roosterchef21

This is in my top 5 restaurants I want to dine at!

Hey everyone. Just wondering if someone could give me a list of the rising stars in the 2008 Michelin Guide. I'm in Australia atm and can't get a copy (well I can... But after postage & handling it will cost close to $200! Damn exchange rate!) Thanks guys!

That's a good point!

I think its a global crisis. Quite simply the average punter can't afford to go out to dinner. For the average family with a mortgage of say $250k, 2 kids going to school, petrol prices been so high and the weekly shopping bill increasing seemingly no end, it becomes very hard to make ends meet let alone find the money to have a nice meal. I think that most of the business at restaurants at least in the past 3 months are likely to have been regulars/Foodies, business people or Dinks (Dual income no kids). Some of my peers in the industry have noticed the same thing. One of the first things that most people will cut back on to save a buck or two is eating out.

I figured Ducasse, Savoy & Robuchon because they are pretty well known outside of Europe. They all seem to get more media coverage than most of the other 3 stars outside of europe. We thought about flying into Rome but the airline's want to charge us $AU20000+ for two people! I guess because they have to use two airlines.... We will fly into London instead. It's only $5000 for 2! Have to go to Venice. Especially since it's our first trip to Italy so.... Have no interest in Milan this time around... We would drive but there is only one driver between us.

I wasn't aware that restaurants closed at this time of year. In France restaurants are open pretty much all year round apart from some that close for summer holidays in August (i.e. the whole of August). But these tend to be in the big cities like Paris - all the locals head for the beach and so do the restauranteurs, shopkeeper etc. And as the crowds are heading for the beach/countryside the restaurants in holiday areas won't be closed. Apart from that restaurants will be open normal hours, and simply close for the main holidays, easter, christmas, and some public holidays. Some traditional and *** restaurants don't open at weekends, but many do. Obviously there are more tourists in the summer than earlier in the year as the weather is far better. Peak tourist season is July/August. I would go for May/June because the weather in Mar/April is less predictable. As a tourist yourself it is tricky to avoid restaurants full of "obnoxious" tourist because good restaurants in tourist spots will be full of tourists (and Paris for example is one big tourist destination). When you know where you are going research the board and you should avoid the "tourist traps" and stand a chance of eating more "local". If you really want to avoid tourists you need to go to non-tourist places out in the countryside. ← I was looking at the michelin site and some of the restaurants I was looking at (L'Ambroisie, L'Astrance, Olivier Roellinger's & Michel Bras) were closed for the beginning of march. I suspect they would be open by the end of march... With tourist traps, I'm trying to avoid most of the obvious ones (Ducasse, Savoy & Robuchon) and scouring the board for places to go. My favourites for the main event restaurants are Maisons des Bricourt, L'Ambroisie, Ledoyen, Arpege & Pierre Gagnaire. Michel Bras, L'Arnsbourg & Veyrat would be right up there if they weren't such a pain to get to! Sticking to trains as transport so if there is a stop nearby... I don't mind some tourists but.... The plan is Rome, Florence, Venice, Lyon (I might end up going to Veyrat so Annecy would be between Venice & Lyon. Trains seem like a problem though), Nice, Bordeaux, Cancale then Paris.

I'm planning a trip to France & Italy for next year. I'm looking at about 10 days in italy and 18 days in France. I'm wondering which period I should look at coming over for. Either Mar-Apr or May-Jun. I also have couple of questions. I can probably afford to eat at/want to eat at two or three 3 stars and a couple of 2 stars. Will many/any restaurants be closed around any of these times? I think a few reopen at the end of March (which is when I would be leaving Australia) but do many stay closed into April? I'm actually mainly looking at eating traditional food but since I'm over there may as well make the most of it.... Tourist wise, will there be more in May-Jun? I don't want to fly out of Australia to see more Australians if you know what I mean! Also, if I am dining out I don't want many obnoxious tourists in the same room as me! I know this is the wrong site for it, but are many sights closed over any of the periods? Thanks everyone! PS.... Picking which restaurants to go to is insane. I want to go to them all! lol!

Fairly self explanatory topic. Which season is your favourite for food and to dine in? I don't mean truffle season, asparagus season etc etc! LOL! I mean Autumn, winter spring or summer? What do you look forward to most in each season? Any restaurants/chef who you think are especially good in each season?

That's a tough question.... Thinking about it I probably wouldn't want to work in a top place anymore. I've already practically killed myself doing the fine diner thing in the past. Having said that... (This is kind of like picking the players you would want in the football team you support!) Michel Bras, Marc Veyrat & Olivier Roellinger. Also up there would be Passard & Pacaud. The places I'd really love to work are the places that do simple peasant food & regional stuff really well...

I think that's the thing... I can't seem to pick myself and put myself back into this industry whole heartedly. When the passion for cooking dies..... At least day in day out...

Thanks! I know I'd much rather go to bakeries, cafe's restaurants etc that are really pushing boundaries than go to an old dinosaur.

