It’s huge news for the local dining scene: The Michelin Guide is coming to Boston. The guide, started by a French tire company more than a century ago, sends anonymous inspectors into the field to evaluate restaurants and award its rare, coveted stars.
For a long time, I did not believe that Boston should have a Michelin Guide. Which is not to say I didn’t think Boston deserved one. If I hear one more person say this is a bad restaurant town, I’m going to fling every small plate on my table at the perpetrator. There is an embarrassment of culinary talent in and around this city, which always punches above its weight. Showcase that in a guide with international reach? Sign us up.
Oh wait, we have to pay for that?
This, to me, was the rub: To get Michelin to come to a region, local tourism boards pony up substantial sums. Visit California reportedly paid Michelin $600,000 to expand its reach statewide. The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau spent $1 million. Colorado tourism boards and resort companies joined forces, paying $70,000 to $100,000 each for consideration, according to The New York Times — in the process shutting out surrounding Colorado towns that were less endowed or less inclined.
A pay-to-play system can feel morally icky, favoring those with deep pockets (as the restaurant business already does). Boston’s participation raises many questions to be asked and answered in the coming days: What is the price tag for this? What area will the guide cover, exactly? What local restaurants meet Michelin’s standards of excellence? Inspectors come from hotel and restaurant backgrounds, and tend to favor classic, traditional aesthetics. That’s not necessarily where Boston shines the brightest. Michelin awards stars, but it also has a Bib Gourmand recognition for “good quality, good value cooking.” Boston might be more of a Bib Gourmand kind of town, even if “Bib Gourmand” sounds like something a French baby would wear and we’d probably make fun of. Speaking generally, Michelin and Boston vibes are like oil and dirty water.
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I’ve still changed my mind. A Michelin Guide is good for Boston.
It will boost the profile of the local restaurant scene. It might bring in more tourism dollars. It could lead to sharper, more consistent, more fully realized restaurants for people to enjoy. Diners will surely benefit. Cheers to all that. But mostly I think it’s excellent for morale. Ambitious chefs need goals and challenges in order to keep growing. Without that, talent gets restless and moves on. Earning a Michelin star would be nice; having Michelin stars to work toward matters more. Michelin in Boston is a shot in the arm for the local dining scene.
Food media has changed. The country used to have restaurant critics funded by publications working in every market. Boston alone had multiple reviewers. If you didn’t like the Globe’s, you could look to the Herald, Boston magazine, the Phoenix, the Improper, and so on. Social media is now the most accessible place to locate assessments of restaurants, often coming from influencers, many of whom are astute, clever, honest, and smart, and some of whom dine for free in exchange for coverage. Restaurant-going is expensive, and someone needs to fund it. We live in a system that’s sometimes pay-to-play already. Let’s be transparent about it.
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To put the Michelin fee in perspective, this is a city where a liquor license can cost up to $600,000. Paying for Michelin to come check us out is the restaurant world equivalent of SAT prep: Is it gross that the system has evolved to favor students who can afford to take a course that gives them an advantage? Yes. Are you going to shoot your own child in the foot by not enrolling them if you are able?
The guides’ reach is growing quickly. Last month, Michelin announced it would expand in the South, covering Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, in addition to Atlanta. Boston deserves to be in the mix. Passing up the opportunity would be foolish. (A New England guide would be of much greater service to diners, but let’s call this a first step.)
In a recent story, I recounted an anecdote told to me by Daniel Dain, cofounder of the Restaurant Investment Group. Years ago, chef Douglass Williams pitched the investment group on a restaurant that would offer an 18-course tasting menu. “It would have been the best restaurant in Boston,” Dain said. “It just wouldn’t have made any money.” A few months later, the group gave Williams the thumbs-up on Mida, an Italian restaurant that became a success.
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Michelin stars, shining in the distance, add a new dimension to conversations like this. They open up possibility for chefs with big ideas and dreams. They are ammunition for those chefs when they seek investment for concepts that push the envelope. And for those who do receive Michelin recognition, it will be a valuable jumping-off point for that next project — tangible proof that this small yet high-cost market can and will support and reward risk. Tangible proof that Boston is anything but a bad restaurant town.
Devra First can be reached at devra.first@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @devrafirst.