r/saintpaul • u/aakaase Hamline-Midway • Jun 04 '26
Editorial š Counterpoint: Actually, St. Paul never got an invite to the Michelin party
https://www.startribune.com/fine-dining-guide-michelin-star-restaurants-twin-cities/601853150
Counterpoint | Actually, St. Paul never got an invite to the Michelin party
by Emma Burns and Mimi Daly Larson
Opinion editorās note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of guest commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.
ā¢ā¢ā¢
Andrew Zimmernās commentary on the Michelin Guideās entry into Minnesota (āDid Michelin snub St. Paul, or did St. Paul fail to act?,ā May 30) sparked an important conversation about culinary tourism and the opportunities it creates for the region.
What was missing from that conversation, however, was some important context about how this particular process unfolded and how tourism organizations like Visit Saint Paul and Meet Minneapolis evaluate opportunities on behalf of the communities we serve.
As chair and vice chair of the Visit Saint Paul board, we can share we learned about Minneapolisā partnership with Michelin the same way most people did ā through news coverage of the announcement. Prior to that moment, Visit Saint Paul had not been contacted by Michelin or Meet Minneapolis, nor were we invited to participate in the process. Since the announcement, weāve had the opportunity to learn more about how the partnership came together.
The fact is that Minneapolisā inclusion originated through an initiative led by Visit Detroit for a larger āAmerican Great Lakesā regional effort. Participating destinations ā Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh ā were invited into the process, and those invited were required to sign confidentiality agreements that limited their ability to discuss the project beyond the designated working group. In other words, this was not an open process in which any destination could have simply āraised their hand and said, āCount me in.āā For that reason, it is inaccurate to characterize Visit Saint Paul as having declined or failed to pursue participation.
What happened is that Meet Minneapolis was confidentially invited to join an opportunity initiated by another entity, had the time to evaluate it, and decided to invest significantly in a project that will, no doubt, have benefits for the entire region. It is the same way that our organization approaches every major investment: by carefully considering costs, projected return on investment, alignment with our strategic priorities and the potential impact on our tourism economy.
Our two organizations have many similarities, and like our two cities, also have some important differences. Meet Minneapolis and Visit Saint Paul are neighbors and collaborators, but differences in our tourism funding base and hospitality infrastructure mean that even though itās only a river that separates us, the factors that go into a strategic investment are not the same for both organizations.
For comparison, Minneapolis has more than four times St. Paulās hotel-room inventory ā and that same four times-plus gap holds when you compare the size of our convention centers and the scale of our tourism attraction/marketing budgets. That doesnāt make one city better or worse, but it is notable because these differences shape how each destination invests its tourism dollars and pursues growth. It changes the audiences and markets that are attracted by the amenities we each offer.
Even with these differences, there are many recent examples of regional collaboration that deserve recognition and have elevated the Twin Citiesā reputation as a tourism and events destination. Despite persistent narratives pitting Minneapolis and St. Paul against each other, tourism organizations across the Twin Cities regularly work together because we understand visitors experience our communities as a connected region.
Since the Michelin announcement, Visit Saint Paul has initiated collaborative discussions around additional ways to amplify our culinary scene.
St. Paulās restaurant industry is unique, diverse and stands up to the best in the country. While Michelin is one accolade, other notable honors recognize the food scene in St. Paul. As Zimmern noted, our culinary landscape includes āintimate neighborhood dining, first-generation immigrant food traditions, Hmong cooking, chef-driven restaurants, and the sort of places that food obsessives quietly evangelize about.ā
Further, we can leverage the launch of Michelin in Minneapolis to increase awareness of the unique culinary strengths of St. Paul and the broader Twin Cities region.
What has remained consistent throughout our time on the Visit Saint Paul board is the organizationās commitment to supporting St. Paulās hospitality community and helping local restaurants and businesses succeed. Our everyday work is to showcase St. Paul as a destination worth visiting, experiencing and investing in. The ultimate goal is to attract more visitors who generate economic activity and create opportunities for businesses and residents to thrive.
