The #AlphaFoodie Guide to Michelin Star Restaurants
For many, a trip to a Michelin star restaurant is not exactly on their weekly agenda. Rather it’s something to tick off the bucket list, an extreme splurge, a ‘multi-sensory experience’. These restaurants typically avoid a la carte, instead offering set menus, or tasting menus. This is good news for your palette but bad news for your wallet.
Whilst these restaurants come with a hefty price tag, keep in mind the sheer amount of work, dedication and skill that goes into achieving one star let alone three. We’ve created a little breakdown for you (using the Michelin guide) to better understand what each star represents:
- One star: This is seen as “a very good restaurant in its category”
- Two stars: These restaurants have “very good cooking” and are “worth a detour”
- Three stars: This is the highest honour, to achieve this the cuisine must be excellent and the restaurant is seen as “worth a special journey”
If you wish to find out which cities are the most highly populated with Michelin Star restaurants and fine dining experiences, then be sure to check out our Foodies Paradise Guide!
If budget is no object, we’ve found some of the most expensive Michelin Star restaurants around the world for all you foodies out there (you’re welcome!).
This is the most expensive restaurant in the world…be warned the price may shock you. For a whopping £1,200 you could be one of only 12 people (each night) who indulge in a 3-hour experience consisting of 20 courses (now that’s a lot of food)! It’s so much more than just a meal out, it fuses the senses, encourages interactivity and allows you to just live in the moment.
The restaurant is in the Hard-Rock hotel and gives travellers the opportunity to experience something unlike anything else. The idea is to move away from the stereotype of Ibiza being a place solely to party, and to instead focus on attracting those willing to pay more for a unique experience.
This restaurant has three Michelin stars, which comes as no surprise. Opened in 1986 by Alain Passard, this art décor styled establishment pays tribute to the chef’s true love of music. The dishes across the menus are simplistic, with the ‘earth and sea menu’ costing in excess of €420 and the ‘vegetable tasting menu’ costing €350.
#3 - Alinea, Chicago Illinois
This three-star Michelin restaurant has been open since 2005 however was redesigned in 2016. Loved by food critics and with amazing reviews, this is one of the best places you’ll ever eat.
Grant Achatz, the founder of Alinea wanted to create something different and to rethink what could be classed as a meal, drawing in on avant-garde dishes and molecular gastronomy (the transformation of food). The dishes are inventive and artful across the three dining experiences. The most expensive is The Kitchen Table at $385 each. This is for parties of 6 only, and provides an exceptional dining experience.
When it comes to the menu, they’re relatively secretive. A couple of dishes you can expect include, prosciutto, passionfruit and zuta levana, salad with a red wine vinaigrette and their famous floating dessert called the edible helium balloon. Trust us, this is a restaurant you need to visit.
The brains and beauty behind this restaurant come from Alain Ducasse, who has the belief that the natural taste of food is what makes a dish so delicious. This has translated throughout his menus and dishes. The focus is on ensuring every component is perfect so the ingredients harmonise and contrast with each other, making dining a unique and delicious experience.
We recommend the ‘Jardin-Marin’ set menu, which offers a range of fish accompanied by ingredients such as vegetables from Chateau de Varsailles Gardens and even the occasional use of golden caviar (because fish eggs are apparently fancy). To sample the menu, you’re looking at £280, expensive for sure, but the food will be something you’ll remember forever.
What we love about this establishment is its humble beginnings and how it transformed into a three-star Michelin restaurant. Like all the others, it’s not cheap (£238 per person for 10 courses to be exact), but what you get for that is what makes it all so worth it.
Let’s start with the décor; styled like a tea ceremony house, you are seated in traditional tatami rooms where you will eat Japanese style, overlooking the view of the stunning gardens. If that hasn’t sold it to you, the dishes sound incredible! Boiled blue crab with vinegar jelly, sushi of barracuda and clear coup of pike are just some of the cuisine you’ll experience. If you love Japanese food, then this place is for you!
The price to eat at these restaurants are extortionate to say the very least. We get it, not everyone wants to burn through hundreds in the space of one sitting. However, before you say no to the experience ask yourself this; do you care more about how these exceptional chefs can tease the most simplistic ingredient into being a work of art, or are you more focused on the extravagant price? We know what we’d choose.
Prices and information correct as at January 2019
