Does Eleven Madison Park's ability to maintain three Michelin stars mean that Michelin reviewers feel that if it opened today, with its current menu, it would receive that score?
I don't dislike the vegan EMP as much as some people — I think it's a great dining experience and has some genuinely standout dishes. But like almost everyone else, I think there are some significant limitations to its vegan menu, and that it's a much worse restaurant than it was before going vegan. Still, despite the fact that its vegan menu has been panned by many prominent food critics and has led to the restaurant becoming much less universally well-liked, the one entity that has maintained EMP's reputation is Michelin. EMP's three-star status hasn't wavered since it went vegan in 2021, and I assume it's been reviewed again by Michelin at least three times since then.
Does this mean that Michelin maintains that EMP would receive three stars if it opens today? Or is there any credit given to its former glory, i.e. the fact that the chefs proved themselves in the early years pre-vegan menu even if the current menu is a downgrade? I ask this in part because some other 3-stars in New York (Per Se, Le Bernadin) have also allegedly declined in quality, although that's less confusing to me because neither of those made so radical a change.
In other words, is it that much easier to maintain stars than to earn them? If so, is there any intention to that policy? Or else, do Michelin reviewers just see something in EMP's vegan menu that most others don't?