A New York food fan has set a world record for the most Michelin-starred meals eaten in one 24-hour period.
Manhattan-based Eric Finkelstein, 34, dined at 18 different restaurants awarded the prestigious chef’s award in 11 hours, in a mission that was 14 months in the planning.
Mr Finkelstein went on the swanky-restaurant trail on 26 October 2022, with the feat recognised by Guinness World Records last month .
He ate a dish at each of the lauded restaurants, amounting to a bill of $494 (£407) before tax and tips, he told CNN.
The restaurants ticked off included Japanese omakase restaurant Noda, in the Flatiron district, Midtown’s Le Pavillion and high-end Nordic number Aquavit.
The IT consultant, who works in healthcare, told CNN: “The planning was more than half the challenge, just to get restaurants to agree to do it and then finding a logical route that worked.”
He said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, with New York’s restaurants shut down, he’d compiled a list of all the places he wanted to dine. Then the idea came to him to combine them in one ambitious record attempt.
“I loved the idea,” he told Guinness World Records. “It combined my loves of eating interesting food, working towards a checklist, and working towards something.”
The plan took 14 months because after initially getting 10 restaurants onboard, four of them lost their Michelin star between him arranging a meal there and the date of the attempt.
Luckily, some last-minute ringing around between the hitch and the date of the record-breaking feast managed to secure 12 more top-end restaurants.
Eating a dish at each restaurant, Mr Finkelstein first started with a grilled avocado salad at seafood specialist Le Pavillon, close to NYC’s Central Station.
He then moved on for caviar-stacked blinis at one-Michelin-starred Caviar Russe, before heading to Tuome for scallops with grapefruit, and Scandi-themed Aquavit for a bowl of lingonberries. Duck liver mousse with pickled vegetables and plum was another highlight at Gramercy Tavern.
Next came swish Korean joint Oiji Mi in the Flatiron District, for steak tartare, followed by a stop at The Modern – a two-Michelin-star, four-time James Beard Award winner – for oysters. Lastly was omakase concept Noda, where he tucked into sea urchin and caviar.
Despite picking fairly light choices at each stop, Mr Finkelstein estimates that he consumed 5,000 calories over the 24 hours.
He travelled between each stop on foot or via public transport.
“I did get really full. Definitely by the two thirds point I started to get a little nervous about my appetite. The next day I ate close to nothing,” he said.
He said that several restaurant managers had been thrilled by the quirky idea. Japanese restaurant Noda, when contacted them, had replied: “This is an absurd idea born out of the pursuit of indulgence and in service of unbridled vanity. We are 100 per cent in.”
Of his favourite bites, Mr Finkelstein told Guinness World Records: “It was a three-way tie. The Fluke Crudo at Casa Mono (fresh with surprising waves of flavour), Duck Mortadella at Francie (the buttery bread practically melted in my mouth), and Everything Brioche at Red Paper Clip (satisfyingly soft, combined sweet and savoury flavours).”
He told reporters that he’d been interested in breaking records and checking off lists since childhood.
“As a kid my parents got me this book every year with the top 10 of everything and I got really into them,” he said.
“But it wasn’t until my late twenties that I tried to set any records.
“I enjoyed things that involved pranks in college so I thought what could I do as an adult version of continuing to be a child.”