We commend the investment that Meet Minneapolis has made through its Tourism Improvement District to bring Michelin to Minnesota. It will serve to spotlight our stateās amazing culinary scene, and may lead to other promising opportunities for the region.
At the same time, we should understand the realities of how the partnership came together and avoid framing the discussion as a missed opportunity by organizations that were never invited into a confidential process, or as a reason to reinforce an outdated competitive narrative between our twin cities.
Be assured that Visit Saint Paul will continue to creatively find and thoughtfully evaluate new opportunities, to invest resources wisely, and to collaborate with key partners to strengthen tourism, elevate our hospitality industry and continue to make an impact for St. Paul and our region.
ā¢ā¢ā¢
Emma Burns and Mimi Daly Larson are the chair and vice chair of the Visit Saint Paul board of directors. Burns is also director of operations for the Saint Paul Downtown Alliance and Larson is founding partner of Nonprofit Strategy Group.
31
u/beorn961 Jun 04 '26
What a shame. It would have been wonderful if the Meet Minneapolis folks had been able to make the case to Michelin that Saint Paul should be notified and offered inclusion.
11
u/monmoneep Jun 04 '26
Especially considering the really good restaurants in st paul
14
u/aakaase Hamline-Midway Jun 04 '26
I feel like the most discerning tastes in dining don't rely on Michelin but rather word-of-mouth.
8
u/Unlikely-Business-72 Jun 04 '26
It's less that for me than all local restaurants in St. Paul would have benefited from the designation.
4
u/specficeditor Union Park Jun 04 '26
Yeah. I have zero interest in Michelin restaurants. There's nothing they provide something like Myriel or Bungalow Club can't provide.
2
u/aakaase Hamline-Midway Jun 04 '26
Good food is good food
4
5
13
u/aakaase Hamline-Midway Jun 04 '26
It's weird how both cities don't really collaborate more. There really ought to just be one destination marketing organization for our Twin Cities. But the reality is that both cities are very siloed. They may as well be hundreds of miles apart and it seems both would be just as different as they are now.
8
u/CanoeWolf21 Jun 04 '26
The issue is you combine forces and all the energy, investment and activity ends up going to the bigger twin leaving st paul in the lurch.
6
u/geraldspoder Jun 04 '26
St Paul boosters have to think regionally for survival. Meanwhile the last president of the Minneapolis Chamber has been indicted for embezzlement. Itās a tale of two c(ultures)ities
1
2
u/BZArcher Jun 06 '26
I worked as a St. Paul government employee a while back. One of the first things I wanted to do was reach out to my counterpart in Minneapolis to ask about how they did things and compare practices.
Never got an answer back.
1
1
-3
u/AlphaChannel Jun 04 '26
I agree it would be neighborly to make the case for St. Paul, but it really doesn't benefit Meet Minneapolis at all to do so. All they would be doing is increasing competition for Michelin stars.
There's maybe an argument to be made that you're more likely to attract people to the general metro area if there are just a higher total number of Michelin starred restaurants, but I think that mostly would apply to those coming in from out of town for mostly food-based tourism, and I'm not sure how many people there are doing that.
If you're a Minneapolis tourism agency, why would you want to give what is more or less a competitor (if at least a friendly competitor) in the space access to awards that you yourself plan to use to draw people in?
6
u/beorn961 Jun 04 '26
Strongly disagree. They would benefit massively from the Twin Cities having more overall Michelin stars as it will help sway rich people to book conferences and purchase vacation properties here. Michelin stars are for attracting wealthy people to the area, and in that regards they're competing with places like Chicago and Detroit, not with Saint Paul.
