'15 Michelin Bib Gourmand List Out: Kurah & Opart Thai Off

The Dinning Room at Kurah

In a bit of a surprise, it appears that Kurah and Opart Thai has fallen off the prestigious Bib Gourmand list (via Crains):

Three 2015 Bib Gourmands closed: Azzurra EnoTavola, Browntrout and Nightwood. Lao Hunan, one the restaurants Tony Hu sold in the wake of a 2014 raid by the FBI and IRS as part of an investigation, also was left off the 2016 list. Hu has said he sold the property, along with a handful of others, to focus more on his Lao Sze Chuan franchise. Homestyle Taste, Kurah and Mixteco Grill also were dropped.

If you're not sure what the Bib Gourmand list is here is an overview:

For the second year in a row, Michelin trimmed its list of Chicago restaurants honored with Bib Gourmand designations for 2016, reducing the number of restaurants to receive the designation to 58.   

The sixth annual Bib Gourmands, which are released a week in advance of the guide, are awarded to restaurants that deliver quality food for an affordable price (two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less, excluding tax and tip).

While this isn't good news for Kurah, we've been recently and we can confirm the quality of food is still stellar.  If you remember, we've called their wrap a "Sloopin Fave".

We were curious to see if the new Villain's may get included in the Bib Gourmand list, but it wasn't.  Maybe that was a function of opening this year?  Maybe it wasn't up to par for the picky Michellin reviewers.  We sure liked their food.

Similar to years past, next week is a big one for fine dinning in the city and the Sloop.  Acadia is hoping for their 4th consecutive Michelin star.  Good luck to them!