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Do You Care About Michelin Stars?

YumSugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:15:19 -0700

This past week, the Michelin Guide announced its 2009 starred restaurants for New York and San Francisco. The Michelin Guide, Europe's best-known restaurant guide, is released annually in the form of a series of books organized by city. The red books award restaurants zero, one, two, or three stars, and the stars are arguably the most well-regarded rankings in the global restaurant industry, with three being an extraordinary honor.

Every year since the Michelin Guide debuted stateside in 2006, there have been shakeups over restaurants that gain stars and others that are stripped of stars. For instance, Tom Colicchio's restaurant Craft was stripped of its sole star in a big upset last year; this time, the big surprise was David Chang's new restaurant Momofuku Ko receiving the honor of two stars. Do these designations affect your dining selections in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Las Vegas?

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Kim Kardashian Is Latest Face of Carl's Jr.

YumSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:50:27 -0800

Guess who's joining the ranks of Paris Hilton, Padma Lakshmi, and Audrina Patridge as Carl's Jr. spokesperson? None other than reality show temptress Kim Kardashian.

Kardashian is teaming up with the burger chain - known for its risqué commercials - to promote its new premium salads. It'll be the first commercial spot the company has done for a menu item that's not a burger. The reality TV star tells People that while she's a healthy eater today, she has a number of fond memories involving Carl's Jr.

"Driving to Las Vegas, my dad would take the family and we'd stay at Circus Circus and we always stopped at Carl's Jr," she says.

"I remember this food fight my sisters and I all had in the back of the van – it was so funny. We got in so much trouble!" Do you think Kim Kardashian and Carl's Jr. will make for fun viewing?

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Woman Chef Wins Illustrious Three Star Ranking

YumSugar — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:11:47 -0800

For the first time in more than 55 years, a woman has won the coveted Michelin Guide three star ranking.

Anne-Sophie Pic, the fourth French woman to achieve three stars since the ranking system began in 1926, runs The Maison Pic in Valence, France. Although three stars is a huge accomplishment (for any chef, male or female), one can say that Pic was destined to obtain the high ranking, after all it's in her blood. Both her father Jacques and grandfather Andre received the same high ranking (in 1973 and 1934 respectively). Yet, it was difficult living up to her fine family pedigree, it turns out being a woman chef was actually an even more difficult feat.

"The last few years, my battle and my desire to win this third star were motivated by my father, by the feelings I had for him, and for the fact that I am reviving the memory of him and my grandfather," she told French radio.

She said the main difficulty she had encountered was "the fact she was a woman rather than being the 'daughter of'" and said she wished that "there would be more and more women chefs".

I also wish there were more recognized women chefs. It's really interesting to me that cooking is thought of as a "woman's job" whereas being a chef is a "man's job."

The last females to win the distinguished award were Marguerite Bise in 1951 and Marie Bourgeois and Eugenie Brazier in 1933.

Source: BBC News
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Ramsay Missing From the World's Best Restaurants List

partysugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:15:44 -0700

Yesterday Restaurant magazine and S. Pellegrino announced its famed list of the world's 50 best restaurants. The list is developed by a large panel of well-regarded international judges consisting of 806 chefs, restaurateurs, food critics, and journalists.

For the fourth year in a row, Ferran Adriá's experimental Spanish restaurant, El Bulli, has been named the best eatery in the world. Coming in at sixth, Thomas Keller's Per Se is the highest-ranking US restaurant.

The most shocking news, however, is that Gordon Ramsay's flagship London establishment, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which was number 13 on last year's list, is totally absent from this year's. To check out the complete list, read more.

El Bulli, Spain
The Fat Duck, UK
Noma, Denmark
Mugaritz, Spain
El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
Per Se, US
Bras, France
Arzak, Spain
Pierre Gagnaire, France
Alinea, US
L’Astrance, France
The French Laundry US
Osteria Francescana, Italy
St. John, UK
Le Bernardin, US
Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, Switzerland
Tetsuya’s, Australia
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, France
Jean Georges, US
Les Creations de Narisawa, Japan
Chez Dominique, Finland
Ristorante Cracco, Italy
Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany
D.O.M., Brazil
Vendome, Germany
Hof van Cleve, Belgium
Masa, US
Gambero Rosso, Italy
Oud Sluis, Netherlands
Steirereck, Austria
Momofuku Ssam Bar, US
Oaxen Skaergaardskrog, Sweden
Martin Berasategui, Spain
Nobu UK
Mirazur, France
Hakkasan, UK
Le Quartier Francais, South Africa
La Colombe, South Africa
Asador Etxebarri, Spain
Le Chateaubriand, France
Daniel, US
Combal Zero, Italy
Le Louis XV, France
Tantris, Germany
Iggy’s, Singapore
Quay, Australia
Les Ambassadeurs, France
Dal Pescatore, Italy
Le Calandre, Italy
Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden

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Gordon Ramsay's Company Voted Top Chain

YumSugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0800

A recent UK poll indicates that Gordon Ramsay Holdings is the most admired restaurant brand in Great Britain. The restaurant group of the famed chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay topped the list of restaurant chain operators in a survey by consulting firm Allegra Strategies, beating McDonald's, which ranked number three, by two spots.

