Finding the Best Michelin Star Dish Ever (ft Alexander the Guest)

this guy is so classist, nouveau riche

Hmm.. I do wonder if the concept of “street food” is sometimes misunderstood. A hawker stall in Singapore is nowhere the same as a fish and chips store for example. Singaporeans would expect hawker food to be cheap, but also incredibly amazing and unique to that store alone. It is very difficult to recreate some of the iconic hawker food dishes because these are closely guarded recipes passed from generation to generation. My local coffee shop’s chicken rice for example is the simplest fare, presented without any pretense, but with an extremely refined recipe that I feel has not been replicated in other stalls. I can try to make chicken rice on my own but it’ll never reach this level. In other words, there are several local hawker stores are highly respected, even more so than a Michelin starred restaurant. Iconic “street food” in Singapore is not one where the food is simple, easily replicated, or slapped together without much thought.

To discount such “street food” is to put on a very Eurocentric mindset that only high-class restaurant fare with the right ambience is deserving of immense respect. You have to consider how the locals understand food. To some, a lot of restaurants don’t actually come close to the history, nuanced flavours of hawker food.

Redzepi being an amazing human being is quite the statement

I am so on board with Alexander. I have been lucky enough to eat at the Fat Duck and at Osteria Franscescana and although the food at Buttaros restaurant was incredible the entire eating experience at the Fat Duck was just mind blowing. Heston is a true food magician.

Watched loads of Alex thought he was a bit pompous but the chefs bought a real side out of him, you can see why hes a expert critic.

What’s that blue stuff he put in the sand (7:59). It looks suspiciously like copper sulphate😮

Alex is an expert but I disagree with his position on granting stars outside of Europe (or in Asia specifically). The original ethos of the guide was based on the context: 1 is worth stopping for, 2 is worth a detour, and 3 is worth a devoted trip. Nothing about that chicken seems like it's not worth stopping for, perhaps even a detour. The line may be drawn at 3 stars, where the food alone is rarely worth a devoted trip; some experiences are worth travelling for.

This video just reminded me why I dislike Michelin so much. I can get behind Heston Blumenthal, but he is a showman first and a cook second. You don't go there to eat, you go there for a show that includes food (should be awarded as such, not for especially good food), but 99,9% of the restaurants with stars aren't like that. You want a star? Well your lampshades are better worth more than the yearly salary of all your staff combined and throw some caviar on the table as decoration while your at it. It's just gluttony incarnate. It's not about enjoying good food made by talented people, it's about how much can you waste on boosting your own ego. A carrot doesn't turn into food from the gods, just because your table cloth costs more than an average persons car or the waiter is constantely hovering over you, because they are scared to lose their underpaid job. This guest (no idea who this guy is) quite literally embodied everything wrong with the Michelin system. "How dare they give a star that symbolizes outstanding good food to something so low and peasant as a street vendor. His table cloth isn't worth a fortune, he doesn't even have tables... bah disgusting!"

alexander is a pompous egoist. michelin stars are about how far you'd be willing to travel to eat said food. if someone is willing to fly to singapore for this man's chicken then it fits the very definition. there are other awards given out for the chefs themselves, or for the dining experience as a whole. he seems to fundamentally misunderstand the very gift he himself has been given. ffs its born from a tyre company yet he wants to use his own casual racism to diminish the quality of the chefs all throughout asia. there's a reason they've absolutely trounced europe when ratings opened for them a few years back. the food quality and the skills are obviously superior. euro-centric trash is his best descriptor. he's just mad he can't colonise anymore.

These cats could make some killer money doing this. We'll do a seating with 9 different tastings from iconic michelin restaurants best dishes. You'd have people throwing money at you. But it would come at the cost of integrity in the high end culinary market.