Originally Posted by
Kgmm77
My core point was aimed at the comments about lazy tourism and doing your own research, which is exactly what the Guide is there to do.
And it's precisely what some of these restaurants are seeking to avoid by closing public reservations. The purpose of the Michelin Guide
supports this phenomenon so clearly there is no disagreement on that point, even if it (apparently) strikes a nerve.
Originally Posted by
Bohemian1
But as long as these establishments are getting bums in seats and prospering, then who am I to begrudge that?
What's interesting is that I've recently seen more and more of these traditionally "invite-only" restaurants show up on direct booking websites. I wonder if this is in response to the threat of getting Michelin stars pulled, in which case it's incredibly weaselly if these spots want to show off Michelin stars but don't want hordes of foreigners showing up either.
The other issue with Michelin Guide (and another reason it's just full of crap) is where do they draw the line on this? I mean, seriously - if a restaurant accepts
one single seat per year from the public, does that qualify them for Michelin? I believe in 2017, Jiro auctioned off seats in partnership with a western-oriented booking website - does that count? Or what if they show up on a public booking website, even if they don't actually take a single public reservation?
It'll be interesting to see how they handle this in other countries, too. Sushi Amamoto in Taipei (run by the brother of the proprietor of the Higashi-Azabu restaurant), for example, doesn't even have a web presence anymore, much less accepts reservations.