50 B4 50-A New Dining Quest!

Having finished our 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge we were in need of a new challenge to keep us amused. We considered a number of options, but fortunately my wife's ideas of basing it on exercise, shopping, or going to the South Pole fell on deaf ears.

I suppose to decide we needed to know our main criteria. We soon agreed that it needed to be enjoyable, amusing, and not to involve sweating. Eating of course fit this criteria very well, unless of course you are eating a fierce curry.

Ultimately I guess, the whole point of our challenge is that it needs to be pointless. Collecting points, seems pointless, ...so that is what we are going to do.

50 B4 50-Dining Challenge: Our new challenge is to collect 50 points before my wife is 50. In this instance one Michelin Star will equal one point. So, we need to dine in various Michelin Star restaurants that have a collective total of 50 Michelin Stars.

Michelin Inspectors anonymously visit restaurants throughout the year using an inspection process that has been refined since 1926. The inspectors concentrate on the quality, flavours, mastery of technique, personality and consistency of the food. Earning One, Two of Three Michelin Stars is seen as one of the highest honours in the restaurant industry. In 2013 only 3 restaurants held three Michelin Star across the UK.

This may all sound pretentious, stuffy and expensive, but in reality it makes dining an experience and event, as much as you would get at the theatre or a concert.

Top Tip: A Saturday evening on the a la carte menu will certainly be felt in the pocket, but we have a 'Top Tip' to share; most, if not all, of these restaurant will do special lunch menus, or in London, pre-theatre menus, which are extensive and great value. Each restaurant has a reputation to protect, and the kitchen team preparing the food is the same, the only difference is you pay a fraction of what you may pay at other times.With my wife now being 40, we have ten years to collect 50 points (Stars) before her 50th birthday.To make things a bit easier, we have decided to include the Michelin Star restaurants that we have already dined in. This may appear cheating, but the good thing about setting the rules for a pointless points challenge, is that we can do what we like!

So, here we go, it is August 2013, we have 18 Michelin Star so far, the knife & forks are ready, and the race is on!