I’m not kidding, because I could never be this cruel: from FOX-9 TV,
Michelin Guide coming to Minneapolis as part of Great Lakes region expansion.
Fox-9 reports,
The Michelin Guide American Great Lakes Region will cover six cities, including Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Pittsburg. It’s not yet clear when the first set of rankings will be released.
I assume that Fox-9 is referring to Pittsburgh, PA, and not Pittsburg, KS. Is it mean to point out that only three–Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Detroit–are, in fact, Great Lakes cities?
I have visited all seven cities over the decades (including both Pittsburgs). I feel confident in saying that no restaurant in any of those localities would qualify for a Michelin star on the merits. But this isn’t about the merits, as Fox-9 tells us,
The Minneapolis Tourism Improvement District confirmed it paid $250,000 per year for the Michelin Guide, with a three-year commitment running through 2029.
In other words, $750,000 in bribes to the publishing company to produce a product for which there is no market. I only recall ever purchasing one Michelin Guide, one that covered San Francisco and northern California. I don’t recall patronizing any of its awardees (all out of my prize zone).
The Michelin Guide is just the latest brainstorm to save a failing Minneapolis. Just yesterday it was bringing back gay bathhouses. From the U.K. Sun,
In Minneapolis you could soon legally visit adult bathhouses and sex venues – 40 years after last club closed
The local ABC affiliate quotes a city council statement on the bathhosue idea, in part,
What we know about sexual health, STIs/HIV, and public health interventions and advancements is different than 40 years ago.
True, and yet, despite those advancements, they are still going ahead with the idea.
