The state of Asian American fine dining in the US.
So, I hope you guys are all familiar with the Michelin star rating system (separate from the guide recommended ones), that in the US specifically are mostly fine dining. There’s a high emphasis on decorative food, high quality ingredients, taste, service, and ambiance of the restaurant for the dining experience.
most Asian Michelin starred restaurants in the US are Japanese. French cuisine is also popular for Michelin stars (Michelin came from France). Japanese cuisine and French cuisine shares a lot of cooking and culinary values which explains why they are over represented. there’s also quite a lot of Korean restaurants with stars in the US too. Some of the Korean and Japanese ones are considered fusion technically.
On the other hand, there’s only two Chinese Michelin star restaurants in the US both with one star: Mister Jiu’s in SF Chinatown and Yingtao in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen. both are fusion cuisine (but Yingtao is much more expensive).
I’ve been to Mister Jiu and basically sampled all their dishes including their signature Peking duck (it’s more of a roast Peking hybrid than a traditional Peking duck). I also had wine and dessert too. it was very good food and experience and definitely a special occasion visit for family celebrations, receiving friends from abroad, and date nights for couples. the view from the window was also very pretty. some people on yelp criticized the Peking duck because it wasn’t traditional but I still thought it was very strong and since it’s a fusion restaurant it shouldn’t be compared with traditional recipes.
It is very evident that this restaurant doesn’t target the Chinatown locals and is geared towards a wealthier clientele from elsewhere who uber in, eat, and leave. (I’m also not a local and we also drove in, ate, and left right afterwards). Most of the customers were non East Asian (lots of south Asian and white customers). We weren’t the only East Asians though, just a couple other tables. This is very unimportant for me, but important for a few of you here, but most of the staff are also not East Asian. we did see the owner in the open concept kitchen though cooking up food.
i also did some research and found a lack of Indian Michelin star restaurants in the US, I think there are theee: Semma in NYC, Indienne in Chicago, and Rania in Washington DC. there are only a couple Southeast Asian ones I know of: Camille in Orlando and Nari in SF.
So, what are the reasons behind the overrepresentation of Japanese and Korean restaurants for Michelin stars and the underrepresentation of Chinese, south Asian, and southeast Asian cuisine? And thoughts of mostly fusion Asian cuisine being elevated to michelin star status over traditional cuisine (even if restaurants are owned and led by Asian American chefs)?
Full disclosure, I’ve had traditional style Chinese Michelin star restaurants in Asia. So, traditional Chinese restaurants CAN get Michelin stars even as fine dining. The difference from what I experienced is tea paring over wine pairing, a very formal Chinese style service, and very very fancy traditional Chinese food. otherwise similar focus on ambiance being comfortable and fancy but in the chinese sense rather than the usual western style dimmed and a bit echoey ambiance with candle lights.
Ultimately I don’t know if the situation in America is a bit of cultural issues (Chinese immigrant and Indian immigrant children not pursuing culinary careers), Americans and immigrants themselves expecting Chinese and Indian food to be cheap and for the economic masses, or the tastes, ingredients, and styles of the food aren’t considered the most top tier for western tastes since I presume Michelin reviewers in U.S. are of western cooking backgrounds compared to Michelin reviewers in china who are more likely to have chinese culinary backgrounds.