The Michelin Restaurant Guide

The Culinary Pinnacle

Among the world's top chefs, being granted a Michelin star is the most coveted accolade. One star is said to make a restaurant worth a visit. Two stars and it's worth a detour. A restaurant with three stars is good enough to be the purpose of a journey.

Origin of the Michelin Stars

The brothers André and Édouard Michelin started up a tire company in Clermont-Ferrand, France in 1889. Their products were for bicycles, but soon, automobiles started to appear and people were able to travel beyond their hometowns. A new word entered the language—tourism—and the Michelin brothers were ready with a helping hand.

In 1900, the first edition of the Michelin Guide appeared. In it, André wrote that its aim was to give “a driver all the necessary information for travelling in France—where to fill his tank, repair his car, as well as where to find a place to sleep and to eat.”

By the 1920s, this being France, the restaurant recommendations became hugely influential.

Writing for the BBC, Anita Isalska notes that “The guides’ coverage of restaurants with standout regional cuisine and well-stocked wine cellars coaxed drivers into travelling further (and, of course, they needed sturdy Michelin tires to complete their journeys).”

Where was that illusive coq au vin in which the chicken didn't have the texture of Michelin's all-weather radials? The brothers Michelin knew where it was.

In 1926, the guide began adding stars and highly strung chefs throughout the country started unseemly scuffles to obtain the acclaimed etoile.

According to the publication, it “has grown into an authority on global fine dining. Since its first publication in 1900, more than 30 million copies of the Michelin Guide have been sold across the globe. It presently rates over 40,000 establishments in over 25 countries across four continents.”

Secret Restaurant Reviewers

To maintain the integrity of the guide, Michelin started hiring reviewers, known as inspectors, whose identity is kept secret.

Getting paid to eat haute cuisine sounds like a nice side hustle; better than delivering pizza for DoorDash in Duluth in January. But, Michelin is particular about the inspectors it hires, and they are full-time employees.

They have to have at least 10 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry. And, before they are turned loose on a Tarte Tatin, they undergo extensive training on Michelin's methods.

Restaurants being considered for stardom are not told they have an inspector as a guest and, before the honour is bestowed, several different inspectors must dine there. It's a team decision.

On behalf of the Michelin Guide, one of its anonymous inspectors reveals what criteria are rated:

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• “the quality of the ingredients,
• the harmony of flavours,
• the mastery of techniques,
• the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine, and,
• just as importantly, consistency both across the entire menu and over time.”

Chef Maxime Bouttier says he knows how to score a Michelin star. According to the BBC, “He cited 'codes' like white tablecloths and soft piano music playing in the background, boxes some restaurateurs seek to tick.”

Rubbish says Michelin. It doesn't matter if the maître d' is snooty (actually, there's a belief that the more arrogant the captain of the front desk, the better the food), that the wallpaper is hideous, or that the piano player is a bit less skilled than might be hoped for. The guide says the only thing that counts is what's on the plate.

Once someone has won an Oscar it's theirs for life; not so a Michelin Star. Inspectors return to starred restaurants to check that they haven't slacked off.

Some Three-Star Prices

• For $380 you can enjoy an eight-course dinner, not including wine, at Zilte in Antwerp, Belgium.
• Perhaps, you have a sudden urge for Viennoise de sole à l'oseille, girolles aux amandes fraîches (Viennese sole with sorrel and chanterelles with fresh almonds). Then, L'Ambroisie in Paris is where you'll satisfy your craving. That, and $160, will get the job done.
• Addison in San Diego offers a 10-course tasting menu at $375 per person, wine is extra.
• Some very uncomplimentary things have been said about British cooking and it's Clare Smyth's mission to correct that. So, drop into her London restaurant for a three-course dinner with a choice of four mains ($260), one of which is “Roasted cod (with) Morecambe bay shrimps, Swiss chard, brown butter.”
• Plan ahead if you want to eat at Frantzén in Stockholm, Sweden; it's usually booked up two months in advance. Sadly, you will not find the Swedish Chef of Muppets fame (“Bork, bork, bork, cookee chickee”) there. Dinner is a fixed menu at $471 per person, drinks extra. The website does not list the dishes; Swedish meatballs perhaps?
• Let's round things off with The Inn at Little Washington; it's close to big Washington, a town bristling with fat expense accounts. The inn offers its Good Earth Menu (Sample) at $380 per person, add paired wines for another $250 (“Beverage, Tax and Service Charge are Additional”). The culinary extravaganza includes “A Tian of Marinated Peaches and Tomatoes with Buffalo Ricotta” and “Olive Oil Cake with Olive Oil Ice Cream and a Mélange of Summer Fruits.”

Losing Michelin Stars

A word about “the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine.” Have you watched any cooking shows on television in which Gordon Ramsay makes an appearance? If you have, you will be familiar with the celebrity chef's foul mouth and volcanic temper. He has 16 Michelin stars among his many restaurants.

In April 2009, it emerged “that pre-prepared food was being brought in, heated up and sold with mark-ups of up to 586 per cent at one of Ramsay's high-profile restaurants and three of his gastropubs in the capital” (The Scotsman).

In an interview two years earlier, Ramsay had complained about people not using fresh ingredients: “That's where all the flavour is, all the goodness, and it's a crime not to use it.”

In 2006, Ramsay opened his flagship United States eatery, Gordon Ramsay at the London in New York City. Soon, it was awarded a couple of Michelin stars. Then, Ramsay sold the restaurant but it continued to use his name under license. In 2013 calamity struck, as Michelin withdrew its two stars; the first time in history a restaurant had been downgraded by two stars.

Marco Pierre White, described by finedininglovers.com as “one of the world’s most celebrated chefs” has zero Michelin stars; and, that's by choice. In 1994, at the age of 32 he became the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars. Five years later, he gave his stars back saying the grind of staying in favour with the Michelin inspectors had become “boring.”

White also said that “Michelin star restaurants are not what people want.” He might have added that they are not what most people can afford.

What most people can afford is a place where “kids eat free,” the table cloths are paper, and you don't have to sell a kidney to pay the bill.

Bonus Factoids

• Answering the criticism that the Michelin guide was elitist and catered only to the interest of wealthy people, the company introduced its Bib Gourmand in 1957. It says it features restaurants where people can get “good meals at moderate prices.”
• In 2020, Michelin, latching onto this new-fangled environmental thing, started issuing green stars to restaurants that engaged top quality sustainable practices.
• According to the company, France remains the top culinary country in the world, owning 613 stars, with 29 three-star restaurants. The United States has 10 three-star establishments. Fewer than one percent of Michelin-reviewed restaurants get three stars.
• The chubby, tubular Michelin mascot first made his appearance in 1898. His name is Bibendum which is from the Latin phrase Nunc est bibendum. This means “now is the time to drink.”

Sources

• “The Ingenious Story Behind Michelin Stars.” Anita Isalska, BBC, October 25, 2018.
• “The History of the Michelin Guide.” Yerica Park, guide.michelin.com, June 14, 2019.
• “What Is a Michelin Star?” guide.michelin.com, October 1, 2022.
• “Ramsay's New F-Word: Frozen Ready Meals Served up at Celebrity Prices.” The Scotsman, April 17, 2009.
• “How Did Gordon Ramsay at the London in NYC Lose Its Michelin Stars?” Hillary Dixler Canavan, eater.com, October 3, 2013.
• “15 Facts You Should Know About the Michelin Guide.” Jaimie Makey, tastingtable.com, February 4, 2024.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2024 Rupert Taylor