France: Michelin Red Guide's 100th Edition
 

First published in 1900 the august and venerated by many Michelin Red Guide has issued its 100 the edition (annual guide was suspended during WWII).

the newest editon features about 8,500 establishments and has 2,000 pages!

Of course the Red Guide (and Green more sightseeing oriented Michelin Guide) uses its famous * ** or *** 1-3 star system to rate things and ratings are the result of sleuthful Michelin-sponsored diners - (restaurant owners and chefs take these ratings so seriously that some have been known to commit hari kari with their meat cleavers with the loss of a single star!)

the stars are based on five criteria - according to Michelin folks:

"quality of the products
mastery of flavor and cooking
'personality' of the cuisine
value for the money
consistency between visits"

* eateries are "very good"
** restos are "excellent cooking and worth a detour"
*** joints are "exceptional cuisine and worth a journey"

-- currently 11 *** restos in Paris

www.michelinguide.com

Q- What do Fodorites think about the Michelin Red Guide - do you use it, etc.

Or is it more for French folk and ignored by tourists?

The Michelin Red for NYC is so Francocentric as to be useless. There prejudice against anything that is not French or haute American tarnishes all other opinions. I purchased it the first year of publication and not since.

I have been to Paris as recently as 2007 and used the recommendations of friends and people on this board.

I buy the Red Guide for France annually.

Joan

I use it, in combination with many other sources, for France.

I do not even glance at the NY guide.

It's the first thing I pack when heading to France. We often stay in remote villages or out in the countryside, and it has many more suggestions for these regions than other guides have. I find it very reliable. We dine at around 30-40 Michelin restaurants each year. I also use it to find driving routes through large cities, and the location of train stations & public parking. The Green Guide often has maps also, but they don't show one-way streets and often only show the inner city.

When choosing a gite to stay in for out "next" visit to France, I use it to make sure that there are an adequate number of restaurants within about 30 mins of the Gite. That can often be the deciding factor in choosing one gite over another. www.ViaMichelin.com is great for finding the restaurants.

I agree with Aduchamp1 about the French cooking bias.

Stu Dudley

My use is primarily of the France guide and almost identical to how StuDudley uses it. I also use the Italy guide and the Spain and Portugal Guides in the same manner but not as frequently. I probably purchase a new red guide to France every 2 years or so and new guides to Italy and Spain/Portugal just before taking trips there. I have sometimes selected hotels based strictly on a reading of the symbols in the Michelin red guides and been very happy with my selections--though this practice has diminished as the internet has furnished more and more data for selections. nonetheless, I always double check with Michelin for both lodging and dining. As Stu says, the guides are invaluable for road trips when you find yourself interested in stopping for lunch and want a dependable selection for a town of 10,000 or less that seems to pop up on your route. We've had many a lovely dining experience following Bibendum's advice.

So Stu, are you planning to purchase this new one before you leave, or will you just use one that you already have?

As you know, we're mainly visiting an area we've visited for 8 weeks already - so we know the restaurants. Found a few new '09 ones on ViaMichelin.com. We're not doing our usual 4 week fall trip this year because of the economy. So, I'm using the '08 guide.

Stu Dudley

I purchase it annually and use it in the same fashion as Stu and Julie, supplemented by the Pudlo and Gault Millau plus other sources, such as dining recos from egullet.org and of course, from my fellow foodie Fodorites.

I didn't elaborate on the way I used my Red guide. I think most use it as Stu has described.

I also use e-gullet regularly. I enjoy it. I usually purchase an annual Paris Zagat, too.

Joan

No. We have tried starred restaurants in the past, and while the food and service were excellent, the cost wasn't worth it. We can generally find "unstarred" restaurants that are just as enjoyable for a lot less money. That doesn't mean that there are not any excellent, good value restaurants in the guide, just that we don't need the guide to find such restaurants.

I use the UK, France & Italy guides, and take their listings more seriously than any other. It's not all haute cuisine and high prices - one of the best meals of my life was at a basic seafood joint near Palermo, listed in the guide, where we ate something like 15 antipasti, 3 primi, 2 secondi, dessert, water & a bottle of wine each for €13 per head ! We would never have known about the place without Michelin but nobody else looked like a tourist.

I use it extensively in France although rarely for starred restaurants. It's first class for sorting out options.

The red guide is also a very good source for hotel ratings, as they're produced by professionals using standards developed over many years.

I find the city street maps good too, as they show the one way systems - invaluable somewhere like Urbino where it's difficult to find your way to your hotel in the historic centre.

We always take a new red guide with us, though it if it gets any heavier it will be a problem!!

This year was really frustrating.The Red Guide used to appear regularly in our book stores in March...early enough to help with our annual June trip. This year we couldn't find one until last week. Might have something to do with the fact that we now get an "English" version......not nearly as much fun as trying to decipher the French version!!

We also use Pudlo and have just gotten a copy of the Gantie Guide ( Provence ) which has some interesting information.

We've used the Red Guide for Switzerland, Italy and England,and have always found their hotel ratings dependable.

The NYC Red Guide really is useless!! We find Zagat really pretty reliable for the city.










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