S3 E41 Exclusive: Visit FLORIDA's Dana Young on the MICHELIN Guide's Current Impact & Future

President and CEO Dana Young updates us on the MICHELIN Guide's current Florida impact since the initial announcement in 2021 and  two guides later (with a third on the horizon April 18th).

• Why is this partnership an ideal fit for the Sunshine State?
• Are diners choosing us and staying longer in Florida because of our food? 
• Was the initial plan for three guides/years? Is this partnership something she forecasts will continue in Florida long term? 
• Can we expect Broward and Palm Beach County or others in '24 or '25 as the guide expands its Florida coverage? 
• What is and isn’t covered in Visit Florida’s investment with the guide? Do restaurants pay to be featured? 
• Has she tried any of the starred restaurants yet? Have any surprised her? Any favorites?
  
  

Plus, after the interview concludes, I take a closer look at some of the most popular and controversial MICHELIN myths and facts.

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Thank you for listening. As always, from my “palette”  to yours,

Cheers!

Brenda

Transcript

New additions to the Miami, Orlando, and Tampa list made headlines this week as the Michelin Guide teased some of the upcoming entries. I recorded this episode with Visit Florida's President and CEO Dana Young the day after the announcement. I suppose it was a happy coincidence. Stay tuned after this interview is over as I briefly go into this February announcement a little bit more.

But first, the interview, enjoy!

Welcome to The Whet Palette podcast. I am your host Brenda Popritkin  I am honored to have a special guest with me today who is also a champion of all things, Florida Like her background. If you're listening, you can see where her background is all palm trees. In fact, she is a sixth-generation Floridian who received her undergraduate degree in political science from Florida State University.

She also graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1993 and then returned to Florida. My guest had the honor to serve in the Florida House. From 2010 through 2016, rising to majority leader for the 2015 and 16 legislative sessions. In 2016, she was elected to the Florida Senate where she represented parts of the city of Tampa and Western Hillsborough County.

What does all of this have to do with food and travel? Well.  I'm talking to  Visit  Florida's President and CEO Dana Young. Welcome to the podcast, Dana.

Thank you, Brenda. I think the food and the Michelin guide and all that we're going to be talking about today is way more interesting than all of that that you just went through.

I'm a little biased, but I'm going to have to agree.  Absolutely. In 2021, the Michelin Guide and Visit Florida finally announced a partnership to develop a guide to further establish Florida as a world-renowned culinary destination. And today we're going to learn more about its impact since that announcement two and a half years ago and two guides later, with a third on the horizon this coming April.

Why is this partnership an ideal fit for the Sunshine State?  Well, Brenda, it's, it's just been a great partnership. Floridians know that we have some of the best cuisine in the world. We have the natural ingredients that are just, you know, here in the water in my background or, you know, the crops that we grow, the citrus, all of it is really lends itself to fantastic cuisine.

But at Visit Florida, we found that people outside of Florida didn't really understand how great our cuisine was. They didn't think of Florida as, you know, a foodie paradise by any stretch. And so when we were approached by the Michelin Guide to start this partnership, we thought it was an excellent jumping-off point to really start highlighting the amazing cuisine that we have here in Florida.

I know there was a recent economic impact report released last month showing record-breaking number of visitors. What impact has already been made since its debut in the summer of 2022? Are diners choosing us and staying longer in Florida because of our food?  Well, they are. It's been amazing. In just a very short time, as you mentioned, the study prior to the study, we found, you know, in the 30s, 35, 37 percent of people thought of Florida as an amazing place for cuisine.

In just two years of us really elevating the understanding of that through Michelin and through other parts of our marketing, we are at a whopping 51 percent of people now think of Florida. As a destination for excellent culinary and a study that was conducted by Michelin found that travelers that go to a city that have Michelin restaurants would stay an extra night to eat in one of those restaurants and 71 percent of those travelers say they would increase their spending, which of course is good for all of us.

