I've since been back to Singapore: how wrong they were! I just founded a mainland Chinese food-related startup...
    - princeb 10y ago
      > considers-self-Chinese, can't-even-properly-speak-Mandarin i don't think true ethnic chinese speak mandarin. that language is something that was only recently (in the grand span of chinese history) imposed upon the rest of china by a bunch of mandarins in Peking. in fact if you look at the chinese diaspora in overseas chinatowns, the predominant language might be something like cantonese. these people have avoided the homogenization that is taking place in their ancestral villages. in the straits settlements, various (mutually intelligible) subdialects of hokkien are the predominant languages among the ethnic chinese, but standardization in mother tongue education among these countries are eroding this uniqueness. > It wouldn't surprise me if the Michelin star reviewers they used here were also, the michelin guide does not use local reviewers in the first (or more) years of a guide starting up at a new city.
      - contingencies 10y ago
        Yes, what you say is true, which is the point: these people are multi-generational isolates. Therefore, from a mainland Chinese perspective, they are considered less Chinese, and their tastes (culinary or otherwise) unrepresentative. It's like, if you had an Italian grandfather you never met, never having visited Italy and literally unable to speak any Italian, you visit Sicily once on holiday, pick up a few words, return to the US, and open a Sicilian food truck declaring it 'traditional' and yourself 'true ethnic Sicilian', serving only one type of pasta.
twoodfin 10y ago
At least nominally this is not true: Michelin claims that stars are only earned based on the quality of the cuisine, not the comfort or service of the establishment. Now, Michelin "inspectors" are human and certainly still susceptible to our usual cognitive biases, like food tasting "better" if it's eaten with a vermeil fork. And the economics of the restaurant industry make it difficult to profitably produce the kind of meal that earns Michelin stars without charging so much that your customers will demand a certain level of ambiance and service. It will be interesting to see if this is a one-off for the Guide, or represents the start of a shift away from the dominance of 7+ course, white tablecloth places.
- xorgar831 10y ago
  Looks like the stars are for the food and the forks and spoons are for everything else accoding to this anonymous inspector interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2YpV2442w&t=3m42s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2YpV2442w&t=3m42s
beachstartup 10y ago
> and especially the consistency what about a hawker stall would prevent the achievement of consistent results? to me, in a smaller area there are fewer variables to control, ensuring a more consistent level of quality.
jghn 10y ago
That has been changing over time. Traditionally there was a bias towards the classic french style restaurant for exactly that reason. As dining trends have changed over time there's been a push to focus more on just the food.

skc 10y ago

Me too, but I suppose they are attempting to get with the times. There's always been an air of pretension and stodginess around the whole process. Undoubtedly the food must be excellent, but this is also a feel good story for Michelin and great PR.

sliverstorm 10y ago

Street food can have an experience too, if you open your definition of experience beyond white tablecloth

davidmr 10y ago

I think in general the hawker stands are such an integral part of the Singaporean culinary culture that, even as an homage, you'd have to honor that culture by finding the best one to give a star to. I'm certain that his food is outstanding, but it's also a good move to ingratiate yourselves with the locals as you start your business there. As an aside, I have never been anywhere with more consistently amazing food than Singapore. You can pay $300 for a fabulous meal or $7 for an almost equally fabulous one. The first time I went, I ate at a couple of high-end restaurants, but on all my subsequent trips, I've basically just wandered around and eaten at random. I've never been disappointed.

klausa 10y ago
Just curious - have you been to Bangkok? "Just wander around and eat at random — you have a decent chance of having one of the best meals of your life" was my impression of it — but I haven't had chance to visit Singapore yet, so I'm wondering how it compares.
- contingencies 10y ago
  Bangkok is much cheaper and has more variety than Singapore. It has real communities from different parts of the region and the world who maintain their culture, run their own schools, and speak their own languages... not some kind of silly-Singlish with cheapened versions of iconic dishes of everywhere, like this Michelin stared foodstall selling soy sauce meat. The ignorance of western culinary practitioners to mainland Chinese cuisine is really staggering. It wouldn't surprise me if the Michelin star reviewers they used here were those "considers-self-Chinese, can't-even-properly-speak-Mandarin" Singaporeans with some kind of half western/half-Singapore restauranteur career and a Cantonese family. The first time I went to China, 15 years ago, I flew through Singapore. "Eat well here, the food in China is terrible!" my ultra-rich Chinese-Singaporean friends told me. Still in China now, and I've since been back to Singapore: how wrong they were! I just founded a mainland Chinese food-related startup...
  - princeb 10y ago
    > considers-self-Chinese, can't-even-properly-speak-Mandarin i don't think true ethnic chinese speak mandarin. that language is something that was only recently (in the grand span of chinese history) imposed upon the rest of china by a bunch of mandarins in Peking. in fact if you look at the chinese diaspora in overseas chinatowns, the predominant language might be something like cantonese. these people have avoided the homogenization that is taking place in their ancestral villages. in the straits settlements, various (mutually intelligible) subdialects of hokkien are the predominant languages among the ethnic chinese, but standardization in mother tongue education among these countries are eroding this uniqueness. > It wouldn't surprise me if the Michelin star reviewers they used here were also, the michelin guide does not use local reviewers in the first (or more) years of a guide starting up at a new city.
    - contingencies 10y ago
      Yes, what you say is true, which is the point: these people are multi-generational isolates. Therefore, from a mainland Chinese perspective, they are considered less Chinese, and their tastes (culinary or otherwise) unrepresentative. It's like, if you had an Italian grandfather you never met, never having visited Italy and literally unable to speak any Italian, you visit Sicily once on holiday, pick up a few words, return to the US, and open a Sicilian food truck declaring it 'traditional' and yourself 'true ethnic Sicilian', serving only one type of pasta.

twoodfin 10y ago

At least nominally this is not true: Michelin claims that stars are only earned based on the quality of the cuisine, not the comfort or service of the establishment. Now, Michelin "inspectors" are human and certainly still susceptible to our usual cognitive biases, like food tasting "better" if it's eaten with a vermeil fork. And the economics of the restaurant industry make it difficult to profitably produce the kind of meal that earns Michelin stars without charging so much that your customers will demand a certain level of ambiance and service. It will be interesting to see if this is a one-off for the Guide, or represents the start of a shift away from the dominance of 7+ course, white tablecloth places.

xorgar831 10y ago
Looks like the stars are for the food and the forks and spoons are for everything else accoding to this anonymous inspector interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2YpV2442w&t=3m42s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2YpV2442w&t=3m42s

beachstartup 10y ago

> and especially the consistency what about a hawker stall would prevent the achievement of consistent results? to me, in a smaller area there are fewer variables to control, ensuring a more consistent level of quality.

jghn 10y ago

That has been changing over time. Traditionally there was a bias towards the classic french style restaurant for exactly that reason. As dining trends have changed over time there's been a push to focus more on just the food.