2024-11-28
The newly published Michelin Guide Taiwan 2024 offers a smorgasbord of food for thought.
A total of 49 restaurants won stars in Michelin Guide Taiwan 2024. Five were brand-new entries on the hallowed list. A total of 60 stars were awarded, four more than in 2023. Both the numbers of restaurants and stars are record highs since Michelin entered the Taiwanese market seven years ago.
In total, 41 restaurants received one Michelin star. Ten of them were new entries: A, Circum-, EIKA, GEN, L'Atelier par Yao, MINIMAL, NOBUO, SENS, Wok by O'Bond, and Yuen Ji. MINIMAL is the only ice cream establishment in the world to have won a Michelin star. However, three restaurants lost stars: Danny's Steakhouse, Longtail, and Sushi-Nomura.
The lists of two-star and three-star restaurants have not changed from 2023. Tainan is the only Taiwanese city among the places visited by the judges that did not win any stars.
Three important trends can be gleaned from this year's list.
The first five years the Michelin Guide comes to an up-and-coming locale, the number of restaurants that make the list and the total number of stars usually increase. This was true for Taiwan as well as the cities of Shanghai and Singapore. After this honeymoon period, however, an equilibrium is usually reached. For example, this year, Hong Kong and Macau lost a total of 28 stars, while Singapore lost one star. Tokyo, which has the most stars around the globe, experienced an even sharper drop than the previous year, with 17 restaurants vanishing from the list and a net loss of 23 stars. Shanghai maintained the same tally as 2023.
Compared to the individual Asian cities that have published their Michelin Guides for 2024, the entirety of Taiwan increased its count of restaurants and stars, making it the bona fide pride of Asia.
"I think Michelin is being very generous," says Liz Kao (高琹雯), founder of the foodie website Taster and a longtime observer of gourmet cuisine in Taiwan. "It's worth celebrating, because despite the labor shortage and other difficulties faced by Taiwanese restaurants, (for the past few years), Michelin has given restaurant owners hope by awarding them stars, and the ecosystem has become more complete as a result."
She adds that the way the Michelin Guides were released in different regions tells a tale. "It was very low-key in Singapore; there wasn't even a ceremony." In contrast, CommonWealth Magazine observed cheering and merrymaking at the award ceremony in Taiwan, where restaurants rejoiced in Michelin's glowing reviews. "The only thing we don't know is what new agreements were reached between Michelin and the Taiwan Tourism Administration when they signed the new contract," says a food critic who wished not to be named.
One topic that's hotly debated in the fine dining industry is this: With the high turnover rate of chefs—many of whom leave to start their own restaurants—would their original places of employment end up losing stars?
If we look at the current roster of winners, most restaurants kept their Michelin stars even after the head chefs left. Examples include Paris 1930 de Hideki Takayama, which changed its head chef in late 2023, and Ya Ge, which changed its head chef last May. Only Longtail, which saw its founder and head chef Ming Kin Lam (林明健) leave this May, surrendered its Michelin star.
"The fact that so many restaurants retained their spots on the list proves that Michelin inspectors focus on the restaurant's overall performance, with an emphasis on how steady management can help maintain a restaurant's high standards," says Wii Hsiao (蕭至瑋), former general manager of the restaurant booking app Inline's Taiwan office.
Among the ten newly crowned one-star restaurants in 2024, many were founded by head chefs who previously worked in restaurants with Michelin stars.
For example, Gen was founded by celebrity chef Matt Chen (陳泰榮) of Le Palais, which won three Michelin stars. A was founded by Alain Huang (黃以倫), former head chef of the two-star restaurant RAW. EIKA was founded by Hieda Ryohe, former head chef at another two-star restaurant, RyuGin. Yuen Ji was founded by Chiu-Wei Lin (林菊偉), former head chef of The Guest House, which has one Michelin star. SENS was founded by Darius Wu (吳定祐), former head chef of de nuit, which also has one Michelin star. NOBUO founder Nobou Lee (李信男) was head chef at Orchid, another Michelin-recommended restaurant. Five of these new entries won their star within a year of their opening.
"These new stars give me a feeling of vitality," says food critic and writer Sarah Chen (陳靜宜). “These chefs came out of bigger institutions and systems, but they managed to win Michelin stars on their own. It shows they needed space to express their creativity.”
Although many restaurants were able to keep their stars after shedding their star chefs, her insight is that the trend demands that restaurant owners allow their chefs more opportunities for self-expression while keeping an eye on the business's bottom line.
Saturation Crisis for Taiwan's Fine Dining
Despite the triumph of these Michelin-lauded restaurants, what cannot be denied is that the fine dining industry in Taiwan is approaching market saturation. This looming crisis casts a shadow on the long-term success of these gourmet restaurants.
The fine dining craze took off during the pandemic. Now these rich customers are taking their insatiable appetites abroad. The fancy restaurants that popped up all over the country are finding that demand isn't what it used to be. What's more, the feeding frenzy brought on by COVID sent the price of fine dining sky-high. But the rise in living costs will test if consumers still have the stomach for such exorbitant prices.
"Everyone's had their fill," opines food critic and writer Yeh Yilan (葉怡蘭). "The last few years have been the golden age of fine dining in Taiwan. But too many new restaurants are joining the scene too quickly. The market is full to bursting."
As affluent Taiwanese seek gastronomic adventures abroad, the customer base of the fine dining industry is shrinking. International visitors prefer Taiwan's storied street food to gourmet restaurants. Yeh observes that for some restaurants, foreign visitors made up more than half of their clientele before the pandemic. However, they've since been unable to return to such numbers.
In order to cater to the increasingly price-sensitive local market, Kao sees more fine dining restaurants introducing shorter menus that do not require three to four hours to consume. Some are even offering budget-friendly lunch menus.
In conclusion, despite the new heights attained by local restaurants in Michelin Guide Taiwan 2024, Kao is worried about the future. "Business has not increased, but there are more mouths to feed with the same piece of pie."
If this year's Michelin Guide can be summed up in a few words, it might be "the light before the darkness."
Source： CommonWealth Magazine, 2024-08-27
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