Ramsay owns 11 restaurants in the UK alone, plus three pubs, as well dining spots in New York, Los Angeles, Prague, Versailles, Dubai, and Tokyo, among others.

I must admit that I wonder how Gordon Ramsay can keep it together with so many ventures on his plate. I also have to question how the upscale dining mogul's company can be put in the same category as a fast-food chain like McDonald's. Given how many dining brands he has to manage, do you think Ramsay's reputation for excellence is well deserved?

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Which Will Win? Red Vines or Twizzlers?

YumSugar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 03:01:33 -0700

In addition to being grilled cheese day, this Sunday is also National Red Licorice Day. To help us celebrate, the folks at Red Vines recently sent us a care package of various flavors. The Sugar HQ is actually full of die-hard Twizzler fans, so I decided to see what they thought of my fave Red Vines. I took the three Red Vine flavors - pink strawberry, red cherry and original - and strawberry Twizzlers and put them into unmarked bowls.

I then asked folks to come taste them, and rank them from fave to least fave. With 21 taste testers, the results were more or less split down the middle. However there were a few surprises with the Red Vines strawberry option. To see what happened in our oh-so-scientific taste-test, read more.

To begin, the votes were broken down as follows:

9 for original Red Vines
7 for strawberry Twizzlers
4 for red cherry Red Vines
2 for pink strawberry Red Vines

While this wasn't that interesting - nearly split down the middle like I expected - the surprising part was in the comments. Overall, we decided that Twizzlers have a plastic texture, while Red Vines have a rubbery texture. We also learned that if you were a Red Vines fan, then you ranked Twizzlers last, and vice versa. It was the difference in texture that seemed to be what people used as a ranker. Those who grew up with Twizzlers thought it tasted "more authentic" while Red Vines people thought their choice was the real deal.

The intriguing part came from the two die-hard Twizzler fans who ranked strawberry Red Vines as favorite. They thought the flavor was great - I thought the two were really close in flavor - and wondered how they could swap their loyalty so easily.

To follow up on this, I did a blind-taste test with a few other folks. They agreed that the flavor of the two were quite similar. Yet I was surprised that it received such few votes. Turns out it was the bright pink Barbie color that really threw everyone off. Folks told me they thought it should taste like Starburst, or something "tropical" and a few folks even swore it had to be pink lemonade.

In the end, it really comes down to texture, flavor and what you grew up with. What do you think? Have you ever forced yourself to do a licorice taste test? Do you think your results would change?

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Restaurants Are Dirtier Than You'd Like to Know

partysugar — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:15:15 -0700

A recent study by the Center For Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has shown that restaurants are incredibly dirty. From moldy refrigerators to live cockroaches to unsanitary prep and cook surfaces, the study illustrates the huge number of restaurants that are cited with health-code violations. Sarah Klein, an attorney for the CSPI, explains why most restaurants have a long way to go before they meet the Food and Drug Administration's health codes:

Restaurants aren't motivated to pass a very high safety bar. A restaurant may commit violations that the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention would classify as most critical - improper holding temperatures, poor employee hygiene, food bought from unsafe sources, food that is not thoroughly cooked, or food surfaces that are not properly disinfected - without much fear of being shut down. Even violations that involve rat infestations or unwell employees (restaurant workers tend not to get paid sick days) also may not lead to closure. Restaurants only have the incentive to do what they need to do to stay open. The consumer would never know how close they were to being shut down.

While opposition is quick to point out that the inspectors could have been too harsh, I have a feeling the study's disturbing conclusions may be true. After all, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares takes an insider's look at such kitchens. Although the findings don't list the restaurants' names, it does provide the public with a breakdown of the worst and best cities in terms of health expectations. To find out how your city ranked, read more.

