How Much Did Your City Pay for a Michelin Guide?

Dear Pros,

Erika here. Michelin, which has been on a real expansion tear lately, announced the debut of its eighth restaurant guide in the guide in the United States. Food & Wine contributor Gloria Dawson reports that this one will cover the Great Lakes, but not all cities in the region will be included in the guide. Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh are in. Buffalo and Ann Arbor are out.

Those two cities weren't excluded because their restaurant scenes aren't up to snuff, as Dawson explains. Michelin inspectors are skipping those locales because their tourism boards declined the organization's hefty price tag. Cities are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars — or, in some cases, upwards of $1 million — to cut coverage deals with Michelin.

I watched this transaction happen in Boston last year, and I'm still conflicted about it. A group of chefs, including 2020 F&W Best New Chef Douglass Williams, banded together to petition Boston's tourism board to pay Michelin's steep fees. The board eventually capitulated and — with financial assistance from Cambridge's tourism board — reportedly paid around $1 million for a three-year deal with the tire, auto accessories, and footwear company. The board members were sold on the notion that Michelin would raise Boston's profile as a dining destination, drive hotel bookings, and help the industry hire and retain more talent.

Only one restaurant received a star in the Michelin Guide's initial selection, released last November.

As 2011 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes told me after the guide was released, he wasn't surprised to see 311 nab a well-deserved star, but he was surprised to see that the omakase spot was the only nod, given the deep bench of talented chefs in the city. I completely agree.

Michelin purposefully shrouds the inspection process in secrecy to protect the credibility of the awards, as they put it. The organization offers no clarity around how many inspectors are assigned to a city and how many restaurants are scouted when a pricey deal is sealed and a new guide is announced. From where I'm sitting, it seems like quite the blank check that a tourism board is expected to write.

Pros, what do you think of Michelin's expansion strategy? Does Michelin's pay-to-play approach make you think twice about the guide's recommendations? Do you want your local tourism boards paying big bucks to roll out the red carpet for the Michelin Man? Let me know your thoughts at the email below, and we may feature your response in a future F&W mailbag.

Take care,
Erika