No Michelin Guide For S’pore This Year Because Most Restaurants Couldn’t Allow Dine-In Many Weeks

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, introverts worldwide rejoiced (secretly, in the comfort of their own separate homes) at the onslaught of cancelled plans.

In Singapore, events big and small started getting postponed or called off in February. As a result, we had to miss out on major acts such as Green Day and Khalid.

On Tuesday (29 Sep), the Michelin Guide Singapore similarly announced its cancellation of the Michelin Star Revelation for the year.

This, no doubt, comes as a disappointment for expectant gourmets and hardworking chefs.

At this point, even the introverts are a little bit weary.

Unable to judge for “consistency between visits”

Traditionally, to be qualified for the prestigious Michelin recognition, restaurants are judged by five criteria.

They include quality of the products, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, and the personality of the chef in his/her cuisine.

Among them, an important aspect is “consistency between visits” in terms of the restaurant’s performance over time.

Due to the pandemic, many local eateries halted operations for a prolonged period of time. Most of them were closed for dine-in for up to 11 weeks.

Though the Guide is impressed by the candidates’ ability to respond to the crisis with takeaway and delivery strategies, their policy is to “evaluate dining-in experiences”.

Consequently, inspectors could not carry out the necessary evaluations, which led to the cancellation.

The decision is made “to preserve the quality and the relevance of our restaurant recommendations and the respect of our evaluation method”.

2021 selection to be announced soon

In coming months, inspectors will be making their way back to the restaurants “with cautious pleasure”.

The Guide is extending their inspection period “to respect its historical methodology and to ensure the best quality of evaluation of Singaporean restaurants”.

The extension will afford enough assessments to come up with the 2021 selection of restaurants in Singapore.

44 restaurants awarded stars in 2019

Last year, a total of 44 restaurants won the seal of approval from the Guide.

Odette at the National Gallery Singapore, as well as French fine-dining establishment Les Amis, stood out as the only three-star recipients.

“This award is the biggest achievement a chef can get. Everyone knows that the Michelin is a real barometer,” said Les Amis’ executive chef, Sebastien Lepinoy.

“What’s very important is that if you get three Michelin stars in Singapore, you’re the same as a three Michelin-star restaurant in London, Paris, New York or Tokyo.”

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