Yelp>Michelin Guide

The much-coveted Michelin three star status has lost much credibility as critics from the guide become more and more infatuated with molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine, leaving wary foodies like myself to seek guidance from a more cordial source, yelp.com.

For the last century and one decade, the Michelin Guide has helped traveling diners weed out the extraordinary from the ordinary. In the fine dining culture, the accumulation of any stars means that the restaurant is near or all perfect in the execution and presentation of their product.

On the other side of the ring is Yelp, founded in 2004. It is a well-known social networking website that has provided diners with reviews reflecting how the masses, not some snobby old critic, have received a restaurant.

Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant in Spain is a lead innovator in progressive cuisine. The Willy Wonka of the culinary world, Adria has blurred the lines between food and science. With all respect to chefs like Adria, progressive cuisine is much like a live performance; it plays with your senses and provides different perspectives on old concepts, but is an experience you need try only once or maybe twice in your life. The creativity and presentations of these dishes also do not necessarily correlate with taste.

My ill-serviced dinner at the Michelin-approved restaurant, Fifth Floor in San Francisco, confirmed my beliefs. The delectability of my order, masked by many affectations, was nothing out of the ordinary. In the ensuing day, my sister insisted that I give Yelp a go and I did. We ate at Bottega, which has no Michelin stars, in Napa Valley and every dish on the table had a superior execution and taste –I was practically licking the green pea sauce from my plate of gnocchi.

Yelp caters to those who have a simple philosophy on food and want to eat something well cooked and delicious and not the work of some fancy chef who can make soil palatable. Yelp, with no question, is one of the most reliable and accurate guides to dining out. With time and a growing user base, I believe a restaurant with a perfect five star rating on Yelp may hold as much prestige as one with the famed Michelin three star ranking.

Of the Michelin three star culinary minds, there are a few exceptions like Thomas Keller of French Laundry in Napa Valley. Keeping the integrity and roots of a dish in mind, Keller executes his dishes impeccably and plates it in manner that ensures maximum enjoyment and intellectual delight.

But I still stay strong to my convictions that if one has tried one three-star, you’ve tried them all.