This is part of a series of restaurant reviews we are doing in anticipation of Michelin coming to Atlanta. We have been to several Michelin restaurants around the world (nothing in the US yet), so we consider ourselves somewhat of a Michelin snob. Michelin publishes their official criteria of earning a star (or stars), which are the 5 tenets. Here, we will try to talk about each tenet and see how the restaurant we predicted MIGHT be Michelin worthy, fared with these 5 tenets.
Falling Rabbit is a casual fine dining restaurant in Duluth, GA. The menu is a-la-carte, but there’s also a “date night” option (on Thursday nights) that gives you one appetizer, two entrees, one dessert, and a bottle of wine, for $120. This is the option we chose. The menu changes seasonally and focuses on what’s fresh and available.
Appetizer: Blue Crab & Asparagus Milanese
There was so many great appetizer options that it was really hard to choose. The Blue Crab & Asparagus Milanese came with bacon, pickled peaches, Old Bay aioli and sunny egg. It was phenomenal.
Entrée 1: Campanelle
Campanelle is one of the two pastas currently made in house. It’s served with pistachio pesto, preserved lemon, pickled gooseberries, and grana padano. I don’t think I’ve ever had gooserberries before. It’s so delicious. This whole dish is amazing.
Entrée 2: Strip Loin
This strip loin is served with Koji marinade, roasted shiitakes and cippollinis and celery root puree. I know I sound like a broken record now, but this was amazing also.
Dessert: Buttermilk Custard
There weren’t many dessert options. It was either this buttermilk custard, the budino, or some sorbet. The waitress suggested buttermilk custard, which tasted great, but I saw many reviews online raving about the budino. The buttermilk custard came with blueberry coulis and cinnamon oat streusel. Everything was delicious.
Michelin Star Worthy?
So how does Falling Rabbit score against the 5 tenets of Michelin Star criteria? Let’s see.
1. Using Quality Products
A Michelin level restaurant is expected to use the top quality products. It doesn’t matter where the restaurant is located. If there’s no great products locally (for example, no fresh seafood in the area if the location is landlocked), a Michelin star restaurant is expected to ship items from wherever to meet this criterium. Falling Rabbit is known to have an ever changing menu dictated by the seasonal availability to ensure utmost freshness. Every ingredient tasted wonderfully fresh, including ingredients that are not commonly seen in our area, like gooseberries and maitake.
2. Mastery of Flavor and Cooking Techniques
When I was dining at Falling Rabbit, I remember thinking to myself, how could this taste this good? This thought was on my mind especially as I took each bite of the steak, because I cook steak at home sometimes and consider my steak to be better than many steakhouses’ but this was on another level.
3. Personality of the Chef in the Cuisine
A Michelin restaurant shows the chef’s personality through his dishes. Falling Rabbit’s menu shows the chef’s innovativeness and inspirations from Japanese ingredients.
4. Value for Money
Value for money isn’t just about the price on the menu. It’s about what you have to pay for the experience you get. The experience isn’t just about the food, but also the ambiance, the service, etc. The value is having the wow factor for the experience you get. Most Michelin restaurants we’ve dined at around the world are over $100 a person. Falling Rabbit is much cheaper than that, but it still comes with a very attentive staff, amazing cocktail menu (with fresh ingredients), and absolutely unique works of art that makes you think you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. The value for money is definitely there.
5. Consistency of Food
Michelin puts a lot of emphasis on consistency. Michelin inspectors visit a restaurant two or three times before ever awarding a star, and continue to visit it throughout the year. We’ve only been to Falling Rabbit once so we can’t really vouch for their consistency on food but if their reviews are any indication then I would say they are very consistent. The owners are a husband and wife team, where the husband is the head chef and the wife is usually on the dining room floor, which helps to ensure the consistency of things.
Conclusion
We believe that Falling Rabbit is Michelin worthy, but perhaps it would earn a Bib Gourmand instead of a Michelin star. A Bib Gourmand recognition means the restaurant is recognized for its delicious food and reasonable price, which might fit Falling Rabbit a bit more. I don’t think it would be wrong to give Falling Rabbit a star however, because the whole experience was exceptional and upscale (even though there was no dress code). I’m looking forward to see if this one makes the official list!