{"id":4338,"date":"2009-10-07T00:31:01","date_gmt":"2009-10-06T23:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noexpert.co.uk\/?p=4338"},"modified":"2015-08-10T11:27:51","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T10:27:51","slug":"michelin-stars-versus-aa-rosettes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=4338","title":{"rendered":"Michelin Stars v AA Rosettes &#8211; Ding Ding!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">No Expert has just hit the 100th post mark, so for that milestone rather than single out a restaurant, this post focuses on an issue that impacted on a number of our restaurant choices and that is can we trust Michelin Star and AA Rosette ratings alone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I know there is a lot of debate over how accurate the Michelin star rating system is. I believe we have been to enough Michelin starred restaurants to give an opinion on the subject. Basically\u00a0the\u00a0 problems seem to be inconsistency and big name restaurants hanging on to stars they no longer merit.\u00a0The Michelin star rating seems to be about as reliable as the <a title=\"S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theworlds50best.com\/page\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\">S.Pellegrino <span>World&#8217;s<\/span> <span>Best<\/span> <\/a><span><a title=\"S.Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theworlds50best.com\/page\/home.html\" target=\"_blank\">Restaurants list<\/a>, i.e., not reliable at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The rating system definition for Michelin stars is:-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 star &#8211; A very good restaurant in its category<\/li>\n<li>2 stars &#8211; Excellent cooking, worth a detour<\/li>\n<li>3 stars &#8211; Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information see <a title=\"Michelin Star History\" href=\"http:\/\/www.michelinonline.co.uk\/travel\/star-history.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Michelin Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We have been to some 3 star and 2 star Michelin restaurants that are not in the same class as 1 star restaurants.\u00a0 Compare <a title=\"Tom Aitkens - Flavour, Flavour, Flavour\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=441\" target=\"_self\">Tom Aikens<\/a> to <a title=\"The Waterside Inn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=802\" target=\"_self\">The Waterside Inn<\/a> for example.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The 5 AA Rosettes award however does seem to match our tastes. The ones on the list in England for example are among our all time favorite restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>The rating system definition for 5 AA Rosettes\u00a0:-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The supreme accolade awarded only when the cooking is at the pinnacle of achievement. Flavours, combinations and textures show a faultless sense of balance, giving each dish an extra dimension.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The rating system definition for\u00a04 AA Rosettes\u00a0:-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At this level, not only should all technical skills be exemplary, but there should also be daring ideas, and they must work. There is no room for disappointment. Flavours should be accurate and vibrant.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then just when I thought I could maybe rely on the AA Rosettes I find out that\u00a0one of our <a title=\"Worst of the worst\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=126 \" target=\"_self\">worst of the worst <\/a>restaurants <a title=\"Harveys\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=1463\" target=\"_self\">Harveys of Ramsgate<\/a> has just been awarded one AA Rosette, and that another of our least favorite places\u00a0<a title=\"abode\" href=\"..\/..\/?p=1510\" target=\"_self\">Abode<\/a> in Canterbury has 2.<\/p>\n<p>The rating system definition for\u00a01 AA Rosette\u00a0:-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chefs should display a mastery of basic techniques and be able to produce dishes of sound quality and clarity of flavours, using good, fresh\u00a0ingredients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The rating system definition for 2 AA Rosettes :-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Innovation, greater technical skill and more consistency and judgement in combining and balancing ingredients are all needed at this level<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Our experience of\u00a0<a title=\"Harveys\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=1463\" target=\"_self\">Harveys of Ramsgate<\/a> and\u00a0<a title=\"abode\" href=\"..\/..\/?p=1510\" target=\"_self\">Abode<\/a> indicated that they were sadly lacking in several of the areas associated with the definitions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For more information see:-<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><a title=\"AA Rosettes\" href=\"http:\/\/www.caterersearch.com\/Articles\/2009\/01\/16\/306037\/aa-rosette-rated-restaurants.html\" target=\"_blank\">AA Rosettes<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a title=\"Andy Hayler - 3 star restaurant guide\" href=\"http:\/\/www.3starrestaurants.com\/michelin-restaurants-star-guide.asp?year=2009\" target=\"_blank\">3 star Michelin Restaurant Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a title=\"Michelin Star History\" href=\"http:\/\/www.michelinonline.co.uk\/travel\/star-history.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Michelin Star History<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The conclusion is that research is essential before you\u00a0 commit to the really expensive dining experiences in the high end restaurants.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Check out the food blogs.<\/li>\n<li>Check out\u00a0<a title=\"Hardens\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hardens.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hardens<\/a> and <a title=\"Zagat\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zagat.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Zagat<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Look for real customer reviews via <a title=\"Google Maps\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/mm?hl=en&amp;ptab=2&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;view=map\" target=\"_blank\">Google Maps<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Be really wary of the hype.<\/li>\n<li>Be wary of Celebrity Chef endorsements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Other Food Blogs\/Sites\" href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?page_id=997\" target=\"_self\">Click here to access our prefered Food Blog\/Site list<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is also worth trying one of the restaurants deals first, e.g., a pre-theatre or set lunch deal.\u00a0 It is surprising just how many of the top restaurants do offer less expensive options. The <a title=\"toptable\" href=\"http:\/\/www.toptable.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">toptable<\/a> web site is a good place to start to find these deals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No Expert has just hit the 100th post mark, so for that milestone rather than single out a restaurant, this post focuses on an issue that impacted on a number of our restaurant choices and that is can we trust Michelin Star and AA Rosette ratings alone. I know there is a lot of debate &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/?p=4338\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Michelin Stars v AA Rosettes &#8211; Ding Ding!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[226,225,224,241,227],"tags":[254,16,303,259,255,92,377,527,99,307],"class_list":["post-4338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-michelin-star","category-2-michelin-stars","category-3-michelin-stars","category-4-aa-rosettes","category-5-aa-rosettes","tag-aa-rosettes","tag-abode","tag-hardens","tag-harveys-of-ramsgate","tag-michelin-stars","tag-s-pellegrino","tag-tom-aikens","tag-toptable","tag-waterside-inn","tag-zagat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4338"}],"version-history":[{"count":87,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26428,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4338\/revisions\/26428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.noexpert.co.uk\/food\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}