Stars in Tokyo

On Monday, the folks at Michelin confirmed what we in Tokyo already knew - that Tokyo is the undisputed culinary capital of the world. With a total of 191 stars, the other major cities don't even come close. 8 restaurants received 3 stars, 25 received 2 stars and 117 received 1 star. By comparison, Paris and London only have 148 stars combined, with New York falling far short with only 42. To be fair, it should be mentioned that Tokyo has over 160,000 restaurants compared to 20,000 in Paris and 23,000 in NY. Of course, that doesn't stop all the critics from whining that Michelin was too generous with stars in Tokyo, but I would wager that the complainers have never been to Tokyo to eat at the city's finest restaurants. One trip to Tokyo would convince even the most die hard critics that Tokyo boasts one of the finest culinary experiences anywhere in the world. Japanese chefs are perfectionists when it comes to food, sourcing the freshest ingredients and completely committed to producing the best dishes possible while paying excruciating detail to presentation.

Mama bought the English and Japanese versions of the Michelin guide today and we weren't surprised to find that many of the restaurants they have been to have at least 1 star. Kyubei, the sushi restaurant which I wrote about a few days ago where papa took mama for her birthday last week, even claimed 1 star!!! Conspicuously absent from the list was Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the Conrad Hotel where papa took mama for her birthday last year.

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan so mama and papa are taking me to see the leaves change colours! On Sunday, papa has to go to NY for a few days on business. He said he's not looking forward to going to NY because it must be so sad and dark there with so few stars... :-)

Last week we went to Yoyogi Park and, as usual, I tried to beat up the big dogs...

...until I came across one who was just about my size (I'm the one on the right...I think...)