Michelin restaurants I’m visiting in Italy this summer :)


Artin

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Le Calandre in Venice (3 stars)

La Pergola in Rome (3 stars)

Don Alfonso 1890 (2 stars)

 

I’m on the waiting list for Osteria Franciscana in Modena (3 stars) and waiting for Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence (3 stars) to get back to me.

 

Anyone been to any of these restaurants?

I have a fetish for Michelin starred restaurants :)

 

 

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went to a wonderful one up around alba but with the gaja people and not sure i ever even knew the name. everything about it was spectacular. but have not been to many at all in italy.

i remember we had a two star chef from italy cook at the cigar festival quite a while back. i know that food, especially back then, was dodgy in cuba but no local dish was as poor as the rubbish he served. largely inedible. i remember we had a competition to try and guess what the dessert was. most of us guessed cardboard. 

years ago, a mate, a fantastic chef, and i were travelling about - doing aussie food and wine presentations - and managed to get to italy for a bit. caught up in florence and had planned to go to Enoteca Pinchiorri (in the days when bookings were less problematical). but i'd flown in from taiwan via singapore to rome and then train to florence. no sleep so was absolutely stuffed. i just knew i would not be up for it. apparently, the full deal took about 6-7 hours back then. no idea about now. he was very keen. but i just could not face it and thought it would be a waste for them and us. 

i had a short list of okay places and ran them past the reception at the hotel. he kept shrugging and grunting in that wonderful italian way of saying, 'well if you really want to waste your time and money' for every suggestion. until a small place nearby about which he raved. arms going like windmills. go immediately he insisted. you can't even book. 

so around the corner we went and there was a queue. no way, i said. too knackered to stand in a queue. we went off to see what we could find around florence. nothing made me happy. could not even find a macdonalds - i was that tired. 

finally ended up back at this place and still a huge queue (not so much a queue as a big crowd on the footpath). i said i was going home. my mate said he was staying. i knew that if that happened i would inevitably miss the best meal of the trip so i stayed. wow. so brilliant. the owner would bring out trays of glasses of wine for those waiting. you did not go in via order, but as spaces opened. so if 8 left and a group of 8 just arrived, in they went. no one cared. so much fun. communal tables. we sat with a group of lawyers and businessmen who had come up from rome for the evening, just for this place. they did it every couple of months. 

no menu. if you asked, you were dismissed with contempt. they brought what they cooked. and heaps of it. they also owned a small winery and served their own wine (and plenty of other great stuff). i brought some back - it was terrific. it really was one of the best meals of the trip, which included several 3 stars in france. i remember the evening extremely well. the only thing i cannot remember is the name. short name. rodin or candida or lapin??? i even did a review of it for a paper back here. i tried googling top places in florence but nothing rings a bell. but so much fun. 

perhaps some of our members who knew florence back then might help? 

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That sounds like one of those unplanned events which end up surprising you so much and it becomes a lifelong memory.

21 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

the full deal took about 6-7 hours back then. no idea about now.

I'm interested to see how long the dinners would be.

It's my first time visiting three star restaurants in Europe. I've dined at several 3 stars in Tokyo and the U.S. and none were that long. They averaged at about 3 hours.

Longest meal I had was 6 hours and that was at Urasawa in L.A., used to have 2 stars back when L.A. had the guide. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Damn, thats an impressive list. Food is like art at those places. I've watched countless shows etc but have never eaten at a michelin starred restaurant. One day hopefully. 

Osteria Francescana is regarded as one of the best in the world right now, hope you get in! Take some pics haha 

I've always wanted to go to the French Laundry. Seen it featured lots on different shows etc. I've got the French Laundry cookbook on e-book which I've skimmed through but when would I ever even attempt to make anything out of there. Half the time I make fish midweek the wife says its too dry. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/25/2018 at 10:21 AM, Frozen North said:

Pretentious and extremely overpriced in my opinion. I'd take a meal cooked by my wife over that lot.

Certainly some of these places fit that category. But definitely not all. I would have said something similar before I experienced it for myself. I've only been to 1 restaurant of this Caliber. The 2 Michelin starred "Picasso" in the Bellagio Las Vegas. They won AAA five diamond awards for the past 16 years, wine spectator "grand awards" plus there is over $20 million of picoss art displayed in the restaurant. Its more than just the food at a restaurant like this. The service, drink pairings, timing, ambiance, were all perfect. It was easily the best meal of my life. Would I pay $200 a person for the same experience again? Yes, Without a second thought. Not everyday, not even every time I go to Vegas. But it can certainly be worth it on special occasions. 

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2 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Certainly some of these places fit that category. But definitely not all. I would have said something similar before I experienced it for myself. I've only been to 1 restaurant of this Caliber. The 2 Michelin starred "Picasso" in the Bellagio Las Vegas. They won AAA five diamond awards for the past 16 years, wine spectator "grand awards" plus there is over $20 million of picoss art displayed in the restaurant. Its more than just the food at a restaurant like this. The service, drink pairings, timing, ambiance, were all perfect. It was easily the best meal of my life. Would I pay $200 a person for the same experience again? Yes, Without a second thought. Not everyday, not even every time I go to Vegas. But it can certainly be worth it on special occasions. 

i'm fully in agreement. i've been fortunate to eat in a reasonable number of these places. some via 'work' but a few on my own dime. i find that in this atmosphere, there is not that much middle ground. i either feel that as good as they might, they were horribly overpriced. or they are amazing bargains for what they provide. a place like can roca - not cheap (although it really used to be amazingly low priced) but if there is a better value meal/culinary experience (for want of a less pretentious description), i'd love to know about it. but i understand that there are plenty who simply would not spend that sort of dosh on food and fair enough.

perhaps like concerts - there are some that i'd pay not to go to, while others think any money to get to them is good value. and vice versa. 

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