Michelin Guide not seeing stars in the suburbs

Off the radar is not where a restaurant wants to be if it wants a mention in the Michelin Guide. But that's where many suburban restaurants seem to be, and thus why many outstanding eateries were left out of the Michelin Guide Chicago 2012.

In its second year covering the vibrant Chicago dining scene, the Michelin Guide awarded its coveted stars to only two suburban restaurants: Vie in Western Springs (its second year as a one-star eatery) and Courtright's in Willow Springs (making its one-star debut).

The lone three-star restaurant, Alinea, falls within Chicago's city boundaries. That's also true of the two, two-star restaurants, Charlie Trotter's and Ria, and the other 16 one-star spots.

Former Michelin Guide director Jean-Luc Naret indicated in 2010 that future editions of the guide would expand in geographic scope, but that doesn't appear to have been the case with the 2011 guide and its 432 restaurants.

“We're so far out of the city,” said chef Serena Perdue of the highly acclaimed Niche in Geneva. “We're doing city-style food, but because we're so far out, we're off their radar.”

The Michelin Guide started in France in 1900 to make automobile touring more enjoyable for Europe's upper crust by pointing out fine restaurants and hotels to visit on their journey. But to be farther than a 30-minute drive or a quick train ride from the Loop seems to be a deterrent for suburban restaurants.

Ellen Malloy, founder of the Restaurant Intelligence Agency, a company that helps chefs use the web to market their restaurants to the media and diners, said if the Michelin Guide Chicago is going to mimic its European counterparts, it should look even beyond the collar counties to day-trip worthy restaurants in downstate Bloomington or Peoria or in Madison, Wis.

Yet she understands the red book's Windy City focus.

“If you're visiting Chicago and only have so much time on your trip, would you go to Blackbird (in Chicago) or Inovasi (in Lake Bluff)? Why would you haul all the way out there,” Malloy said. “Now if I'm a Chicagoan, I'm going to get myself up (to Inovasi); but that's not what the guide is for.”

For diners regardless of where you live, here are some suburban restaurants that make us see stars:

Bistro One West, 1 W. Illinois St., St. Charles

Le Titi de Paris, 1015 E. Dundee Road, Arlington Heights

Niche, 14 S. Third St., Geneva

SugarToad, 2139 City Gate Lane, Naperville