Hey everyone! Considering most people on here are fairly avid diners and have an obvious interest in food (if you don't then you took a really bad turn when searching for the latest football results on google!), what/who do you think are the next generation of stars in France? I don't just mean two stars waiting to become three stars, I also mean the local restaurant waiting for their first star or the new bakery/patisserie who are producing some really good stuff etc etc. I'm sure there are similar threads to this one but I haven't managed to find one!

Just to clarify, I pressed charges for the murder thing at another establishment. The shoulder reconstruction and bullying also happened at other places. What I was saying was that I really don't think I can pick myself up again like I used to and put myself back in the industry with my whole heart. It's been pretty cruel to me.... I'm not the chef but I am their boss. The problem is that they have been at the place for so long they are part of the furniture and if they were sacked my life would be hell from staff in the other departments. It's written into my contract that I am allowed to take disciplinary action inc sacking of staff but as I said.... I love most of the people I work with atm. The chef de cuisine & sous chef are great, the apprentices are pretty nice if a little bit bratty and front of house are nice enough. I have a pretty thick skin but after the kinghit, the bullying and the shoulder reconstruction I feel like my passion and dedication has taken a big hit. I used to have it (obviously after going what I've been through) but the spark seems to have floated away. Work feels like a chore not a lifestyle & a blast. I'm fairly certain I am getting out... at least for a little while but need some advice on what path I should take. Thanks for your thoughts guys.

God.... I went back into this thread and realised that I must have cut and pasted the wrong bit. So I am adjusting editing and changing this to make it easier to read. It's hard to type when the lightbulb blew and you don't have the right sort of lightbulb for the socket! I sit here writing this with doubts floating through my head. I know that I love food and love the people in the industry but something seems amiss. I've only been a chef for 6 years but in the last 6 weeks I have fallen into a hole I can't seem to get out of. I have found myself restless, feeling like I am stuck, drinking more and just feeling downright sick and sad. I'm fairly sure that other chef's/waiter's/industry people have felt this way and I am seeking advice. I am working with a very talented, passionate individual who albeit being quite intense has taught me a lot. But it is not enough. His passion is infectious but it is not rubbing off on me. Logically it should be making me more motivated for work but it seems to be driving me away. I have realised that I don't have anywhere near as much talent as most other chef's, I don't have the passion I used to, am newly married and haven't had a day off with my wife in a month, noticed that my knees are starting to go and am really feeing my body lately. I have come through a lot to become a chef. Namely: 1. Attempted murder by another group of staff members 2. Multiple shoulder dislocations which resulted in a shoulder reconstruction 3. Bullying at work - walkman stolen, jacket drawn on and ripped, pictures hung on walls of me with abusive messages etc... I have wanted to quit after each of these esp the murder one but have managed to get myself back. This time however it just seems a lot different. Something is missing. So, My options are: 1. Do my pastry chef's apprenticeship - I'm not sure this is what I need but it's an option I guess 2. Do my Bachelor of Business with Dual Majors in Tourism & Marketing/International Business - Still in the industry but an office job. Which would be fine as long as the job keeps me interested. 3. Do my Bachelor of Business/Bachelor of Arts - Let's me get into either business or journalism. Journalism would be interesting because I could do food writing. But I can't write. 4. Bachelor of Education - I can teach high school kids about food & hopefully get them interested in the industry. 5. Become a Paramedic - Talk about job satisfaction! But a bit traumatic. I am relatively inexperienced and need advice or ideas! Help! Thanks guys!

In that case, please delete the rest of my posts on this thread, not just the Japan ones, as many of the three stars I discuss in my list are not in France. Come to think of it, why is a thread on worldwide 3-stars doing in this forum anyway? ← Don't complain about the thread... It had an original intent on what people thought were the "great" and "not so great" three stars and has ended up as something else. Also there is no general Europe forum and since most 3 stars are in France it made sense to put it here. I mean we could say about the World's 50 best thread in the UK & Ireland forum and I'm sure there are plenty of others.

There is so many incorrect reports then on the net! LOL! 2 stars is good... means I might be able to convince my wife to go because she has limited how many 3 stars I can go to when I come over in May!

I thought it had 3 for the past couple of years?

Hey everyone. Just looking through the Michelin sight and noticed that Mugaritz only has 2 stars. Did they lose one? Or is it just a typo?

The thing I find most interesting about this thread is that some restaurants are regularly rated by a lot of people as great whereas there are certain restaurants that some people think are great which others think are bad. Does that make the ones that are regularly rated as great are more approachable... or just better? I really hope this makes sense!

Not for a trip. I figured 1 month is a good number to go with just to see what opinions are. It's not too short (like a week) and not too long (Like 3 months)!

So what do you think an average person could handle over a 4 week period? One or two 2-3 stars a week? Or more? Despite the obvious financial constraints.....

That was the point of his thread. It's a combined effort from everyone on here to give readers who haven't had a chance to go to a 3 star place some idea on where is worth it.

So so far Ledoyen, L'Arpege and L'Ambroisie are regulars in the great category and De Karmeliet is a regular in the bad. Keep it going guys!

That's pretty good with wines... And the wines were pretty good ← lol!

That's pretty good with wines...