Let Michelin be your guide to fine dining! -- What, the tire company???
Written: Apr 23 '02 (Updated Jan 16 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: Thoroughly reliable guide to fine dining and hotels in Europe's major cities -- in English!
Cons: Symbols and maps take getting used to, arcane notation system
The Bottom Line: For devoted epicures and serious travelers, this book will help you plan for memorable meals and delightful stays. I recommend it very highly.
lyagushka's Full Review: Michelin Red Guide 2007 Main Cities of Europe: Hot...
I've always wondered who the lucky sods are who get to do the yearly legwork to make sure that the prestigious Michelin Guides really are as reliable as their reputation holds them to be. Having never dined in any establishment with more than one Michelin star, I can only guess that a three star dining experience must be like dying and going to heaven.
For those not familiar with The Michelin Guide's reputation, a little background. Almost 100 years ago, Michelin began to put out little booklets with recommendations for hotels and restaurants, shortly after the popularization of the automobile in Europe. This was an attempt to encourage people to take recreational trips, wear out their tires, (or tyres, since we're talking Europe here) and hence buy more tires. For reasons which remain mysterious to me, this little booklet gained enormous cache over the years. Today the Michelin guide is recognized as the foremost guide to fine dining and hotels in the western world. The bestowal of even a single star virtually assures economic success for a restaurant. Loss of a Michelin star is a devastating blow for any chef. And the Michelin Guide is known to be reliable and thoroughly up-to-date. Although the standards by which Michelin judges an establishment are public knowledge, the identities and schedules of the in-the-field raters are a closely held secret. Hence, a good rating from Michelin cannot be bought for love or money.
Michelin publishes the 'Red Guides' (hotel and restaurant guides, as opposed to their 'Green Guides', which are essentially driving guides) for most European countries or regions on a yearly basis. These sturdy little books resemble nothing so much as a church hymnal, with their hardback covers and solemn red ribbons to mark your place in the book's pages.
It takes a bit of study to be able to use these Red Guides effectively. There is an extensive array of symbols and notations used for the entries that can be a bit bewildering and daunting when first encountered. Fortunately, once mastered, your understanding of the symbols will allow you to read any of the Michelin guides quickly and without reference to language. The symbols of course, have remained constant over many years and should continue to do so.
Lest you think that the Michelin Guides cater only to moneyed gourmands, let me explain that there is a sort of 'second tier' establishment listing in these guides. While the stars refer to top-notch businesses which would have prices to match, the 'fork & spoon' establishments are those which have good food and service, but not so good as to place them among the starred elite. You may think that a 2 fork & spoon place would be nothing too special. Well, you'd be wrong. There are very few hotels and restaurants which earn so much as a single Michelin star. The really nice local restaurant in your town, the one that you would certainly make reservations for because people come from the surrounding area to eat there, the one with white linens, great service, reliably good meals and a $125 tab for two people -- that's the kind of place that gets 2 or 3 forks & spoons from Michelin. There is a system of symbols for hotels which serves the same purpose.
(To give you some idea, there are 21 restaurants in the greater London area with 1 star, 4 restaurants with 2 stars, and only one restaurant with three stars, the highest possible designation. In Berlin, no restaurant has more than one star.)
There is yet another little symbol that is useful to gourmets with an eye for a bargain. It's called the "Bib Gourmand" and it's a tiny little Michelin Man head. These notations are for really good local cheap eats with a pleasant atmosphere. These notations go to sorts of places that you go to on a regular basis because you love the food, the price is right, you don't have to wear anything fancy or make a reservation and you like the fact that it's a local business. I always keep a sharp lookout for these notations when I page through the listings for a new region.
So why buy this particular title, Main Cities of Europe? Well, it's not necessarily the best choice for someone who intends to do extensive exploration of a single, off-the-beaten-track country. Once you get out into the real hinterlands, this book will have little to offer you. In such cases, you would do better to purchase the Michelin Guide for that particular country. Obviously, if you don't care a fig for what you eat or where you lay your head at night, this book would be a waste of money. But for anyone who loves to eat, anyone who plans a memorable tour through Europe - eastern or western - this would be an invaluable guide. You've spent a lot of money to get to the place you're spending your vacation. Wouldn't you like a few reliable recommendations for where to stay and eat?
Additionally, Main Cities of Europe is printed primarily in English. Very often I've struggled to understand the entries in other Michelin guides which list the closed days in French or Italian. That's not a problem with this guide, as it seems geared toward American or British travelers. I actually used the introductory "How the Guide Works" section of this book to more thoroughly understand how all the guides work. After a few years of thinking I understand all the symbols and notations, I finally know that I do.
A typical restaurant entry in the guide begins with a symbol indicating the quality and level of comfort for an establishment. Next, the name is printed in bold, followed by the address and telephone/fax number(s). More symbols follow which indicate features of the restaurants such as outdoor seating, whether there's a non-smoking section, whether credit cards are accepted, etc. Next comes information about their hours, including winter and summer closed periods. Then, a price range for prix fixe or a la carte meals. Entries for restaurants with stars then list the specialties of the house (including wines), often by season. With the help of the symbols, all this information is crammed into 3-6 lines of text.
Entries for hotels follow a similar pattern, the symbols describing the facility and its amenities. If the hotel has a restaurant, even if the restaurant itself wouldn't normally merit inclusion in the guide, the name is given as well as pricing information.
At the beginning of the listings by country is a page with practical information such as local currency, tipping practices, speed limits, locations of tourist bureaus, etc. For each city covered in the guide there is a color map(s) with the locations of each restaurant and hotel shown. For major cities (e.g. London) major sights and attractions are briefly mentioned and there are additional guides to restaurants arranged by cuisine.
Twenty European countries are included in the Main Cities of Europe guide, but for nine of those countries only the capital city is covered. This is to be expected from the title, and those cities which are covered by the book are covered very thoroughly. Below is a list of the countries covered by this guide. I have put an asterisk by those countries for which only the capital is covered.
Austria
Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)
Czech Republic*
Denmark*
Finland*
France
Germany
Greece*
Hungary*
Republic of Ireland*
Italy
Norway*
Poland*
Portugal*
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
In closing I can only reiterate that the Michelin Guides are in a class by themselves when it comes to hotel and restaurant guidebooks. Michelin has stood the test of time and has a deserved reputation for reliable advice. I recommend this title, as well as other Michelin Red Guides, very highly indeed.
Two other, more specialized and detailed guides I can highly recommend are Faith Heller Willinger's Eating In Italy, and The Food Lover's Guide to Paris, by Patricia Wells. Both have helped me plan delightful gastronomic journeys.
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