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By The Numbers

How to earn your second Michelin star

Janet Nguyen Apr 19, 2016

Some of us have proven ourselves in the culinary world, others are just happy not to burn the house down. Here are your need-to-know numbers for Tuesday.

For those who want to rack up those Michelin stars, it may help to adopt a tasting menu. An increasing number of restaurants are opting for a dining experience based on sample portions over traditional a la carte menus. Spiaggia restaurant in Chicago, which has one Michelin star and is trying for its second, is taking part in the trend. Tony Mantuano, the Chef-Partner of the Chicago establishment, says there are benefits to this form of dining: it can give chefs the opportunity to improve their skills, and prevent ingredients from going to waste. Acadia restaurant, another Chicago eatery, credits the tasting menu format for its second star. “With a tasting menu you really get that expression of the chef,” said Ryan McCaskey, a chef and the owner of Acadia. “People like Michelin… they want to see that expression.”

Transitions are happening in the realm of health care. UnitedHealth is withdrawing from most of the Affordable Care Act marketplace by 2017. But does this matter in the grand scheme of things? A new report found that if the insurer left all of its exchanges, the effect on prices and competition would be minimal, wrote Marketplace’s Dan Gorenstein. However, a researcher from the Kaiser Family Foundation notes that some communities would feel an effect. For instance, the insurance giant’s withdrawal from Oklahoma will “leave the entire state with just one insurance company on the exchange.”

The finance sector is facing cuts. Experts said bank branches will start facing slashes, largely because of customer demand for “automation and cheaper services,” the Washington Post reported. According to Former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins, employment and bank branches could be slashed by 20 percent to 50 percent. “I have no doubt that the financial industry will face a series of Uber moments,” Jenkins said, referring to the car-hailing app’s shake-up of the taxi industry.

 

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