Over the past couple of years, a lot of interviews with chefs included the phrase, “Putting Minnesota on the map.” Chefs and writers kept pushing a narrative that Minnesota food can compete with New York or Chicago on a national level, that our best restaurants could be plopped into any city and excel. They aren’t wrong. Restaurants like Santi’s, Al’s Breakfast, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Valerie’s Taqueria can compete with the best restaurants around the country.
I bet when you saw that I was going to start naming restaurants, you assumed I would name ones like Demi and Myriel. They, too, can compete nationally, but the reason I opened with some of our more casual spots is to prove a point: when Michelin comes to star our restaurants, those won’t be on the list.
I chase Michelin stars. I have a trip planned for New York in the fall and my bucket list includes mostly starred restaurants. I’m known to coordinate with restaurants to eat at three starred restaurants in a day. I honed my palate in these rooms. Those dining rooms matter a lot to me. They mean something. Pushing for that kind of artistic dining is something that inspires me as a writer. It’s how I got my start. But there’s also something about these restaurants that can feel like the whole point is pushing for the star and not pushing for locals to be able to go to the restaurants.
They’re expensive, and when restaurants get a star, their prices often skyrocket. They’re sometimes stuffy and feel inaccessible, not always because of the workers in them, but often because of the guests who look down their noses at my Hoka tennis shoes. And the staff are eagle-eyed, trying to determine if you might be a Michelin reviewer, which has made for more than one awkward solo dinner on my watch.
Minnesota is the opposite of that. You can wear a hat into Demi and Kado no Mise. I wore a goth Labubu shirt and sweatpants into Myriel and the staff were delighted to tell me it was, “Giving Hot Topic.” Even our fine dining scene is casual, with warmth coming from Minnesota’s unique style of hospitality that focuses on giving you space. Michelin says they don’t star based on these kinds of things, but if you look at the stars objectively and ask what most have in common, they do. Similarly, they say they don’t star based on cuisine. But French and Japanese restaurants are starred far more than, say, Vietnamese and Mexican ones, meaning there’s also a culinary bias deeply rooted in racism.
I worry that with Michelin coming, restaurants might change how they’re cooking to try to be star worthy–and I worry about how we’re always pushing to be seen as worthy by external sources, instead of realizing the best part about Minnesota dining is that it’s special to us.
A list of the best restaurants in Minnesota that focus on fine dining is a list that focuses on the least accessible places–and that’s what Michelin is. Michelin will likely star both or either Diane’s Place or Vinai, but not individual stalls at Hmong Village. It will likely star Oro but not any of our taquerias on Lake Street or Central. It will likely push new restaurants that open to consider their menus based on if they might get a star, meaning that a concept for a French bistro might turn into a stuffy French restaurant that feels more at home in New York. I don’t want that. I think if this happens, we lose what makes us special.
When I tell people that our dining scene isn’t like New York City at all, they always bristle, like I’m saying it’s worse. Other writers have said that the dining scene is less “mature,” whatever that means. But I’m a born and raised Minnesotan who loves that most of what makes our state special is that you can likely walk into our best restaurants and grab a seat at the bar. Where NYC is a rat race for reservations, most people’s favorite restaurant here is just down the street. Our food scene is well-rounded enough and good enough that our middle-of-the-road casual restaurants are excellent.
Will Michelin star a Somali restaurant? A Salvadoran spot? Any of our Dinkytown Chinese restaurants? Probably not. But this is my view of Minnesotan dining. If Michelin comes in and defines us, if people start using it to choose where to eat, I worry some of our best restaurants will fall off the list of spots people want to go to. And then I worry that some of them will close.
Most of the writers who are dropped into Minnesota to review our restaurants from afar miss who we are. They’re comparing us to New York and Chicago, and I just… don’t care to do that. What we have here is special without that comparison, distinctly regional, and built for locals.
This is what I love about Minnesota dining. I worry that with Michelin, we might lose it.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I hope that every Minnesotan can feel what I feel. As the only critic that covers the entire state of Minnesota, not just the cities and the cabin towns, I see fine dining everywhere. To me, it’s not white tablecloths and the folding of a napkin. It’s hospitality that’s driven by Minnesotan values of wanting you to feel welcome. It’s farm-driven menus, even in the backroads of the country. It’s burgers and cheese curds, yes, but also the tradition of whole fried walleye at Chinese and Thai restaurants. Minnesota dining is the state fair and drive-ins. Now, we’re in an era of a statewide boom of Asian-inspired cottage bakers and rural taco trucks. None of these spots will make Michelin’s list.
Our history is not, and I hope it never will be, that our best restaurants are tasting menus with pomp and circumstance. As much as I love them, more than that, I love that diners have turf wars and everyone has a favorite burger recommendation at the ready. When Michelin comes here, as your critic, I’m asking you directly: don’t let it define us. Fight to keep who we are alive.
Ughhh Michelin coming to MN makes my eyes roll. Mostly bc it cost us $250k for a 3 year contract. THAT IS BANANAS.
Ooh you’re quick! How long have you had this typed up waiting for the announcement?