An Asterisk Worth Ignoring

And Two Restaurants Worth Exploring

The Michelin company is worth 21.3 billion dollars. Their annual revenue would make them the 119^th richest country in the world, somewhere between Armenia and Guinea.  And yet, they cosplay like desperate street urchins, their tiny French palms outstretched, entreating governments on bended knee for millions of dollars to subsidize their side hustle. 

Maybe you think of the Michelin restaurant rating guide as a main squeeze. But it is not. They are a royally rich rubber merchant. In 1900 the brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin created the guide to encourage automobile travel and thus desire for their main product, tires.

As the demand for wheels has risen, the fortunes of publishing have fallen. No longer content to see the guide as a loss leader, the company did what so many billion dollar companies at a crossroads do.

They hired a team of twenty-something recent college grads with no experience and paid them millions of dollars in return for a Powerpoint presentation telling them an answer they could have gleaned from their own intelligent workforce for free. They hired a consulting firm, Accenture, who advised that Michelin should charge the municipalities for the coverage and prestige their ratings bring. 

They hit Thailand up for $4.4 million. South Korea ponied up over one million dollars.  Israel is paying 1.6 million for the privilege of their gaze. 

Until 2019, no American cities were charged for Michelin’s anointment until California’s tourism board coughed up $600,000 to woo Michelin back to the golden state.

The legal weed economy in Denver and local ski towns must also be booming because they threw another $400,000 or so Michelin’s way. 

America is the land for pay to play. We expect these things. Dollars can but don’t exactly mean corruption. Certainly, no amount of lucre could sway the principled intellectual snouts of Gallic nobles? 

But, according to a recent New York times article, great restaurants were ignored or remained unrated by the guides in certain cases because they were located a few miles outside of the Denver city limits in towns that did not pay Michelin its tribute. 

Because Michelin has recently released a preview of the new Chicago bib gourmands and will be releasing the newest results this month, I informally spoke with a bunch of chefs about Michelin recently. 

Some other revelations from those conversations included that if you earn a rating and you’re judged to be fairly consistent, Michelin may not visit again for a few years and allow you to retain the rating.

I mean I guess it’s fine to make assumptions on one’s past experience. Then again Tom Brady and Anna Wintour and a lot of others worshipped at the alter of Cryptojesus Sam Bankman Fried, a now convicted fraudulent felon.

As evidenced by my recent experience at Asador Bastian, consistency is a daily business, not a once in an every four year one. A restaurant that gets three or four stars, especially given how expensive human capital is, often jettisons their all-hands on-deck plan once the reviews are in. 

Michelin often tells restaurants their approximate review time period, basically, signaling, hey if you suck, definitely don’t suck during November, because like a plague of rats we are coming to your town.   

This should not matter because Michelin inspectors are supposed to be anonymous, independent, and unknown. 

While this may be true, the very best restaurants in the world Google their reservation books every day. Because it’s 2023 everyone has an internet fingerprint of some kind.  If you don’t, that likely means you don’t exist, I.e. you are using a very bad pseudonym.   

Restaurants that research their books and don’t find a web presence automatically flag you. Michelin inspectors are known to often dine solo. Are you a solo diner not findable on the internet?  You are automatically suspicious as a potential Michelin inspector, especially if you shows up with a different name than the one on the reservation and/or the one on the credit card with which you pay your bill. 

If a town ponies up hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions and they don’t have any great restaurants, do you think Michelin is going to risk that financial relationship by saying there’s nothing worth eating here?  No, they will inflate ratings or grant the red headed stepchildren coveted family first born status to keep the train running. 

Michelin has also gotten in to brand deals. So what? Well, S. Pellegrino sponsors the World’s 50 Best restaurants, and guess what the number one sparkling water poured at most of the top restaurants in the world is? 

Is this an accident? I don’t think so. I’ve talked to chefs who say while there isn’t an explicit pay for play, there is active encouragement, and some spots have even seen ratings increase after adding the water to their beverage programs. 

So many deconstructed or gourmet mac and cheese offerings are woefully gluey at many restaurants, so it wouldn’t be the most awful thing if Kraft mandated Michelin guide selections serve the blue box stuff, but also this is not right. 

