Though other big name culinary awards are impactful, nothing hits quite like seeing a Michelin Star hanging at the door to a restaurant. The vaunted Michelin Guide has been around for well over a century and its recommendations are read by discerning food enthusiasts around the globe. The pressures of maintaining the award (a restaurant can receive one, two or three-star status) are the stuff of many an anecdote. (It is said that Gordon Ramsey cried when he lost two stars.)
Last November, Michelin held a red-carpet ceremony in Houston to announce its first-ever Texas restaurant guide. The entire state had been abuzz for months leading up to the festivities. The Woodlands area was well-represented among the night’s winners: Receiving a Bib Gourmand designation were Belly of the Beast and Rosemeyer Bar-B-Q, both located in Spring; Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue of Tomball; and Killen’s Barbecue (though technically the original Killen’s in Pearland was sited, The Woodlands location provides the same outstanding menu). According to Michelin’s website, the “Bib” award is bestowed upon restaurants that provide exceptional food for a great value. (A bit of trivia: “Bib” is short for Bibendum--aka the Michelin Man--and is the true name of the multinational French tire company’s mascot that appears on its logo.) In the pièce de résistance of the evening, Old Town Spring’s Corkscrew BBQ received a coveted star along with three Austin barbecue joints--the first restaurants ever to earn a star for barbecue.
That down-to-earth Texas ‘cue could receive such an accolade is at odds with the stereotypical image of a Michelin restaurant--starched white tablecloths, Byzantine place settings, a crew of waitstaff navigating guests through a multi-course meal. To be sure, those restaurants were among the night’s winners. But it seems that Michelin’s bevy of inspectors did a pretty thorough job of fanning out across the state’s biggest urban areas and beyond, seeking out eateries that did not necessarily fit the usual categories and preconceived notions of what constitutes a fine meal.
The Michelin inspectors are a mysterious lot. They don’t speak to the press and are not identified on the company’s website. Scott Moore, Jr. of Tejas prides himself on greeting customers and remembering faces, but he has no idea who the secret tasters were. “Some of our staff is pretty intuitive, but they [the inspectors] must have disguised their motives pretty well. On their website, they called out specific menu items. They clearly came through here, took notes, paid attention to the menu. They did a nice job of describing the essence of the place.”
Jordan Rosemeyer and Ben Maxwell of Rosemeyer Bar-B-Q are also stumped about who among their customers may have been an inspector. A potential visit from Michelin was not on their radar. “I like nice food but had never been to a Michelin restaurant,” said Rosemeyer. Friends since their days at Klein Oak High School, he and Maxwell opened Rosemeyer in 2018. A line of hungry fans begins to assemble most mornings before the window opens on their humble trailer, located adjacent to a gas station near the Grand Parkway. Along with the Texas trinity of smoked brisket, sausage and ribs, the two are known for experimenting with new dishes outside of the barbecue norm.
The first contact any of the winning restaurants received from Michelin was a nondescript email that could easily have been passed over as junk. “I thought, ‘No way. Whatever. Got to be a scam,’” said Rosemeyer. He passed the email along to Maxwell, as well as to a friend who pointed out that the email linked back to the Michelin North America website and was in fact legit.
Chef Thomas Bille and his wife Elizabeth Bille, owners of Belly of the Beast, had the same reaction. “At first, we were like, ‘Is this spam?’ We didn’t want to open it,” he recalls. Having previously staged in Michelin restaurants in Los Angeles, Bille says he learned techniques from great chefs who helped him shape his repertoire. Now at BOTB, he’s creating seasonal menus that defy any set culinary categories. “I wanted to make good food based on what works together, no matter where it originally came from,” said Bille.
The Michelin email asked for photos and basic restaurant information. Moore figured his restaurant was simply being added to a big list of area restaurants. Soon, however, a second email appeared in his inbox. This time, it was an invitation to the ceremony, and it provided no clues as to whether an award might be forthcoming.
Will Buckman of Corkscrew says when the big night arrived, it was a sensory overload, like being at the Oscars. He and his wife Nichole took a seat among the other great names of Texas barbecue—friends Scott Moore and his wife Michelle were seated next to them; nearby were Aaron Franklin, Leonard Botello of Truth, and many others.
When the Bib Gourmand winners were brought to the stage and Corkscrew was not among them, he and Nichole thought there had been a glitch—they must have been left off the list by accident. When the starred restaurants were called to the stage, Corkscrew was not among those either. Buckman says Nichole started to break down. Their nerves were frazzled. In reality, Michelin had saved the most newsworthy moment for last, calling Corkscrew to the stage--along with Austin’s Interstellar Barbecue, La Barbecue and Leroy and Lewis--to receive the guide’s first-ever stars for an American style of barbecue.
Buckman says the place went crazy. He believes the evening was an affirmation of the elevated level at which today’s Texas barbecue is crafted. “As a cuisine, it’s just as complicated and intricate as any other cuisine. If you can have specific kinds of chefs--a classically trained French [chef] for example--barbecue is no different than that. We can get our hands dirty and still have a Michelin Star.”
Buckman says he and Nichole have hung their star on the wall at Corkscrew with great pride. Though some restaurants might bend to what they perceive will help them to keep it there, Buckman says they won’t change a thing. That sentiment is echoed by Chef Bille. “We’re ourselves. We’re there for the community. We want everybody from every walk of life to enjoy our restaurant."