As expected, the release of the Beijing 221 Michelin list attracted cynicism from the people who ate melons, instead of hungry gluttons: the first place was the Taizhou chain restaurant Xinrongji and the vegetarian restaurant Jing Zhaoyin; Followed by the Shanghai cuisine room, the semi-colon Jingji in which Xinrongji changed his vest. The restaurants in the future are even more magical. Apart from Liyuan, Xiang 'ai and Fuchunju, which represent the tastes of other provinces and cities, even Lijia cuisine, a can of coke, a rustic kitchen in 68 yuan, and mountains and rivers with more forms than contents are all on the list. There is no core evaluation standard, no clear geographical label, and no wide social reputation. In this Michelin list, it seems that there is only one word "expensive" left in the selection threshold.
No.1
A tire company that makes restaurant recommendations may be the last modernist joke in the history of world cuisine. But the logic of this joke is self-consistent: in order to accelerate the tire wear speed of car users and ultimately increase the sales of enterprises. Therefore, fairness and justice and ensuring social reputation are the most important foundations for Michelin to stand before entering Chinese mainland. In order to be fair, Michelin used the external assessors who never dared to test the water in the catering industry before, the unexpected blind test experience and the most detailed location comparison map. In the catering industry with low barriers to entry, fierce competition and serious opinions, this system is the troublemaker in the industry. Because Michelin didn't rely on restaurants to feed at that time, the list makers wanted the real experience of users. In the era without the Internet, they formed influence through word-of-mouth communication and publishing communication, and finally reached Michelin's commercial appeal.
Yes, in those days, the Michelin Guide formed a key link of logical self-consistency, that is, it had nothing to do with commercial interests. At the same time, in order to increase users' travel mileage and tire wear as much as possible, Michelin Guide will also pay special attention to the irreplaceability of local characteristics. Compared with the old Michelin-starred restaurant ——Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, the signature dishes are amber fish produced in Ligurian Sea, spaghetti jiaozi produced in Tuscany region and tomahawk steak with traditional Florentine craftsmanship.
These foods are ingredients and cooking techniques that are hard to find in other areas after leaving this city. The key word printed on the front page of the menu of EnotecaPinchiorri restaurant, which runs through all the dishes and services, comes from Oscar Wilde: "We can forgive a person for doing something practical, even if he doesn't admire it; The only excuse for doing useless things is to admire it and love it. All art is completely useless. " This veritable Michelin Samsung actually represents not the restaurant itself, but the geography, products, historical changes and cultural accumulation of Florence. For the diners who come to visit, when they come to this restaurant to eat, they taste not only the taste, but also the city of Florence through eating. The food map of tire factory, starting from travel and ending with taste, has completed the "dimension reduction blow" to the catering industry and gained a real wide reputation. But when I came to China, everything changed.
No.2
In China in 216, the manufacturing industry has been completely surplus; The per capita car ownership is by no means comparable to that of France in 19. For Michelin, the competitiveness of tire products is not strong compared with local brands in China, and the sales of tires will not increase with the reliability of food guides. Determined to let the food guide land in China, the purpose behind it is self-evident: to gain benefits from the catering industry. Unreliable things are often similar and seem to have complicated motives, but the link that really determines their inappropriateness has been formed as early as the beginning. What's more, in China, a country where Confucianism has been immersed for thousands of years, the social status of catering practitioners has not been high. In the past, cooks and restaurant owners regarded management as a means to support their families. The ultimate goal was to enable their next generation to study, read well, gain fame, become an official, and be a "talented person".
This is the fundamental reason for China's lack of craftsman spirit, and it is also the reason why the self-discipline of the catering industry practitioners was not high in the past, and the dispute between circles and portals was more serious than that of western counterparts. In recent years, the emergence of food from the media and documentaries has brought unprecedented vitality to this circle, but at the same time, it has also allowed the old practitioners to see a faster and lower-cost access to the "people" class. Michelin's timely appearance gave this circle what it wanted most: the right to speak in public opinion. This writing will certainly offend people, but the Michelin list in mainland China is indeed full of business mutual praise, fame and fortune trading and false word of mouth. If you follow the map, you will find the same praise in the front row on the Internet platforms where the commercialization purpose is obvious, such as X Group, X Monument and X Review. Only by turning to the back page, or just reading bad reviews, can we get some effective information.
No.3
Why is Beijing not suitable for Michelin list? As a region with relatively underdeveloped food accumulation, the local particularity, difference and quietness of its diet are very low. More delicious taste comes from "chain restaurants" that copy foreign dishes. However, as a rooted culture, food will be somewhat discounted in taste and temperament if it leaves the native land.
Taking Beijing as a Michelin award-winning city, we never pay attention to the ultimate taste, but the capital that has the strength to copy restaurants and dishes. Tracing back to the original purpose of Michelin list: to discover the original good taste of a city and encourage foreign tourists to go foraging with motivation and purpose. It is no exaggeration to evaluate Beijing Michelin's phrase "forget your original heart". Peter? Mel once praised the accuracy of the Michelin list map of France in 1939. He said that when the Allied Forces liberated France in 1944, they relied on that map. And if today's diners go to Beijing to find a taste according to the Michelin map of Beijing, I am afraid they will only get lost in the jungle of reinforced concrete.