To their credit, Michelin, at least locally, has maintained some credibility by identifying places local folks missed completely, Dolo being one example. But they often miss other great places too.

If a town only pays you a paltry hundred thousand dollars, how many inspectors would you send anyway?  Likely one or two max, which means the ratings may also reflect an individual palate and not a team of experts. 

But, Mike you say, you’re just one guy, a truly idiosyncratic palate. You’re no better than Michelin. This is absolutely true, something I often fully disclose as I did in this list of my personal best restaurants in Chicago.  But, also, I recognize this, celebrate it, and never hide it. I also don’t take money and avoid free meals, which I do believe gives me more credibility. 

I recognize you’re here for the story, the twist, the unfettered opinion and not necessarily my personal taste, although by following my history, you may also trust my palate. But, I make no bones about these things. I do not argue that I matter.

I am a footnote in the food world. Michelin may not be, but it is curious that what is most coveted by restaurants are their “stars”.

Look closer though.

That’s not a star. It’s an asterisk, which as we know often denotes minor things, asides, or an explanation of something you’d probably rather hide. So for all those folks who don’t get recognized by the guide this year, and frankly especially the ones who do, ask yourself, do you really want an asterisk on the wall of your business from a tire company anyway?  

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Michelin has not released their full 2023 ratings, but they did announce the newest Chicago bib gourmand additions, so we know the spots that opened in the last year who did not make the list.

It’s possible Ragadan wasn’t open yet during the 2023 review period, but I fundamentally believe that if it were it should have made the Bib list. The prices are great, the food is great, and owner Danny Sweis is busting his ass. 

As you probably know I already wrote earlier this year about Sweis’s falafel. Going back to a restaurant I’ve visited more than once in a short period is something I don’t usually have the chance or budget to do (unless it’s Lee’s Chop Suey or great Thai takeout). 

I also try to be as transparent as a window, but lately I’ve experienced a few life events that I’m not quite ready to talk about (will say, sharing my work with your friends and or giving a discounted annual gift subscription (link below) during the holidays would help alleviate some of this stress- see I too can beg like Michelin 😊), so I’ve been digging deep on comfort food and Ragadan has some of the best around. 

My visit to Ragadan was also another experiment in the power of social media – if you’re a small operator, don’t spend that money on PR. Spend it on yourself or a real objective partner who can really tell your story well on the hot platforms. I knew Ragadan had burgers, but I had no idea about their Patty Melt x Ka’aK sandwich. But for a couple weeks I watched Sweis post these mesmerizing cheese pulls and crusty bun shots of the thing and literal drool plonked on to my iPhone screen. 

ragadanrestaurant

A post shared by @ragadanrestaurant

The whole thing is two 4oz caramelized beef patties on a sesame Ka'ak Loaf dripping with American Cheese, griddled Onion, bell Pepper, and pickled Jalapeno roofed with hickory smoked bacon and a za’atar mayo and mustard slather. 

The roll is like if a Big Mac Bun and a crusty sub roll had a love child. The interior is a middle-eastern and Mexican-smooched riff on the diner classic, a melange of bright acidity and soul-blanketing richness. 

Wash it all down with a baklava infused milkshake.

What? Yeah, that’s right and unlike the Portillo’s cake shake which seems like an Edisonian genius level idea but always failed because the cake bits texturally felt like phlegm to me, the baklava retains its crunch and the honey compliments the ice cream well. 

Also of note lately, Baker Miller’s rebirth, aka Bagel Miller. I finally broke down and tried their offerings. The blueberry oat muffin was so loaded with fruit, I wondered if a Smurf had perished inside the mixer used to create the batter. In case it’s not clear, while bad for the Smurf, this is a good thing for those used to parsimonious berry muffin infusions.  

The “everything” bagel had a lot of the usual spice profile, but a surprising flaked oat bling as well. Usually bagels are superior hot, and though I got mine delivery in the morning and the bagel had to travel a few miles, it was still warm to the touch. What was interesting is that I ate it then, and then broke in to one later that night after maybe taking a gummy before watching four episodes of Gilmore Girls. Cool to the touch, the bread structure had somehow opened up even more. The late night snack was extraordinary. 

Ragadan is located at 4409 N. Broadway in Chicago

Bagel Miller is located at 4655 N. Lincoln in Chicago