Michelin will expand its exclusive restaurant and hotel guide series
in
North America to include
Chicago. The
MICHELIN guide Chicago 2011, the first-ever MICHELIN
guide for a Midwestern city, will be published in
November
2010. The announcement was made today by
Jean-Luc Naret, worldwide director of the
MICHELIN guide.
The MICHELIN guide,
whose rating system is internationally recognized as the height of
culinary success, is already published in 25 editions covering 23
countries, and additionally includes North
America guides to New York City,
which was introduced in November 2005,
and San Francisco, launched the year
after. The MICHELIN guide also recently launched titles in Asia, including two guides in Japan (Tokyo
and Kyoto & Osaka) and Hong Kong & Macao.
The guide will provide a
selection and rating, in all categories of comfort and prices, in a
reader-friendly layout made especially for the American market and which
reflects the region's distinctive culinary and hotel landscape.
"The diversity, breadth
and depth of Chicago's restaurant and
hotel scene, coupled with its rich gastronomic history, clearly mark the
city and surrounding areas as the logical choice for the next North
American title in the MICHELIN guide series," commented Naret. "As with
our recently updated guides to New York City
and San Francisco, we are making every
effort to produce a comprehensive selection that does full justice to
the region's exciting restaurant and hotel culture and also meets our
readers' expectations."
During the
announcement, Naret described Chicago
as unique among American cities, citing its reputation as a world-class
tourism destination and stressing the importance of its treasured
culinary traditions.
Michelin is using the
occasion of the new MICHELIN guide Chicago
2011 to highlight the company's entire line of travel and lifestyle
products. This business category encompasses Michelin's full collection
of travel guides, maps, online travel resources, automotive accessories
and footwear designed to strengthen consumer engagement with the
Michelin brand on a more frequent basis. These products create nearly
half a billion touch points annually and enrich the equity of the brand.
According to Parmeet Grover, worldwide
head of strategic marketing for Michelin's travel and lifestyle
divisions, these products deliver the same Michelin promise of quality
and consistency that consumers expect from one of the world's most
trusted brands. Michelin is the only tire manufacturer with this unique
lifestyle offering.
The MICHELIN guide, and
its expansion into Chicago, provides a
key example of Michelin Travel & Lifestyle' s goal to enhance the
enjoyment of travel in support of the company's better mobility mission.
"We are eagerly
anticipating the MICHELIN guide's entry into this wonderful city known
for its cuisine, culture, beauty and innovative spirit," said Naret.
As part of their
meticulous and highly confidential evaluation process, Michelin
inspectors - both European and American - are currently conducting
anonymous inspections to Chicago
restaurants and hotels. They've been in Chicago
for two years. As with all MICHELIN guide inspections, the process
involves test meals or overnight stays at each establishment, in order
to assess the level and the consistency of the establishment. And as for
all the other guides and all the other countries, the inspectors pay
all their bills in restaurants and hotels.
"The Michelin
inspectors are the eyes and ears of the customers, and thus the
anonymity of our inspectors is key to ensure they are treated the same
as any guest would be treated," commented Naret.
Restaurants and hotels
selected for inclusion in the Guide will be listed by neighborhood and
also cross-referenced by category.
The MICHELIN guide
offers a broad selection of hotels and restaurants in each price and
comfort category, taking into account the local environment. This rating
is unique and consistent across all countries covered by the MICHELIN
guide. It is expressed in two ways:
- A comfort rating: levels of
comfort are rated using one to five forks and spoons for restaurants and
one to five pavilions for hotels. Those symbols only judge the comfort
of the establishment. They are: the furnishings of the establishment,
the service, the cleanliness and upkeep of the
surroundings. Red forks and spoons or red pavilions are for
especially pleasant establishments.
- Special distinctions for
certain establishments: these include stars for the very best
restaurants. The stars judge only "what's on the plate," meaning the quality
of products, the mastering of flavors, the mastering of
cooking, the "personality" of the cuisine, the value for
money and the consistency of what it offers to its customers both
throughout the menu and the year.
While every restaurant
in the guide is a recommendation from Michelin, certain restaurants
deserve to be brought to the reader's attention for the fine quality of
their cooking. These establishments are identified by Michelin stars,
which are awarded for the standard of meals served.
A general listing in
the guide indicates "a quality restaurant that stands out from others"
in the same category of comfort, definitely worth trying.
The star ratings are as
follows:
- One star indicates "a very good
restaurant in its category," a place offering cuisine prepared to a
consistently high standard.
- Two stars denote "excellent
cooking, worth a detour," skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of
outstanding quality.
- Three stars reward "exceptional
cuisine, worth a special journey." One always eats extremely well
here, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using
superlative ingredients.
A restaurant that
receives one or more stars is not only one of the best in its country
but also one of the best in the world.
The decision to award a
star is a collective one, based on the consensus of all inspectors who
have visited a particular establishment. A written description of each
establishment and a variety of other symbols will give readers further
insight into an establishment's ambiance, type of cuisine and
specialties, and wine list, customized to American tastes and needs.
Michelin's founders, Andre and Edouard Michelin, first impacted the
transportation world, and consequently the travel world, when their
innovative ideas led to the first pneumatic automobile tires. Since this
breakthrough in travel technology, the Michelin Group has been
dedicated to providing unbiased, accurate, clear and easy-to-understand
information for the traveling customer. The MICHELIN guide, first
published in 1900, was created to provide motorists with practical
information about where they could service and repair their cars and
find quality accommodations or a good meal. The guide was provided free
of charge until 1920, and the "star system" for outstanding restaurants
was introduced in 1926, with the two- and three-star categories
introduced in the early 1930s, clearly positioning Michelin as the most
respected arbiter of fine dining. With its unparalleled commitment to
quality, Michelin publishes close to 10 million maps, atlases, travel
guides and hotel and restaurant guides in more than 90 countries
worldwide every year.
For more than a
century, the MICHELIN guide collection has made traveling easier
by providing a selection of the best restaurants, hotels and guesthouses
throughout the world. Today, the 25 guides in the collection cover 23
countries on three continents and include more than 45,000 addresses
around the world.
The MICHELIN guide Chicago 2011 will complement the
existing catalog of Michelin maps and guides to the North American
market, including the recently updated guides to New York City and San
Francisco. It's the 26th guide of the collection. The guide will
be available in November 2010 at
bookstores, boutiques and other participating retailers, including
online retailers.
