Some people were outside the Michelin ceremony. Here’s what was said inside. | Annie Mulligan What happens at Michelin does not stay at Michelin Chefs, restaurateurs, and food writers from across the great state of Texas gathered in Houston’s 713 Music Hall on Monday night, November 11, to witness the awards for the first-ever Michelin ceremony for Texas restaurants. The Michelin Guide was set to focus on Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, with the guidance to venture further afield out of those metro areas as it saw fit. What we got was the first Michelin stars awarded to barbecue joints, a lot of recognition for Texas food, and one hell of a night. No conversation is off the record in a room loaded with reporters, however. Editors from Eater Dallas, Eater Houston, Eater Austin and a few of our Eater national editors were at the ceremony and collected the best bits of conversation, gossip, and random thoughts we heard throughout the night. Here’s what we overheard (anonymously) at the Michelin ceremony: “Only in Texas do you go to a food hall before the Michelin awards for a drink.” “Because of social media we’re bombarded with people who think they’re restaurant critics. It’s so hard because of food and labor costs, and no one wants to work in our industry right now. This is so important to the restaurants.” “It’s kinda weird, no two or three stars in Texas. What’s up?” “The diversity was great. My thing was how many ways can you do barbecue?” “I know they really love Houston. Maybe 45 was shut down.” “I’m excited for next year.” “What the fuck just happened X 10!!!!” “It’s a great insight of who we are in Texas right now, where we go from here, and what we do next.” “The D.C. Michelin ceremony is the worst. This one is way bigger.” “Where are the two and three stars? [laughing]” “The Michelin man is wearing a Taylor Swift friendship bracelet from Austin chef Saine Wong.” Nadia Chaudhury and Britney Britto Garley contributed to the reporting.