My 1st Michelin Star Restaurant!
I was in Chicago last summer visiting one of my best friends, Paige, who was doing a fantastic job of showing me around the neighborhood of her fancy new downtown apartment. We were waking up one morning with very slight hangovers when she mentioned we were going to brunch at a restaurant that was in the running for a Michelin Star (https://guide.michelin.com/en). I didn’t know anything about this ranking system but I was intrigued! The food that morning was very good, the restaurant was very nice and the service was great. Even though everything seemed so pretty and perfect, I immediately erased the Michelin Star thing from my mind.
When I go to a restaurant, the quality of the food comes in second for me. I’m a mega fan of the atmosphere and the vibe. Quirky, weird places. Places with history and a story! I figured Michelin Star restaurants are probably stuffy, boring, spotless places. 👎
For some reason, the Michelin Star started following me. One of my favorite podcasts did a story about it. YouTube recommended a documentary about it. Paige went to her 1st Michelin Star restaurant for Valentine’s Day & excitedly told me the story about it! Ok, fine, count me back in!
Paige mentioned that I should be on the lookout for places when I go on my first international trip because there are way more Stars overseas vs. in the USA. I don’t remember who told me this but when I mentioned one of my stops was in Singapore, they told me that Singapore had the only food truck in the world with a Michelin Star! Whoa! I knew I would be going!
I’m currently in Bangkok, Thailand, one stop away from my next one in Singapore. On Friday night, I was in the middle of a delicious salad for dinner when I decided to do a quick search for local Michelin Stars.
This is the moment when I discovered local street food legend Jay Fai! She is a 70-year-old adorable + badass + Chef who has been slaying in the kitchen for a very long time! Her restaurant has been featured on a bunch of food shows but I don’t watch TV so I had no idea. Her place holds the distinction of being the only “Street Food” place with a Star!
Jai Fai has a couple of assistants but in the kitchen, it’s a one-women show! She personally cooks every meal!
I started deep-diving into the research to figure out the best day and time to go! I decided to formulate my plan of attack for the next morning!
I tried going to be early but I found myself laying down at 2 am & setting me alarm for 6 am. Here is the timeline for the rest of my morning:
6 am: I very slowly got up, got ready, and left my hostel.
6:30 am: I began my 20-minute walk to Jai Fai but a couple of wrong turns turned it into a 30-minute walk.
7 am: I arrived to find a line of 12 chairs from the restaurant ant set-up and taken. Unfortunately, I took my 13th spot in line, standing.
8 am: I am now in the middle of the line because the line has doubled and there were 13 new people behind me.
8:15 am: The restaurant turned their lights on & a worker went down the line to ask each person how many people were in their party.
8:30 am: Everybody put their name on the list.
9 am: They started letting people in but the place only holds about 20 people total. I didn’t make the cut, I was in the second round.
9:15 am: Orders were taken. Once the people inside ordered, the menus were passed to the next of people outside & their orders were taken.
9:30 am: The first round of plates started coming out.
10 am: The first set of people started leaving.
10:15 am: My name was called! I was in!!!
10:30 am: I put my order in for 1 crab meat omelet, an orange juice and a water.
10:45 am: My food arrived!
11:15 am: I paid my bill & was out the door with my first Michelin Star! Yes!!!
Just look @ all of that delicious crab meat!
11:30 am: While talking to strangers in the line, I was tipped off that Jai Fai had her own Ramen Noodles AND they were being sold across the street @ the 7-11! Perfect end to my morning!
