news: 2019 TAIPEI MICHELIN GUIDE STARS REVEALED

If you didn't make your reservations at one of the 24 newly minted Michelin starred restaurants before they were awarded stars today for the 2019 Michelin Guide Taipei, then good luck getting a seat the next few weeks! I remember last year going to L'Atelier Robuchon a week or so after the inaugural awards and it was a packed and busy house. 

After screenshotting and cropping the Michelin Guide announcements like a madwoman, I've compiled a list of every Taipei Michelin starred chef and their restaurants on Instagram (and updated my previous post of Taipei chefs to watch with instagram handles as well!)

New to the Taipei Michelin Guide list are Sushi Amamoto with 2 stars, while RAW and Tarroir both moved up to two stars (!!), joining neighbor Shoun Ryugin, taking the number of 2 starred restaurants in Taipei from two to five. RAW and Shoun Ryugin are in the same building in Neihu, while Tarroir is right next door, so there are six Michelin stars just in that one block. 

I'm surprised by the some of the 1 starred restaurants that have remained on the list (there are a few I think that I personally wouldn't recommend), but happy that Impromptu by Paul Lee and Logy earned a star. Both were very buzzed about since they opened, and well deserved honors. 

Out of nine Chinese restaurants awarded stars, four are Taiwanese restaurants - Golden Formosa, Ming Fu, Mountain Sea House and Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant. Personally I think Din Tai Fung and Shin Yeh also deserve to be honored, but I think their multiple branches works against them.

Five sushi bars make the list, but Michelin still might not have been able to get seats to Adachi, one of the hardest sushi bars to book in Taipei (and one of the best imho). Le Palais remains the lone three star restaurant. 

If you prefer street food to fine dining, check out the 2019 Michelin Guide Taipei Bib Gourmand Street Food list here  and the new entrants to Taipei Bib Gourmand selections here. Also, last fall I wrote an article about Gastromonth for Taiwan Scene that featured Sushi Ryu and Guest House. I've linked it here!

Congrats to all the chefs and teams! 

TAIPEI MICHELIN THREE STARS

• Le Palais / @palaisdechinhotel

TAIPEI MICHELIN TWO STARS

• RAW / Chef Alain Huang & Andre Chiang @raw_taipei @alainh001 @andrechiang_sg
• TaÏrroir / Chef Kai Ho and pastry chef Angela Sy  @tarroir @kaiho1011 @angela_sy
• Sushi Amamoto / Chef Shogo Amamoto 
• Shoun RyuGin / Chef Ryohei Hieda @hiedaryohei
• The Guest House / @sheratongrandtaipei 

TAIPEI MICHELIN ONE STAR 

• Da San Yuan
• Da-Wan
• Danny’s Steakhouse
• Golden Formosa 
• Impromptu by Paul Lee / Chef Paul Lee @impromptu_tw @paulhwlee
• Ken An Ho 
• Kitcho  (I don't recommend Kitcho, it's one of my least fave sushi bars in Taipei)
• L’ATELIER de Joël Robuchon / Chef Olivier Jean @olivierjean_23
• Logy  / Chef Ryogo Tahara @logy.tw @ryogotahara
• Longtail / Chef Lam Ming Kin @longtail.taipei @kin.cooks
• Ming Fu
• Mountain and Sea House
• MUME / Chefs Richie Lin and Long Xiong @mume_taiwan @richie_lin 
• Sushi Nomura / @sushinomura
• Sushi Ryu 
• Tainan Tantsumien Seafood Restaurant
• Tien Hsiang Lo
• Ya Ge / Chef Tse Man @mo_tpe

news/michelin: 10 TAIPEI CHEFS TO WATCH (+ 1 IN TAICHUNG)

Ever since Michelin launched its inaugural awards last year, Taipei has had a wave of chefs relocating here to try their hand with local ingredients, new restaurant openings, and passionate discussions about who belonged on the list (or not). 

With Asia's 50 Best wrapped and Taipei Michelin awards around the corner, I thought it would be the perfect time to highlight a few restaurants and chefs that have been on my radar and should be on yours too. 

1. JL STUDIO / Chef Jimmy Lim 
@jlstudio_tw / @jimmy_jlstudio

Chef Jimmy Lim and JL Studio was honored with the Miele's One to Watch this year at Asia's 50 Best Restaurant Awards putting this Singaporean restaurant in Taichung on the map. (and yes, I know he's not in Taipei, but he's definitely One to Watch!)

2. IMPROMPTU BY PAUL LEE / Chef Paul Lee
@impromptu_tw / @paulhwlee

3. LOGY / Chef Ryogo Tahara
@logy.tw / @ryogotahara

4. ORCHID / Chef Perin Gildas
@orchidno.83 / @gildasperin

5. ADACHI/ Chef Hiromasa Adachi 

6. VERDE / Chef Timothy Lu 
@verde_taipei / @cheftimothylu

7. ANIMA / Chef Marco Compagnin 
@anima.taipei / @compa89 

8. AMAMOTO/ Chef Shogo Amamoto

9. BENCOTTO/ Chef Iacapo Frassi
@mo_tpe / @iacopofrassi

10. SUGAR PEA / AVENUE / Chef Sandy Yoon
@sugarpea.taipei / @avenue.taipei / @sandyyoonn

11. INGE's BAR AND GRILL/ Chef Vincent Weng
@inges_taipei / @vincent_inges

I wanted to post this before the 2019 Michelin star announcements were made, so I will post first and add details later! The only two restaurants I have not been to on this list are Logy and JL Studio, but I hope to be going there SOON!!

And these are some of the chefs that earned Michelin Stars last year that you should know if you don't already. Currently, Mume, RAW and Ryugin are the three Taipei restaurants to hold the honor as one of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2019. 

• L'ATELIER ROBUCHON TAIPEI / Chef Olivier Jean * @olivierjean_23
• LONGTAIL/ Chef Lam Ming Kin * @longtail.taipei @kin.cooks
• TARROIR / Chef Kai Ho * @tairror @kaiho1011 
• SUSHI RYU / Chef Yolong Yang*
• MUME / Chefs Richie Lin and Long Xiong * @mume_taiwan @richie_lin 
• RAW / Chefs Alain Huang and Andre Chiang * @raw_taipei @alainh001 @andrechiang_sg
• RYUGIN / Chef Ryohei Hieda ** @hiedaryohei

And speaking of Michelin, they should definitely honor Din Tai Fung and Shin Yeh with stars imho, as Din Tai Fung is definitely a place that people travel across oceans to eat at- the OG shop that made xiao long baos a household name. How can it have earned a Michelin Star in Hong Kong, but not in Taipei? 

western/drinks: i strongly recommend AVENUE

AVENUE

Hi guys. Long time, no talk. I have a TON of drafts like this, just waiting to be sent into the world. I wanted to add some more photos from other visits to this post before posting this, but today I decided to just hit "publish" because Avenue is definitely one of my favorite new places that has opened recently. 

You probably get a good idea of Avenue's vibe just from this. Starfruit cocktails, mini corn dogs and cobbler skillets? I would say so.

Current faves from Avenue are the beet and apple salad, the burger, the truffle cheesy orzo and the beef cheek tagliatelle. And the mini corn dogs if you have room! Will have to dig up those photos buried somewhere in my 100,000 photo stream to add later. Until then, have a great week!