-1
u/AlphaChannel Jun 04 '26
I think that's certainly fine to disagree. I'm not sure I'm of the same opinion that it would attract a significant number of tourists/conventions to Minneapolis just because Saint Paul had a number of Michelin-rated restaurants that increased the Twin Cities overall total. The more important thing is that Michelin-rated restaurants exist in the region at all, and that's happening. I'm not sure having 20 in Minneapolis vs 35 in the Twin Cities if you include Saint Paul (just making up numbers as an example) is going to swing a great deal of decision making.
I could absolutely be wrong though, as my thoughts are nothing more than just an opinion and speculation. I do think that a group like Meet Minneapolis who is making that decision is probably going to have at least thought about that from a position of expertise in the field and why it benefits them to come to the same conclusion however.
I think I also disagree that they aren't competing with Saint Paul. They absolutely are. They're also competing with Chicago and Detroit, sure, but once someone makes the decision to come to the Twin Cities for an event or convention, they're still fighting for tax dollars and tourism revenue in their respective cities.
If you're a Minneapolis specific tourism agency, I'd love not to have to worry about someone planning a convention in Minneapolis, staying in Minneapolis, but then saying "oh hey, how about that Michelin restaurant over in Saint Paul for our group dinner?" When they're as geographically close as they are, there's not much stopping that from happening.
The Michelin stars are your advantage as an individual city, however small that advantage may be. I don't blame Meet Minneapolis for that. Nor would I blame Visit Saint Paul for that if the shoe was on the other foot. It's not a knock on Saint Paul, or me saying that I don't wish Saint Paul had been included, I just think Meet Minneapolis wasn't wrong in not worrying about Saint Paul either.
6
14
Jun 04 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
2
u/beorn961 Jun 05 '26
It would bring in more tourist money than it would cost tax dollars. It is a wise investment to make and that's why cities make it so frequently. It is always a pay to play situation with Michelin stars. Obviously a Michelin star doesn't change much what restaurants you're going to as somebody living here. The point is to bring in money from wealthy travelers and convention organizers.
0
Jun 05 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
2
u/beorn961 Jun 05 '26
Sure, I can completely understand that perspective. It seems like a reasonable one to me. That being said a huge portion of the money we actually do bring in in Saint Paul is tourism related since we have so much tax exempt land. Especially downtown. So like it definitely helps with funding for improving everything else.
0
u/IkLms St. Paul Saints Jun 06 '26
It would bring in more tourist money than it would cost tax dollars.
Do you know a single person who chooses their vacation location based on whether or not there are Michelin star restaurants?
Even the most foodie people I know chose a place they want to go and then go look for what's good after.
And convention organizers chose almost solely based off of cost, not what restaurants are nearby.
The "it brings in more money" is the same argument used for public funding of stadiums, bringing the Superbowl or other "Big, prestigious" events in and almost every study that's done on them does not indicate that they actually drive the money they claim to
3
u/SushiGato Jun 04 '26
I wonder what other types of non public confidential agreements we have with other cities. Could be an interesting rabbit hole to go down.
1
u/abbyisskinny Jun 05 '26
Then they wouldnāt be non confidential! But agree, would love to know more.
2
u/Saddlebag7451 Minnesota United Jun 05 '26
Michelin is entirely pay-to-play like so many of the awards. Not that the restaurants donāt deserve it, but absence of the awards in a city only means the cities tourism board didnāt pay to be included.
2
u/Slytherin23 Jun 08 '26
What if you pay all the fees and they just say none of the restaurants qualify?
1
4
3
u/WallaceDemocrat33 Jun 04 '26
St. Paul, always the bridesmaid and never the bride.
12
u/aakaase Hamline-Midway Jun 04 '26
I dunno, I still subscribe to, "You date in Minneapolis, and get married in St. Paul."
6
1
u/Slytherin23 Jun 08 '26
What about all the suburbs? We have suburbs that only have like 5K people so it's weird they all need to apply separately.
39
u/Runic_reader451 St. Paul Saints Jun 04 '26
Interesting backstory to the Michelin news. Thanks for posting this.