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.
Bacchanalia is an upscale American restaurant that has been around Atlanta since 1993. It offers a four course, prix fixe menu for $110/person with a wine pairing option that is charged additionally. Bacchanalia has consistently topped every list of best restaurants around Atlanta, so when we heard about Michelin coming to Atlanta, we thought of Bacchanalia immediately, even though we had never been there before.
Different from typical tasting menus, Bacchanlia’s menu gives you a little more control on what you get. Each course has 6 options to choose from so it’s easy to come back over and over again without repeating your order (they also change the menu frequently).
Due to our food sensitivities, we had to modify the third course, which is a cheese course. They gave us a tomato salad instead, which was delicious.
Course 0: Pickled Beets
To start things off, we were each given a small plate of pickled beets. There was other ingredients in it also but I don’t remember what they were. This was delicious and if I was eating it with my eyes closed, I probably wouldn’t know they were beets.
Next, more gifts from the chef. A cucumber with some pickled vegetables on top, a piece of strawberry with some port reduction, and a local apple slice with local jam (maybe?). Everything was delicious and I wish we could get refills.
Course 1: Florida Yellow Fin Tuna
This Florida yellow fin tuna was served with preserved Meyer’s lemon and truffle. This was so good.
Course 2: Lobster
The lobster was served with potato, corn, celery and chorizo. I was happy with the amount of lobster and the size of the serving. The taste was very good, but a little too buttery.
The second course came with the following “freebies”:
Bread was served with the second course which came with butter and a tomato based spread.
Course 3: Tomato Salad
This would have typically been a cheese course but since neither one of us can have cheese right now, we were given a tomato salad with shrimp and basil. It was delicious also.
Intermezzo
Intermezzo was another gift from the chef, a homemade watermelon drink with homemade tajin on the rim. This was SO DELICIOUS.
Course 4: Souffle
I think the most impressive dessert here is the souffle. It’s so light and fluffy and delicious. It has peach on the bottom and oats on top, and comes with a side of bay leaf gelato. This was incredible.
Mignardise
This was the final gift from the chef. 3 types of bite sized desserts, one with coconut, one with chocolate, and one is an apple slice dipped in sesame. The chocolate one was NOT good.
Michelin Star Worthy?
So how does Bacchanlia 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. Bacchanalia’s menu changes seasonally and many of the restaurant’s ingredients are sourced from the chefs’ very own organic farm here in Georgia, which tells me the products are high quality. However, we did notice some “visitors” in our glasses of water (they looked like little black dots that probably came from the faucet). We showed it to them which they changed out quickly.
2. Mastery of Flavor and Cooking Techniques
We were able to see the mastery of the chef through the courses and all the “gifted” dishes. Everything was delicious except for the chocolate to me, and the beets and the watermelon drink were the most impressive in my opinion. I found the tempura vegetable a little odd and the lobster to be too buttery (I think butter masks the flavor of lobster too much, although in this case, I was able to taste the wonderful flavors of lobster pretty well). Overall, the dishes were impressive and the experience was upscale. The waiter also knew the menu very well, which really helped with accommodating for our dietary restrictions.
3. Personality of the Chef in the Cuisine
A Michelin restaurant shows the chef’s personality through his dishes. I can sense the chef’s personality by the abundance of farm vegetables in these dishes. I also like all the creative sides and amuse-bouche from the chef which shows us what the chef likes to make.
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. We liked the interior and exterior of the restaurant. It was subdued but not boring. The parking lot was spacious and during the week, we did not have to valet. The waiter was knowledgeable and helpful, but didn’t have much of a personality. All of the “freebies” are a common element of Michelin starred restaurants which definitely adds more to the experience score, which in turn, helps with the value score, even though this was a lot more expensive than Falling Rabbit. Overall, I think the value was there – the price of $110 a person is reasonable for the area (Michelin considers the location when it looks at value as well) and in tune with some of the other Michelin contenders nearby.
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. To me, if you want your restaurant to be Michelin level, you should inspect every glass, silverware, etc. before serving it to guests. The fact there were “foreigners” in both of our glasses tells me this happens quite often. All of our food was delicious, but the chocolate ball at the end was gritty and even if it wasn’t, it wasn’t very good.
Conclusion
We have wanted to go to Bacchanalia for years. It has always been touted as the best restaurant in Atlanta, and we can see why. The menu is creative and the food is delicious. The question is, is it good enough to get a Michelin star? Before we went to Bacchanalia, I thought it was a shoo-in, but now I’m not so sure. Is it possible Bacchanalia won’t get a star? The idea almost seems crazy in itself, but at this point, it would not shock me. At this price point, I don’t think a Bib Gourmand would be on the table for them, so I guess it really depends on what the inspectors think of their food and the whole experience. I think perhaps one star, but definitely no more than that.