Tokyo Has the Most Top Restaurants in The World
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
Chefs and restaurateurs all over the world pray for a good review in the Michelin Restaurant Guide. It is recognized as the foremost in its genre. The top award, a rating of three stars, is almost impossible to obtain. Most chefs consider it a major feat to garner a single star.
Last year, Tokyo was the first Asian city to be included in Michelin’s publications. This year, it holds the top spot of any city in the world. Nine restaurants received the coveted three-star rating, 36 were given two stars and 128 were awarded one star. That adds up to more stars than Paris, New York or Madrid.
But did Tokyo really need the Michelin guide to tell the world that it is a great city for eating? There are more than 150,000 restaurants in the city. Some are quite small. One restaurant to receive the 3-star award was Ishikawa. It only seats 16 people at a time. There are other sushi and noodle shops that only seat 4 or 5 customers.
The inspection team from Michelin was not able to cover all 150,000 restaurants in the city. But, as evidenced by Ishikawa, they did not only include the biggest and most famous restaurants in their guide.
While the newly discovered Japanese restaurants will enjoy their Michelin stars, the big winner is Tokyo. Often seen as a land of sushi and soba, and little else, Tokyo’s food scene is getting recognized for its diversity and world-class quality. Tokyo-based food-lovers have long enjoyed the attention to detail and creativity of Japanese gourmet chefs. But the sheer number of unfamiliar foods kept Tokyo off the mainstream map. The recognition from Michelin will help with that. Tokyo is finally being recognized for being something that it has always been: a great food city.