From 3c5c112903945639bdef2d481c1ffec44fc6dc2b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ethan Swan Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2025 18:31:00 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Add post on Michelin star restaurant. --- .../index.md | 62 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 62 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/posts/2025/2025-01-23-debriefing-michelin-star/index.md diff --git a/content/posts/2025/2025-01-23-debriefing-michelin-star/index.md b/content/posts/2025/2025-01-23-debriefing-michelin-star/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..38bdff4 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2025/2025-01-23-debriefing-michelin-star/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +--- +title: "Debriefing on My First Michelin Star Restaurant Visit" +# subtitle: "" +date: 2025-01-23 +slug: debriefing-michelin-star +# tags: [] +summary: "While visiting Lisbon, my friend and I happened upon a Michelin Star-winning restaurant very close to our Airbnb.... We decided to take the plunge and make reservations." +--- + +While visiting Lisbon, my friend and I happened upon a Michelin Star-winning restaurant very close to our Airbnb. +I've never had a full dinner at a restaurant of this caliber before[^kasama-lunch], and the prices were substantially better than what I've seen in Chicago. +We decided to take the plunge and make reservations. + +## First Impressions + +I'd consider myself the opposite of a foodie. +The more pomp and circumstance around food, the less I like it. +And indeed there was a lot of pomp right from the start. + +To be fair, there's nothing wrong with enjoying this kind of thing. +It just isn't my style. + +The host took our jackets and showed us around the restaurant (including window views) as if we were touring an apartment. +The dining room was quite dark. +The chairs were surprisingly comfortable. + +Despite the chairs though, I found myself quite ill-at-ease. +It felt wrong to speak much louder than whisper, and I suspected that lapsing into my customary slouch would be frowned upon by the wait staff. + +I was presented with a napkin on a tray and apparently expected to remove it as some sort of ritual -- the first of several *uh oh* moments that reminded me I had no sense of the norms here. + +## Actual Foods + +I selected the four-course meal and accompanying wine pairing. +Before each dish, a waitress would first bring out a new wine and tell me about it with descriptors that -- unfortunately -- meant absolutely nothing to me. +Then a waiter would bring the next course and explain it similarly, though I was at least able to understand more about the food than about the wine. + +Recalling the particular courses wouldn't be interesting for you to read, and *definitely* not for me to write, so I'm not going to do it. + +It was fancy and mostly pretty tasty, and the portions were small but not comical. +Before the dinner, I'd told myself I'd stop at McDonald's on the way back if I were still hungry, but in fact I didn't need to. + +The wine, to a person who rarely drinks anything that isn't sold at Aldi, was surprisingly good. +The one white still tasted as all white wine does to me: like old, tangy grapes. +But the reds were noticeably distinct from what I'd had before, and the two port-style wines were truly tasty. + + +## Takeaway + +I'm glad I did it. +It was expensive, but it was an experience I likely won't do again for a long time, and it forced me to learn some fine dining customs (e.g. picking up a napkin proffered like an hors d'oeuvre). + +Eating so slowly, with a full dinner stretched out over more than two hours, really does force you to appreciate and think about the food more. +But it's also very boring. + +Ignoring price for a moment, was it better than a solid Japanese or Indian restaurant I might visit for $30 in Chicago? +I think no. +The food was more interesting but less satisfying, and the experience itself was too slow and stuffy for my taste. + +My best future food adventures are more likely to involve me eating takeout from the comfort of my couch. + +[^kasama-lunch]: I've ordered takeout lunch from a Michelin-star restaurant near my apartment, but a $17 breakfast sandwich doesn't really count as a fine dining experience. \ No newline at end of file