Vancouver’s Michelin moment: Guide’s major impact on restaurant scene

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After the big Michelin Guide reveal in Vancouver, the hangover. The questions. What’s behind the inspectors’ somewhat opaque decision-making? What did chefs do right? What’d they do wrong? How can restaurants get on the radar as inspectors continue sleuthing? What’s the Michelin effect on anointed restaurants?

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One thing, the inspectors leaned in, even deeply bowed, to the unique, confident takes on personal expressions by the one-star chefs. And they moved with the times, responding to criticisms of Eurocentrism, embracing diversity.

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Is Michelin worth it for the city? Undoubtedly, Michelin designations are tourism pheromones.

“We know Vancouver’s got great restaurants, but we wanted to take it to another level — global,” said Royce Chwin, head of Destination Vancouver, which collaborated with Michelin Guide. And it will affect the next generation of culinary talent, he said. “They’ve been leaving to go somewhere else to train but now we can attract the talent.”

Andrea Carlson, owner/chef of Burdock and one of two female chefs to be recognized among the 60, won a star for Burdock and a Recommendation for sister restaurant Bar Gobo (Michelin anoints restaurants with stars, Bib Gourmand and Recommendation designations). Carlson saw the effect immediately with bookings.

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“It’s going to bring international business and travellers,” she said less than 24 hours after the announcements. “I’m really excited. It’s been a long couple of years and everything changed so much over the pandemic. There’ll be a positive influence on the city. There’s a lot of talented people and this is a nice validation to be recognized on an international level. Everyone’s game will rise. The ambitious ones will certainly be going for two stars.”

J.C. Poirier, chef and owner of one-star St. Lawrence, which only takes reservations a month at a time, was fully booked within hours and clocked 150 emails, some probably pleading for a table.

“The Vancouver restaurant scene has crossed the line to a world-class city,” he said.

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Poirier said he is relieved the waiting’s over. “We knew Michelin was coming and I knew St. Lawrence is at the level of one star in Europe but still wondered, ‘am I right?’ Today, I feel great. There’s less pressure than not knowing.

“I feel privileged. So much has changed since 2004 when I came to Vancouver and there were maybe two high-level restaurants and no middle ground. Look at the high quality casual ones we have now. The Bib (Gourmand) has a lot of good choices in there.” The Bib Gourmand recognizes good value restaurants where one can dine for less than $60.

A 2019 Ernst and Young report found 61 per cent of frequent travellers would choose a Michelin guide destination over a comparable one and a 2018 Food & Wine article quoted the late, great Joël Robuchon, who had received the highest number of Michelin stars: “With one Michelin star, you get about 20 per cent more business. Two stars, you get about 40 per cent more business, and with three stars, you’ll do about 100 per cent more.”

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Generally speaking, of course. I think the Bib Gourmand and affordable Recommended restaurants will be extra popular in these inflationary times.

In a phone interview, an anonymous chief Michelin inspector and the international director of the guide divulged a little more than the commonly trotted-out criteria by which Michelin restaurants are judged: Superior quality of ingredients, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in the cuisine, value for money and consistency between visits by anonymous inspectors.

An FYI to restaurateurs, this inspector was a he, with a North American accent. He, and other inspectors who move around the globe, not only made multiple visits to the Michelin-anointed restaurants — eight one-stars, the 12 Bib Gourmands and 40 Recommended restaurants — and visited “many more than that,” but wouldn’t say how many.

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The inspector felt Vancouver’s “unmistakable representation of global flavours, the personal intimate operations and lack of preciousness and formality even in the ritziest of venues” were notable. That, and the quality of local ingredients, stood out.

“I’d say what we look for what the chef is trying to express, his or her talent, and what it is about the meal that connects the chef and team,” he said. “It’s intangible but evident at the star level. Its personality that comes from chefs’ background, experiences, their mentors and techniques taken from that. It’s their journey.”

To find places to try, he said he scours local press, follows local chefs on social media and uses “all that’s available without contacting chefs directly.” Chefs! Keep up those Instagram and TikTok posts!

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“Inspectors are open, without bias, to experience a restaurant’s unique story, flavour and personality,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director. “A star flags the best in the city, country and world, so it has to have something unique to offer. There is no one way to get the star. The more than 3,200 restaurants at star level all have unique flavours. It has to be a chef’s own way, working with sincerity.

“The world gastronomic scene is very vibrant and we’ve never before awarded as many as this year. It’s definitely a search for high gastronomy. There’s more and more diversity with new concepts and innovations and Vancouver is no exception. There’s diversity here and, with reference to the personality of the chef, it’s one of the unique flavours Vancouver adds in the world.”

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And they recite the mantra of five criteria: They need to be met each and every time.

The judging is based solely on the food. But what about jackhammer-level noise or barely there service? “Factors of ambience come into play, help to colour representation, but the award is based solely on the food,” the inspector said. Hmmm, I thought, recalling a restaurant where my Noise App registered jackhammer-level decibels. He acknowledged noise escalation in recent years.

I asked about award-winning restaurants that got the snub. “This is only the beginning. No doubt in years to come, many restaurants will be able to improve their status,” Poullennec said. As for a two-star reach in Vancouver, the inspector and director say evolution is a natural part of the process and the Michelin awards encourage moving to the next level.

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Michelin recognition is an achievement in itself, from the Recommendation to the star level. 

“It’s the creme de la creme,” says Poullennec.

But it’s not all fun and profits. Some restaurants have returned stars saying no thanks to the next-level pressure and stress, something staff can well do without, especially after pandemic mayhem and at a time when the industry is working to improve labour practices. In some cities, quiet neighbourhoods have been overtaken by a restaurant’s fame. Locals find it next to impossible to book at their favourite restaurants; diners, expecting old-school ‘Michelin’ experiences, have take to social media expressing disappointment.

Chefs Carlson and Poirier won’t be shifting into two-star gear. “We’ll keep on doing just what we do,” Carlson said. “It’s where our hearts and values lie and we enjoy it. I have no idea what makes Michelin tick, how you go from one to two stars.” The Guide didn’t hand out any Green Stars for sustainability leaders but Carlson, who’s been a true-blue locavore forever and a day, deserved one.

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Poirier feels the same. “For me, from my experiences in dining at Michelin stars in Europe, I really love the one star. It’s really fitting for what we do,” he said. “But our philosophy from the beginning has been to be better than yesterday, just a little bit here and there, in the details.”

Me, too. My most enjoyable Michelin experiences have been at one stars.

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Read food writer Mia Stainsby’s reviews of the Michelin Guide restaurants:

Restaurant review: Published has made the transition to the new normal look easy

Restaurant review: Masayoshi strives to be a find on Fraser

Restaurant review: Barbara’s Patrick Hennessy finds luck in the time of pandemic

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Restaurant review: St. Lawrence pivots from Quebecois food to changing roster of French regions

Restaurant review: Kissa Tanto a Japanese-Italian marriage made in heaven

Restaurant review: AnnaLena in Kitsilano

Restaurant review: Burdock & Co. serves top-drawer dishes with a twist

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