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How Michelin stars explain the world
The West’s relative loss of power is reflected in fine dining.
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Michelin, once a North Atlantic thing, rolls into more and more territories out of mutual commercial interest, and it can’t not be in Asia, says the writer.
PHOTO: AFP
Janan Ganesh
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Akoko, a west African restaurant in Fitzrovia in London, receives its first Michelin star. Seeing the news, I dig around for my birth certificate to double-check something. Yeah, thought so. “General Hospital, Akoko.” We did it!
Here is another thought. In the past, a starred restaurant was somewhere that served French- or Italian-anchored cuisine. Japanese then penetrated that rarefied club. Notice the theme here. All high-income countries. All Western or Western-allied.
