This ordinary girl decided to find out whether a Michelin-starred restaurant is worth the money

At FavorFlav, Laura once reported on losing her Michelin virginity; the first time she ate at a Michelin-starred restaurant. And recently, British writer Kirsty Bosley also wrote about what she experienced when she crossed the threshold for the first time (including the financial one) and set foot in a Michelin-starred restaurant. You really must read her review…

Because it doesn’t happen very often that someone can describe an experience so incredibly well. What’s more, Kirsty’s approach is so disarming that she earned 100 sympathy points from me right from the start. Because what is the title of her article in the Birmingham Mail? Loosely translated: ‘I’m as common as muck and spent 180 euros in a Michelin-starred restaurant to see whether it was worth it’. And it only gets better:

Not an expert

Because, as Kirsty herself points out: ‘I’ve eaten a lot in my life (as mean readers are also happy to point out to me in Facebook comments), but I’m far from a connoisseur. So far from one, in fact, that I had to spell the word connoisseur three times and Google it just to check whether I was using it correctly here. That’s how little I know about fine dining.’ Well, she had me right there—I find this so amusingly written.

Panic

She then describes how she makes a reservation for one at Adam’s, a Michelin-starred restaurant in her city of Birmingham, where to her horror she can get a table just two days later, and how the nerves then start to kick in. She has no smart clothes, doesn’t know the unwritten rules and has no idea which order to use all the cutlery in.

Pampered

She turns down the drink at the bar and heads straight for her table. The setting is beautiful, a little formal but without starched tablecloths. She is delighted by the lovely fact that there is only one chair at her table, so she doesn’t have to look at an empty one. And she notes that this is only the first of many, many kind gestures that make her feel cherished.

Thrown in at the deep end

There were lots of menu options to choose from, she writes, including, for 130 euros, the Whole Damn Thing, which of course wasn’t its literal name and appeared on the menu as the Tasting Menu. She went for that (good girl). A cocktail to go with it, recommended by the friendly waitress, both to a) help her relax a little and b) because it contained prosecco, which made her feel extra fancy.

There were supposed to be seven courses, but at some point she lost count because so many wonderful little extras kept arriving, all of them feeling like additional gifts. She secretly hoped they wouldn’t all appear on the bill. (They didn’t).

Do yourself a favor

You really should read the rest of the story—indeed, the whole thing. You can do so via this link. It’s one of the most sincere and beautiful articles about food I’ve ever read. But she gives away one small spoiler herself: she cried. And got high. And if she never buys another takeaway again so she can save up for yet another Michelin experience, she’ll definitely be chasing that high again.

Also read:

• Michelin, Gault&Millau, Bib Gourmand: what are the differences?
• Michelin: no fixed price anymore for a Bib Gourmand menu
• Take the Michelin stars away from chefs who behave like idiots

Source: Birmingham Mail