New Michelin stars for New York, Chicago and DC show a flawed process
I don’t hate the idea of Michelin stars, per say (pun completely intended). I went to the New York City, DC and Chicago three-way reveal last year, and I realized quickly that every industry needs their own Oscars. People get dressed up, have way too much wine, and ultimately provide some guideposts to the masses on what constitutes “good”.
But I come at this from the sushi perspective. And this year’s list, released tonight (you’re welcome for not having a life), exemplified a bizarre trend that probably needs fixing, assuming Michelin wants to be the guidepost for the sushi community (if not, I’m happy to step in….).
Let’s focus on Masa in New York. For the 16th year in a row, 3 michelin stars. I’ve argued before that Masayoshi Takayama is the quintessential New York City sushi legend. It’s not just about how cool he looks smoking a cigar, either.
He opened Masa well before the sushi boom, and is synonymous with high-end sushi in New York. This is no shade on his sushi.
Rather, for years, the concern has been that he’s not always there. In fairness, he’s been doing this for a while, just opened in Harrod’s, and has earned the right to take time off. But if he’s not always there, how do the Michelin inspectors make sure to visit when he is? Remember, these are supposed to be anonymous inspections. Makes you think.
And then there’s Sushi Sho. It opened this past March, and was rewarded with two Michelin stars. But I think you’d be hard pressed to find a sushiya outside of Japan of its quality. My first visit in March was exquisite; my second in July was a contender for favourite meal. Ever. Am I prone to hypberole? No. Fine, yes. But still.
Now, odds are Nakazawa-san cares very little about this. He wasn’t at the guide ceremony (reasons undisclosed), and there’s an old rumour he once kicked out Michelin inspectors from his sushiya near Shinjuku, though according to blogger Chubby Hubby (great name), that’s not entirely true.
And don’t forget Yoshino. One of the world’s great sushi legends – I reviewed it here – and only 2 of 20 in Sushi Shokunin to be based outside Japan (Nakazawa-san naturally was the other), forced to share a category with Sushi Nakazawa in New York. The less said the better.
The key updates for the night from a sushi perspective were:
- Sushi Sho debuts with two stars
- NYC added 1 stars for Bar Miller (East Village) and Shota Omakase (Brooklyn), and lost Sushi Yasuda
- DC added Omakase at Barrack’s Row (1 star)
- Chicago lost Omakase Yume, leaving it with just one starred sushiya. Surely something’s off there.
- Mako – 731 West Lake St.
- Omakase at Barrack’s Row
- Sushi Nakazawa- 1100 Pennsylvania Ave NW
- Masa – 10 Columbus Circle
- Bar Miller – 620-622 E 6th St
- Icca – 20 Warren St
- Joji – 1 Vanderbilt Ave*
- Kosaka – 220 West 13th
- Noda – 6 W 28th St
- Noz 17 – 458 W 17th S
- Shion 69 Leonard – 69 Leonard St
- Shota Omakase – 50 S 3rd St
- Sushi Amane – 245 E 44th St
- Sushi Ichimura – 412 Greenwich St*
- Sushi Nakazawa – 23 Commerce St
- Yoshino – 342 Bowery