18 restaurants and 5000 calories in half a day: a New Yorker sets an unusual record

A New Yorker has set a world record for visiting Michelin-starred restaurants in one day. Eric Finkelstein, 34, took on the back-breaking mission in October to eat at 18 famous restaurants within 24 hours. CNN.

It took the healthcare information technology consultant 14 months to plan his eccentric feat. And not least because he had to book tables in many of the best places in the city.

“Planning was more than half the challenge, just getting the restaurants to agree to it and then finding a logical route that would work,” he said in a phone interview.

The idea, which was officially recognized by Guinness World Records (GWR) last month, came to him during the pandemic when he moved out of the city.

After temporarily relocating in 2021, Finkelstein compiled a list of the best places he planned to eat. He also joined an online nutrition group where he first heard about the challenge.

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With two other world records under his belt - both related to table tennis, a sport he used to play - he was immediately interested in the idea.

“I liked this idea,” he said. “It combined my love for interesting food, working on a checklist, and striving for something.”

Implementation of a plan

Finkelstein first contacted more than 80 restaurants but received a response from only 10. Unfortunately, four of them lost their star when the Michelin Guide announced their choice in 2022 - just 20 days before his official attempt.

He frantically contacted other restaurants and luckily managed to book enough tables for the official attempt on October 26th.

The day started with a $36 grilled avocado salad at Le Pavillon in Midtown. This was followed by caviar, pancakes and crème fraîche for $25 at Caviar Russe.

Other highlights included grilled scallops with grapefruit and chrysanthemum at Tuome, a $15 bowl of lingonberries at Aquavit, a $24 steak tartare at Oiji Mi, and $26 oysters at The Modern.

The last thing he tried was uni (sea urchin) and caviar chavanmushi at the Noda restaurant.

The total bill was $494, excluding taxes and tips. According to Finkelstein, about 5 calories were eaten, all in 000 hours.

He said that as a child, his nickname was "the finisher" for his ability to finish eating for everyone.

“I really ate,” he said. “Definitely, by two-thirds, I started to get a little nervous about my appetite. The next day I hardly ate anything.”

Other records

Finkelstein's previous records are the longest serve in table tennis and the largest mosaic of table tennis balls made with two friends.

In 2019, he participated in an unsuccessful attempt to break the record for the most people performing the Dragon Ball Kamehameha, a move inspired by the popular anime series.

He added that in 2021 he became the first person to visit all Citi Bike stations in New York.

“I made other attempts that weren't official world records,” Finkelstein said. “When the game Pokemon Go became fashionable, I traveled around the world in the hope of being the first person to catch regionally released Pokemon. Unfortunately, someone else was two weeks ahead of me.”

Finkelstein hopes to hit the next record with his girlfriend, but has kept quiet about the concept for now.

“Growing up, my parents gave me a book with the top ten records every year, and I was very fond of them,” he said. - But only at the end of the twenties I tried to set a record. In college, I liked all sorts of practical jokes and I thought what I would do in adult life if I continued to be a child.