Michelin Guide is out. Nope, no star for Next. Chef Achatz will have to be content with his 3 stars for Alinea. Not surprised actually though. Why the snub? Who knows. There’s been some speculation lately that Next wouldn’t get a star because the menu is always changing and you could have entirely different meals quality-wise because of it. Since no one really knows what Michelin looks for any guess is just that…a guess. Bottom line is they didn’t give it any stars. Deal with it Next fans.
To sum it up, we lost a 3 star from last year but that also wasn’t very surprising in my opinion. L20 earned 3 star status last year but its chef left (the day last year’s Michelin guide came out actually). I think people will be upset it lost TWO stars and dropped to a 1 star but if you have to bring in a new chef that’s got to affect the kitchen. Avenues closed so that’s off the list and no one replaced it. Two 1 star restaurants dropped off the list and two replaced them. In all we “lost” 4 stars mainly due to a restaurant closing and a chef leaving. Not horrible, but disappointing. By that I mean I am a little disappointed there weren’t any more new ones and that no 1 stars earned a second. You always want to see your city shine. Hopefully some of our eager, ambitious chefs noticed that too!
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Alinea
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Charlie Trotter’s, Ria
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Blackbird, Boka, Bonsoiree, Courtright’s, Everest, Graham Elliott, Longman & Eagle, L20, Moto, NAHA, Schwa, Seasons, Sepia, Spiaggia, Takashi, Topolobampo, Tru, Vie
The Roaming GastroGnome 