Right. And I am one of those. I travel to dine and I do obviously follow the guide and I will stay extra nights for that. What was the initial plan for three guides or three years? And given its positive impact, is this partnership something you forecast will continue in Florida long term? And say yes.

Yes, well, so the initial guide involved three cities in Florida, Tampa, Orlando and Miami, and the idea was to get the guide up and running. See how it went. And so it's exclusively in those three cities for the first three years. We are about to, we are, we are in our third year now, and the next round of Selections will be announced in April in Tampa, so it's very exciting.

And we, we just learned that yesterday, Michelin added 19 new restaurants in those cities to the guide as sort of recommendations, but not, they didn't announce any stars or Bib Gourmands, but these 19 additional restaurants are now part of the guide and giving people that are visiting Florida or that live here, opportunities to try new, new places.

So at this point, does it get renewed this year? Is that like a new meeting that happens or to go further with it? Well, so Michelin has, has indicated to us that they would like to expand the guide. This is obviously a decision that they would make where they would want to go. But certainly we are very supportive of that.

We would like to ultimately have the entire state of Florida represented in the guide in some way. Shape or form. So we think it's an obvious  next step and we're really, you know, waiting for them to let us know kind of what they're thinking because they are the ones that have all employ all the inspectors.

They are the ones that will actually go forth and do all of the, the legwork to, to make it happen.  

Correct. And, you know, kind of like California started with just a few cities and then now it's just California, but that took, I want to say like almost 10 years, you know, a decade. So it's a long, it's not just a quick process.

So far we have Visit Florida, Visit Orlando, Visit Tampa Bay, and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. There's significant buzz surrounding upcoming addition, hopefully, to Visit Lauderdale for Broward and perhaps Palm Beach County. Would we be able to expect those as soon as next year, maybe, or maybe a surprise announcement this year?

Well, I, I can't speak to what destinations would be added to the guide. That is completely within Michelin's discretion as to where they would like to go. But the three-year exclusive arrangement will end after this year. So, that is the timing of expanding the guide. And obviously, excuse me, obviously, The existing three cities would still be part of the guide and would still be part of the, you know, the additional restaurants going forward, but there would just be additional cities, hopefully that will be available.

And I just think it's, it's a win win for Florida. It's a win win for the restaurant community of the state and for people that live here and for people that visit here. I think it's just fantastic.

I agree. On my blog, podcast, and social media, I find myself often educating diners on what is and isn't a fact regarding the Michelin Guide Florida in general. Some of the most popular misconceptions are that Florida restaurants pay to be in the guide and that the state has a say on who is included. Obviously, I know that's not true. Can you share what is and isn't covered it covered and visit Florida's investment within the guide with the guide?  

Well, you are absolutely correct. The, the  restaurants, the cities visit Florida. None of us have. We don't have any input whatsoever in the, in the restaurants that are selected in what they choose to say about the restaurants. We don't have any input at all. Basically, the partnership that we initially formed helped to underwrite the cost that Michelin incurs as they send these inspectors out to review these restaurants in an anonymous way. So the inspectors are employees of Michelin and they they pay their own tabs. And so that is  Part of that is what the partnership does. Beyond that, it is completely Michelin's choice and completely like we don't even know who the restaurants are, what the restaurants will be that are selected until the reveal of the event in April of this year, like, we have no information whatsoever.

So this little sneak peek that they announced yesterday with 19 new restaurants being recommended in the guide, that was a complete surprise, but it does give a little bit of a hint, I think, as to maybe some of the new restaurants that will have stars this year. We'll see.

And it's coming to your town, so you don't have to go to Miami or Orlando this time.

That's right. I've been to both, and they both were amazing events, but it is nice to have it here in Tampa.  Have you tried any of the starred restaurants, have any surprised you, and any favorites?  I have tried starred restaurants in Tampa and Miami. I have not, I wait, I actually did eat at one in Orlando as well.

And what I love about Michelin and the way that they put their guide together is that there are restaurants on every end of the spectrum. So there are you know, fine dining restaurants with just amazing ambiance. And then. You might have a taco place that's, you know, a carry out window and it's just there's a wide variety of restaurants that are included in the guide and really for every price point.

