New York maintained its standing as one of the premier fine dining destinations with a record 67 restaurants being awarded Michelin stars.
Michelin’s 2014 guide to the Big Apple’s culinary scene saw star ratings given to Korean, New Zealand and Scandinavian restaurants – an indication the city still embraces diversity in the fine dining restaurants on offer.
The record of 67 in the 2014 guide is just higher than last year’s 66. There are nine new additions to the guide including The Musket Room in SoHo. The restaurant serves food from New Zealand and received a star in its first year of eligibility.
Owner and executive chef Matt Lambert, a native from the southern hemisphere island, said: “I’m overwhelmingly happy – just super happy. The reason I moved to New York from New Zealand was so that I could get involved with Michelin Guide restaurants.”
Lambert was previously chef de cuisine at fellow one-star restaurant PUBLIC. He thinks contemporary New Zealand food is here to stay. “The greatest thing about it is that it’s still evolving. It doesn’t have much of a history because the country is still young but our cooking has evolved a lot,” he said.
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Another addition to the 55 one-star restaurants is Aska. It is one of four Brooklyn-based destinations to earn a star rating in the 2014 Michelin Guide. Swedish-born chef Fredrik Berselius uses foraged and locally-sourced ingredients to serve Scandinavian cuisine there and has earned Aska a Michelin star in its first year of eligibility.
Jungsik in Manhattan’s TriBeCa district now has two Michelin stars following its debut in the guide last year. It becomes the first Korean restaurant in the world to achieve the two-star rating.
The number of two-star restaurants otherwise dropped to five from last year’s seven even with Jungsik’s inclusion. Gordon Ramsay’s The London was one of those to lose its ranking. The other two were Gilt on Madison Avenue, which has closed, and Corton, which has lost its chef.
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There was little change at the top with the selection of restaurants awarded three stars remaining the same for the third consecutive year.
Le Bernardin in the Midtown West district has received the highest rating every year since 2007. Co-owner and head chef Eric Ripert said: “We are very honored to maintain our three stars again this year. It’s a great privilege for Le Bernardin to be included.”
French restaurant Per Se was also awarded three stars. It has received the rating in every edition since Michelin introduced the guide to New York in 2006. Masa, Daniel, Jean Georges, Eleven Madison Park and Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare were also among the best restaurants.
The Michelin Guide started in 1900 as a guide for chauffeurs on the best culinary destinations in France. Three stars mean “exceptional cusine – worth a special journey”, two indicate “excellent cuisine, worth a detour” and one suggests “a very good restaurant in its category”.
The ‘MICHELIN Guide New York City 2014’ is now on sale.
