I think Michelin Guide sales were low because we already have so many food guides and writers…..Zagat, LA Weekly’s Jonathan Gold (the only food writer to have received a Pulitzer Prize), LA Times, Los Angeles Magazine (with their special food issues several times a year) and many food blogs too numerous to mention.

Also, the continued proliferation of and interest in local ‘reviews’….i.e. Yelp, is what many turn to when checking out a first time dining spot. To put it bluntly, LA doesn’t need a Michelin Guide, because our restaurant scene is to large and diverse to cover in a guide which has always been geared toward mostly upscale dining. I’m sure Michelin would never include the sorts of wonderful ethnic dining spots that are being constantly unearthed and written about by Jonathan Gold.

Michelin Guides continue to be the haute guide for many parts of the world, but for the director to state unequivocally that sales were low for Los Angeles because we resident diners are not ‘real foodies’ or ‘not really interested in eating well’ is simply not true!