Brooklyn Fare No Longer Has Three Michelin Stars — In Fact It Has None
Michelin awarded stars to eight new restaurants, including Torrisi, Bōm, Ichimura, and Meju by Hooni Kim
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The Michelin Guide hasn’t elevated a single New York restaurant to its highest honor of three stars in over a decade — but it has taken some of those beloved stars away.
And indeed, this year is no exception.
The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare has dropped from three stars to zero — a move that is extraordinarily rare. The full results were announced during an award ceremony in Manhattan tonight.
Brooklyn Fare temporarily closed this summer following an ugly dispute between owner Moe Issa and former chef Cesar Ramirez. The new chefs, Max Natmessnig and Marco Prins, reopened the restaurant in early October; they both previously worked at the expensive French-Japanese counter spot. Natmessnig told the New York Times that the new team plans to create a “more positive” environment, following allegations of verbal abuse under Ramriez.
It is entirely likely that the Michelin inspectors didn’t properly evaluate Brooklyn Fare during the short time frame since its reopening. We’ll update this post accordingly when new information arises.
The new single-starred selections were:
Bom: a meat-focused Modern Korean spot where dinner runs $325 before tax and tip
Essential by Christophe: a fancy French spot by an ex-Robuchon lieutenant
Joji: a $375 sushi bar below Grand Central
Meju: Hooni Kim’s fermentation-focused Korean restaurant in Long Island City ($185)
Yuu: a Japanese take on French cuisine ($250)
Shmoné, an Israeli-Mediterranean spot by chef Eyal Shani
Sushi Ichimura: an omakase sushi spot by Eiji Ichimura ($425)
Torrisi: Chef Rich Torrisi’s acclaimed Italian American restaurant
The new two-starred selections were:
Sushi Noz: Chef Nozomu Abe’s $495 omakase palace (it is very good, though I prefer Noz 17)
Odo: Chef Hiroki Odo’s kaiseki restaurant
There were significant omissions from the starred selections.
Chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Tatiana, a venue that has received hugely positive critical write-ups by The New Yorker, The LO Times (that’s me), Bon Appétit, and The NYT (Pete Wells put it atop his list of the city’s best restaurants), somehow didn’t manage to impress the Michelin Man. The Lincoln Center restaurant, famous for serving Southern, West African, Caribbean, and Puerto Rican fare in a party-like environment with loud music, was not awarded a star.
Batard, which closed, was left off the list, as was Contra. Kanoyama was dropped, as was Don Angie, the creative Italian American spot by Quality Branded (i.e. the folks who brought us Bad Roman, which I maintain is a pretty fun place to eat if you order correctly and get the right waiters). Momofuku Ko, which held two stars since its first year of eligibility in 2009, was left off the list, surely because it closed last week.
And the longtime romantic staple River Cafe also fell off the list.
Mexican spots Casa Enrique and Claro were both dropped from the list of starred selections, leaving New York with just a single Mexican restaurant with a star: Oxomoco. Enrique Olvera’s Modern Mexican Cosme, one of the city’s best restaurants in any class of cuisine, continues to be overlooked by the inspectors.
Last week, Michelin announced its annual Bib Gourmands, a list of venues where diners can enjoy two courses and a drink or dessert for $49. That number hovered at $40 for about ten years, but the limit jumped up last year in deference to inflation. Restaurants that receive a Bib are ineligible for a star that same year.
Among the new venues earning bibs this year were Cafe Mars in Gowanus and the new Superiority Burger in the East Village — another favorite of local critics like Pete Wells and myself.
The original purpose of the Michelin guide was to help the French company sell tires, which explains why the language behind the stars still boasts a travel-focused mindset.
One star denotes “high quality-cooking, worth a stop.” Two stars means “excellent cooking,” worth a detour.” And three stars signifies “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”
Regardless of what one thinks of the world’s oldest and most recognizable restaurant guide — and I’ve levied some tough criticisms at Michelin over the years — the three-starred club remains one of the world’s most exclusive clubs. Just under 140 venues worldwide hold that honor, and just 13 or so of them are in the United States.
New York now has just four three Michelin-starred restaurants: Per Se, Masa, Eleven Madison Park, and Le Bernardin.
The Full List of 2023 Starred Selections for NYC and Westchester
New Three Star Restaurants
There are none!
Three Star Restaurants
Eleven Madison Park
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
New Two Star Restaurants
Odo
Sushi Noz
Returning Two Star restaurants
Al Coro
Aquavit
Aska
Atera
Atomix
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
Daniel
Gabriel Kreuther
Jean-Georges
Jungsik
The Modern
Saga
New One Star
Bom
Essential by Christophe
Joji
Meju
Yuu
Shmoné
Sushi Ichimura
Torrisi
Returning One Star
63 Clinton
Casa Mono
Caviar Russe
Clover Hill
Cote
Crown Shy
Dirt Candy
Estela
Family Meal at Blue Hill
The Four Horseman
Francie
Frevo
Gramercy Tavern
Hirohisa
Icca
Jeju Noodle Bar
Joomak Banjum
Jua
Kochi
Kosaka
L’Abeille
Le Coucou
Le Jardinier
Le Pavillon
Mari
Musket Room
Noda
Noz 17
Oiji Mi
One White Street
Oxalis
Oxomoco
Red Paper Clip
Rezdora
Semma
Shion 69 Leonard
Sushi Amane
Sushi Nakazawa
Sushi Yasuda
Tempura Matsui
Torien
Tsukini
Tuome
Vestry
Yoshino
This is a developing story that will likely involve updates after publication. Click on the web version to see any changes.