Austin, Texas: 58 violations in 30 restaurants

Boston: 63 violations in 30 restaurants

Milwaukee: 27 violations in 20 restaurants

Colorado Springs, Colo.: 46 violations in 30 restaurants

Kansas City, Mo.: 41 violations in 30 restaurants

Pittsburgh: 40 violations in 30 restaurants

Denver: 35 violations in 30 restaurants

Las Vegas: 30 violations in 25 restaurants

Washington, D.C.: 27 violations in 25 restaurants

New York: 32 violations in 30 restaurants

Atlanta: 19 violations in 20 restaurants

Portland: 25 violations in 27 restaurants

Baltimore: 14 violations in 14 restaurants

Minneapolis, Minn.: 31 violations in 29 restaurants

Chicago: 22 violations in 30 restaurants

St. Louis: 17 violations in 27 restaurants

Seattle: 16 violations in 30 restaurants

Philadelphia: 16 violations in 23 restaurants

San Francisco: 15 violations in 30 restaurants

Tucson, Ariz.: 14 violations in 29 restaurants

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Discover the 2008 List of 50 Best Restaurants in the World

YumSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:11:11 -0700

Every year San Pellegrino and Restaurant magazine releases a list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The list is put together by The Nespresso World's 50 Best Academy, a group that consists of over 650 chefs, restauranteurs, food writers and critics. There is no list of nominees, each member of the voting panel votes for their favorite five restaurants. They can't vote for their own restaurant, and they have to have eaten at their nominees within the past 18 months. So after 3,410 votes, who came out on top?

The top three are unchanged from last year, with Ferran Adria's El Bulli ranking number one. There are also four re-entries and two new entries. To discover the whole list, read more.

1. El Bulli, Spain
2. The Fat Duck, UK
3. Pierre Gagnaire, France
4. Mugaritz, Spain
5. The French Laundry, US
6. Per Se, US
7. Bras, France
8. Arzak, Spain
9. Tetsuya's, Australia
10. Noma, Denmark
11. L'Astrance, France
12. Gambero Rosso, Italy
13. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, UK
14. L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, France
15. Le Louis XV, Monaco
16. St John, UK Highest Climber, up 18 places from last year
17. Jean Georges, US
18. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée, France
19. Hakkasan, UK
20. Le Bernardin, US
21. Alinea, US
22. Le Gavroche, UK
23. Dal Pescatore, Italy
24. Le Cinq, France
25. Troisgros, France
26. El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
27. Restaurant de l'Hotel de Ville, Switzerland Highest Re-Entry
28. Hof van Cleve, Belgium
29. Martin Berasategui, Spain
30. Nobu London, UK
31. Can Fabes, Spain
32. Enoteca Pinchiorri, Italy
33. Le Meurice, France
34. Vendome, Germany Highest New Entry
35. Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany
36. Le Calandre, Italy
37. Chez Panisse, US
38. Charlie Trotter's, US
39. Chez Dominique, Finland
40. DOM, Brazil
41. Daniel, US
42. Oud Sluis, The Netherlands
43. Cracco Peck, Italy
44. Asador Etxebarri, Spain
45. Les Ambassadeurs, France
46. L'Arpege, France
47. Tantris, Germany
48. Oaxen Skaergaardskrog, Sweden
49. Rockpool, Australia
50. Le Quartier Francais, South Africa

While I find this list completely fascinating - and I definitely want to eat at more than one of them - I'm a little dismayed by the fact that there isn't a single restaurant in Asia on this list. Not to mention the overall lack of diversity. What do you guys think about it?

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What's The Best Dark Chocolate Bar?

YumSugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:13:18 -0700

There have been so many studies on the benefits of eating dark chocolate, that the market has become flooded with dark chocolate bar options. There are organic bars and imported bars, bars with nibs and bars without, so how do you know which ones are worth eating? You could buy a bunch of bars and figure it out yourself - which doesn't sound like a bad way to spend the evening - or you could rely on a new Consumer Reports study. The study tested 14 bars and determined that the favorite was the Extra Dark 65% Cacao Reserve with Cacao Nibs by Hershey's. The trained testers enjoyed it due to its complex, flavor, chocolate taste and overall smoothness. They also felt that it was "a treat to nibble and savor."

To find what the other 13 bars they tasted, and the order in which they were ranked, read more

These are the results ranked in order of overall quality. Do you agree with them? Is your favorite dark chocolate represented here?

Source: Consumer Reports

Does a Wine's Score Matter?

partysugar — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:14:11 -0800

Wine is a super subjective drink; to one person a merlot may taste harsh and to another it could be full of flavor. That being said, I do take into account a wine's score when choosing what wine to purchase. Created in the 1970s by wine critic Robert Parker, the 100 point American wine rating system is widely used by wine magazines to rank a wine's overall taste, appearance, and aroma. Wine merchants often use a wine's score to sell certain bottles.

But what happens when the wine's are mislabeled? A recent study conducted by the Washington Post food section concluded that 6 percent of the signs showing a wine's score were incorrect. The Post states:

The vintage available was usually unrated or had received a lower score, though there were occasions when the actual wine displayed had received a higher rating.

Wine Spectator acknowledges these errors as a nuisance, but have no solution to stop the false advertising. This makes me question the system's credibility and in the future I may not pay as much attention to the rating. What do you guys think? Does a wine's score matter?

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