So travelers of any budget can can go to the Michelin guide and find a great restaurant and that will fit their budget.  That's great.

And so any particular ones that come to mind?  I can't share that. That would not be fair.  But it would be saying great things about them. No, I can't. I can't choose.  Hmm.

What would you like every Floridian to know about this collaboration that we have not covered?  Well, it's just, it's an opportunity for us to, anyway, in terms of Visit Florida and attracting visitors here, it's a chance for us to give people reasons to come to Florida that might not be the traditional beaches or theme parks or things that they might, Automatically think of when they hear the word Florida by establishing Florida as an international destination for high-level culinary experiences.

We give people new reasons to come here on vacation and to spend their money here, which then elevates the Florida economy tourism is our number 1 industry and we got to give recent people reasons to come back again and again. 

That is true. Dana , thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me.

And thank you the listener, the listener for tuning in. Remember to share your favorite episodes with friends or on social media. It's the best way to spread the word. That's it for today. As always, from my palate to yours. Cheers.

Yeah, that was great. Thank you so much.

Okay, so back to the announcement. It was 19 new additions.

There are 8 in Miami, 5 in Orlando, and 6 in Tampa.  What does this mean? Well, it's actually too soon to tell. Last year, for example, only one of the Miami restaurants from the teaser list that they sent received one Michelin star. The other ones landed on the Bib Gormon category or solely received a mention on their website as guide approved.

The final placement within the guide will not be known until the official award ceremony and Tampa will be the host this year for the April 18th  launch. The location has yet To be announced for now. Congratulations to EntreNos, Maty's, Ogawa, Pez, Tam Tam, Kaori, Ossobucco, Shingo   As podcast with my deep dive analysis and predictions.

What do I know about the new additions? Who do I think will win a coveted star, if anyone? Will anyone lose their star? And other Michelin Guide tidbits. While we wait for the reveal, let's look into some very important Michelin Guidelines and facts that many aren't familiar with. Or simply choose to overlook.

If you listen to anything on this podcast, this is it. Listen to it, learn it, and please, please stop referring to Chefs in Miami as Michelin-starred.  

Number one, in the United States, the Michelin Guide is only published in California, New York, Chicago, Colorado, obviously Florida, Georgia, and Washington, D. C. 

That's it. Only restaurants in these areas can authentically claim to have a starred restaurant. Restaurants may receive zero to three stars for the quality of their food based on five criteria. Quality of ingredients used, mastery of flavor and cooking techniques, The personality of the chef in his cuisine, value for money and consistency between visits. 

Number three, restaurant inspectors do not look at the interior decor, table setting or service quality when awarding stars. These are instead indicated by the number of covers it receives, which is represented, covers is represented by the fork and spoon symbol that they have.  Number four.  There is no such thing as a Michelin starred chef.

Having worked in a Michelin starred restaurant or even owning a string of three star establishments doesn't make one a Michelin starred chef because the term doesn't technically exist. The Michelin Guide awards stars to restaurants based on the quality of the food they serve and not to individuals.

World-class meals are often the collective efforts of an entire team and not one man or woman alone.  Number five. I love this one. Chefs can't take off with the stars, nor do the stars transfer to another restaurant owned by the same chef. If a chef who runs a Michelin starred restaurant in Spain opens a new restaurant in Hong Kong, this does not automatically make it a Michelin starred restaurant. 

Here's the controversial one.  Chefs can't technically return a star.  You can agree with it or you cannot, but you can't give it back. It's almost as if I named someone on my list and I give them a pallet award. And they want to give that award back. I guess they can technically take that award and give it back.

But if I feel like having them on the list,  that restaurant stays on the list. So you can't make them do anything or not.  And the last one, the Michelin Guide isn't only about fine dining and fancy restaurants. Globally, stars have been awarded to a wide spectrum of restaurants of all types. You got it.

All right. Good. The more you know. Bye. Thanks for tuning in.