What the hell is going on with the Michelin Guide blurbs?

On Oct. 16, Dallas-based D Magazine published an article with the alarming headline, “Michelin Used AI to Write Its Guide to Dallas Restaurants.”

The magazine’s reporters noticed something a little off with the blurbs for the newly recognized restaurants, so they ran them through AI-detection software and asked a number of experts. The conclusion: AI was used to generate most, if not all, of the blurbs for five new restaurants added to the Texas Michelin Guide on Oct. 8.

So, we immediately wondered: What about Arizona’s blurbs?

On Aug. 26, Michelin hosted a ceremony in Las Vegas to celebrate the inaugural Southwest Michelin Guide, which includes restaurants in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. While no Arizona restaurants earned coveted Michelin stars, 19 were recognized by Michelin and included in the new guide.

On Friday, we took a spin through our local restaurants’ blurbs on Michelin’s site and our concern quickly grew.

For chef Dom Ruggiero’s outstanding Scottsdale eatery, Hush Public House, Michelin’s blurb starts:

This spot from Chef Dom Ruggiero isn’t exactly a secret, but this spot, which reads as a relaxed neighborhood bar offers an unexpectedly ambitious menu.

What? AI or not, this sentence just doesn’t make sense.

Then in the same blurb, for Hush:

Everyting is intentional here, from the strong cocktail proram to the chalkboard trumpeting the local producers. 

Everyting? Proram? What in the world is going on?

For the trendy uptown wine bar and bistro, Kid Sister:

The small kitchen offers an equally small menu that rolls with the seasons in a smart, creative and totally delicious way.

The food! At a Michelin-recognized restaurant! Totally delicious!

Yeah, no way?

OK, sure, not all Michelin inspectors are writers. You don’t need to have a way with words to be an expert on food. But Michelin inspectors supposedly visit restaurants multiple times, taking fastidious notes about every dish they taste. And from all of that research, studying the flavor and nuance of the cuisine, the best they could come up with was “totally delicious?”

And some blurbs beg the question: Did anyone actually read this before it was published in an international guide known for recognizing excellence? Hometown hero Chris Bianco was honored by … yet another typo. In Michelin’s blurb for Pizzeria Bianco:

A roaring brick open turns out marvelous pies with cracker-like crusts and delicious, chewy edges.

Michelin has built an empire on recognizing excellence. That’s their whole, entire point. Brick open pizza. Sigh.

So, were these blurbs generated by AI?

It’s increasingly difficult to tell, but we ran three of these terrible blurbs through three different AI detectors. All came up as 0% AI, entirely human. So we don’t even have the robots to blame.

Arizona restaurants deserve better.

We were in Las Vegas on the evening of the ceremony. At a happy hour reception just ahead of the main event, we talked to our local chefs and food and beverage pros. They were all so excited. The room buzzed. One local chef was so nervous she couldn’t eat. Others had brought their entire restaurant team to Las Vegas. All of their dedication and hard work would be recognized. For independent restaurant owners who have bet their whole lives on a dream, this was their chance to earn a nod of approval from the Michelin Guide.

And now, they get included in a new guide riddled with typos, with the food they pour their hearts into described just as “totally delicious.”

For an organization built on excellence that sends judges to test the quality of someone’s creative endeavor, to turn around and produce such a poor-quality guide is insulting.

These chefs deserve better. Michelin, what the hell?