What’s in a Name – Corey Lee’s French Farmhouse Stew

Corey Lee’s French Farmhouse Stew

Corey Lee is a Korean born chef, who owns, the three-Michelin star restaurant, Benu. The name of this restaurant comes from the Egyptian word for Phoenix, and offers a unique blend of contemporary Asian influences.

The Michelin Guide and its star ratings, are famous in the culinary world. Three stars is the highest possible rating, and denotes “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey”. There are only 113 three-star restaurants in the entire world, and only 13 restaurants in the USA have been awarded three Michelin stars, mostly in New York City, San Francisco and Napa/Sonoma valley.

If the name Michelin sounds familiar, it’s because it comes from a guide produced by the French car tire manufacturer Michelin. Originally published in 1900, the guide included restaurants to get people to travel, thereby increasing the demand for cars and, accordingly, car tires. The guide started including star listings for restaurants in 1926. It is similar, but much more prestigious, to the AAA/CAA guidebooks many of us may remember from childhood road trips, long before Google Maps!

Wagner family Mer de Soleil Reserve Santa Lucia 2016

This family, headed by Chuck Wagner of Napa Valley, makes so many of the wines we love – their flagship Bordeaux blend Caymus, iconic white blend Conundrum, unoaked Chardonnay Silver, Emmolo Merlot, and this gorgeous oaked and barrel fermented Chardonnay, produced by Chuck’s son, Charlie and grown in the Monterey Santa Lucia county highlands, Mer de Soleil means Sea of the Sun.

What’s in a Name – Farmhouse Stew

Sheldon & Linda