Just had my lunch at El Celler... reservation was for 1 pm, was out the door at 5:15-5:30. Longest meal I've ever had. I've done Robuchon's 20th anniversary dinner with 18 courses in Tokyo, but El Celler was more impressive and more grand. Service is good, but not close to The French Laundry (2011), which still is the standard for me.

Anyway, we did the "Feast menu" at El Celler, which I think is 14 courses, but that's in addition to the 4 appetizers not included in the 14-- so 18 total. We are staying in Barcelona so we came back after lunch (raining, or would've explored Girona more); if this was a dinner, we definitely would've stayed overnight in Girona.

One more thing-- my wife and I collect menus from 2* and 3* restaurants we've dined at, but left ours in the lobby on the way out. I realized this on the way back to Barcelona, and called the restaurant. Within an hour, someone had emailed me a pdf of the menu. I asked if I could have a hard copy mailed to my address in US, as I'm flying out in just over a day; I was fully prepared to pay shipping costs, but they said they'll ship it out with no mention of cost. I appreciate that.

Had a meal at the three star Schloss Berg (Nennig-Perl) the other day that was amongst the best I have ever had. Went back to check the Pellegrino list - not there. Checked Andy Hayler's website and saw that he rated it 20/20 and one of his best meals ever. I guess it is one of those off-the-beaten track restaurants that gets no PR whatsoever, but produces world class food. Really amazing and worth the effort to get there. It's about 15 miles from LUX

An a bit further north from Trier (approx. 30 min from LUX by car) you have 3-star-Michelin Waldhotel Sonnora. Awesome too !

Excellent, I will add it to my short list for next time. Haven't been back to L'Arnsbourg since they lost their stars but also had an excellent meal at that three star, not too far away. Also Gastehaus Erfort in Saarbrucken, but that one I didn't feel compared favorably to the others

Visited 20 years ago - perhaps time for a re-visit;)

Auberge de l'Ill was excellent too. More classical menue though.
If you are in the region south of Bonn (Bad Neuenahr), I can recommend Steinheuers Restaurant zur Alten Post. Also impressive.
Next month I will try L'eau vive (2 stars) near Dinant (B).

Oh yes ;)

My next will be the two star Il Pagliaccio in Rome in a couple of weeks. Definitely looking forward to it.

Took a quick trip to NYC a few weeks ago and had lunch at both Jean-Georges and Le Bernardin. I've been to JG before and it was just as good. First time at Le Bernardin and the food was fantastic. Service wasn't too great, but I've come to expect that as a solo diner who's under 21 :rolleyes: (CX F and Krug made up for it that night though!)

You are solo dining at these restaurants and you are under 21 years of age?! My poor butt was eating $3 food truck food when I was your age... :(

Separately, back from a trip to Tokyo. Sampled a few Michelin-starred spots for dinner...

-Fukamachi Tempura (1 star) - excellent tempura, easily the best I've ever had. Hard to compare within Japan as I haven't eaten any elsewhere, but tempura prepared with care is much, much better than any regular fried veggies and fish.

-Nodaiwa (1 star) - similarly, very good preparation of eel. The focus here is on unagi and not anago, but I really liked that every dish was served without being over-lathered with teriyaki sauce, as it I have had it nearly everywhere else (especially in the U.S.)

-Usukifugu Yamadaya (3 stars) - overpriced and not worth it. Fugu (blowfish) is interesting to try, but it is not worth designing a whole meal around by any means. The sashimi cuts were a bit on the dry/chewy side, and even when it was grilled/fried/boiled, etc., it just did not blow me away. I wish I could have ordered one of the tasting menus with less courses so that I wouldn't have spent as much.

Finland does not have high-star Michelin restaurants, while we do have few in Helsinki, but I would recommend to check "Kaskis" in the pictoresque old capital city Turku which is 1,5 hours drive west of Helsinki.

It just got a Michelin sticker recommendation and it is in my opinion the best restaurant in Finland nowadays. It is fully booked though for months in advance so the best you can do is to pick their telephone number in the internet and call if they have any last minute cancellations.

Last time I was in Helsinki I had an excellent meal at Saaga. Maybe not up to Michelin standards, but excellent none the less.

Based in the US and have not really tried any of the Michelin star restaurants but thinking that needs to change. Any recommendations on a first one to try? Doesn't have to be the best but what would be a good first experience that would showcase the food and service that Michelin represents?

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Depends where you are;) US is not really small

If you're ever up in Chicago (noticed you seem to be IND based), there are a lot of nice ones here. I personally like Tru a lot, I also had tea at the Peninsula which was nice.

In NY, I think lunch at Jean-Georges or Le Bernardin are nice places to start as they are "only" 2-3 courses are are not marathons like dinner at places like Tru or Guy Savoy can sometimes feel like.

Thanks I have stayed at that Peninsula but not done the tea. Chocolate buffet yes but not the tea ^

Appreciate the suggestions and may be in NY before Chicago so appreciate the suggestions.

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