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While 17 Shanghai restaurants were basking in the glory of gaining their first star in Michelin’s first guide to the city released last week, another winner was shutting up shop.
Taian Table, headed by German chef Stefan Stiller, was forced to close a day after earning its first Michelin star due to licensing problems. It had also been the subject of noise complaints from neighbours.
Residential building
The restaurant, which served a European menu and could be found in a residential building in the district of Changning had been operating without business or catering licenses. Despite applying for the licenses when it opened in April, “as per regulations catering venues cannot be located in a residential building,” reports Shanghai Daily.
In a statement Stiller said: “When my friend and business partner Frank and I started this project early this year our idea and concept was to build a small place to entertain our friends and to have some foodies and chef friends around to create new and imaginative dishes. We certainly never intentionally planned to violate any rules, regulations and laws.”
Innovative cuisine
Offering 10 and 14–course tasting menus, dishes at Taian Table included wagyu beef, fois gras and grilled endive. It was praised by Michelin for its “innovative cuisine” and will now be relocating to larger premises, which according to Stiller was the plan all along.
Taian Table is not the first restaurant to close soon after being awarded a Michelin gong. In 2015, Le Tre Lune at Calenzano in Tuscany shut its doors within a week of being awarded its first star, while Chicago’s Avenues restaurant lasted longer, closing within a year of gaining its second star in 2010 with the departure of chef Curtis Duffy.
And in 2010, Les Hêtres at Ingouville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France was finally awarded its first star ... only problem was it had been closed since the previous December.
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