A man from the United States managed to meet a real challenge, eat in 18 Michelin star restaurants in a single day and managed to set a new Guinness world record.
Eric Finkelstein ate at 18 Michelin-starred restaurants in New York in 11 hours.
The challenge of eating in more than twenty Michelin-starred restaurants during a 24-hour period is a complicated challenge, since it is not only about creating an itinerary to eat in several restaurants in a single day, but also because of the difficulty to achieve reservations in restaurants with the distinction of Michelin stars.
Also, to achieve this record, all transportation used must be by public transportation or on foot. The use of private transport such as taxis or even bicycles is not allowed.
According to Guinness, Eric Finkelstein “used to live very frugally in New York for several years, hardly ever eating at sit-down restaurants, let alone Michelin-starred ones.”
When she temporarily moved out of town during the pandemic, Finkelstein began to appreciate the food opportunities she had been missing out on all those years.
The 34-year-old told Guinness that he started thinking about the record after joining a food-related group on the social platform Discord. “I loved the idea,” Eric said. “I would combine my love of eating interesting food, working on a checklist, and working on something silly.”
To get the most reservations in a single day, Finkelstein contacted more than 80 Michelin-starred restaurants across New York City’s five boroughs. He had some problems planning his challenge because when he had made reservations, some of them had lost their Michelin stars just 20 days before the date of the challenge attempt.
Finkelstein’s feat required months of planning and preparation. After a long series of calls and emails, he finally managed to come up with an 18-restaurant itinerary for October 26, 2022, and Guinness World Records recently certified Finkelstein’s achievement as the official world record.
The total cost of all of Finkelstein’s meals came to $494, not including tax and tips. The man estimates that he consumed a total of 5,000 calories during the day.
Finkelstein acknowledged that eating fast is far from the best way to enjoy a meal at New York’s best restaurants. “Turning Michelin-starred restaurants into fast food is like going against the spirit of what they’re doing.”
The American began his challenge at Le Pavillon in Midtown, where he ate a $36 grilled avocado salad. He followed this up and headed over to Caviar Russe to enjoy some caviar (with blini and crème fraiche), which is $25.
Guinness reports that among the other restaurants Eric visited were: Tuome in Alphabet City, where he ate grilled scallops dressed with grapefruit and chrysanthemum; Aquavit in Midtown where he ate a bowl of lingonberries; Oiji Mi where he enjoyed beef tartare on toasted brioche with gherkin and Kaluga caviar; and The Modern, where he had oysters for $26.
Eric Finkelstein ended his gastronomic adventure with a chawanmushi covered in uni (sea urchin) and caviar in Noda.
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