Michelin Stars. Most people have heard of them. And anyone who has even a mild interest in food, eating out and cooking, will most likely be aware that restaurants and chefs can have them. For many, I feel it would be fair to say, that this is the sum-total of their knowledge about the Michelin Guide, Michelin stars, and how and why they are awarded. The following is a brief insight into the little red book and how I see the effect it has had on chefs and the food industry, past and present.
The Michelin Guide has been around for over a hundred years and was originally introduced as a marketing tool by Andre and Edouard Michelin. They were French tyre manufacturers, and in 1900, when there were fewer than 3000 cars on the roads in France, they hoped to increase demand for cars and therefore their tyres. The original guide was given away free of charge and contained useful information like maps, how to change a tyre and locations of hotels. By 1926 the guide was produced for many European countries and was rating fine dining restaurants with stars. In 1936, the star rating system was published and has remained ever since:
Often referred to as The Red Guide, if you are a chef, you know about it. This little red book, and the information inside, can be very important to any serious chef. So much so, that many are be willing to make massive sacrifices in their personal and professional lives, in order that they get their name on one of the pages and be awarded stars for their food. Watch Gordon Ramsay on you tube, and you will see what it does to some chefs. More specifically, watch “Boiling Point” on YouTube and you will see Gordon Ramsay, in the prime of his career, immersed in a self-induced state of desperation, trying to win his third star in the Michelin guide. He has a mission. This mission should bear fruit, and he must, simply must, make his mark in the culinary world. This series chronicles his attempts to go from two Michelin stars, to the heady heights of achieving their highest accolade. Three Michelin stars. It's plain to see, that the TV persona of angry, shouty chef, who is so celebrated in the media, has a great deal of foundation.
But I'm not just talking about Gordon Ramsay here. I'm talking about the chefs who are driven to achieve. And the chefs who are driven by their own desires and dreams, to become the best they can be. They push themselves to improve and refine. They have something to aim for and somewhere to get to, and for many this is a Michelin star. If there were no stars, there would be only a journey and no destination. There would be no rewards to reap. This is what the Red Guide does, and this is what it does perfectly. It gives purpose and it propagates the dreams of the chef to make their mark amongst their peers.
Michelin awards their stars after they have visited a restaurant, to eat the chef’s food. They may make several visits to assess the offerings, but give little away and keep their cards close to their chest. Predicting when a Michelin inspector will attend is almost impossible, because Michelin are secretive. Very secretive. Their inspectors do not give notice of their visit, or any other indication that they are present. The very nature of their job, means that their identity must be kept a secret. Being recognised or giving away who they really are would compromise the integrity of what they do. Judging the food properly can only be done if the staff believe they are normal customers. It is all very cloak and dagger and some might say, justifiably so. There is no doubt that food, not only in the UK and France, but worldwide, is better because of the Michelin guide. But this secrecy and lack of predictability can, if allowed to, put pressure on the chefs and kitchen teams to make every plate perfect, should an inspector take a seat at their table.
Michelin awards it's stars for the food on the plate and only this. And Michelin have been accused in the past, of having a bias towards French food, but as time progresses it becomes clear this is not the case. The highest accolade of three stars is still being awarded to restaurants all over the world, serving many different types of food in varied settings. Michelin don’t give specific details about their visits, but they do have a 5 point criteria upon which the judging sits:
· The quality of the ingredients served.
· The skill in the preparation of ingredients and flavour combinations.
· The level of creativity.
· Value for money.
· The consistency of culinary standards.
For a chef to be awarded a Michelin star, it is a milestone in their career, and allows membership of an elite club. The path of the chef, leading to the point of being given entry into the Michelin guide, can be extremely varied, and there are certain elements which are usually present in the chefs cooking DNA.
Firstly, they cook from the heart. When a chef is truly a food lover and wishes to serve good quality, interesting, well executed and flavourful plates of food, this honesty is a truly wonderful foundation for cooking and cooking well. They have desire and a passion for good food and arguably, these elements are the two most important ingredients. If they cook from the heart, and think about their diners, the rest can take care of itself. This is usually driven by the inherent legacy of eating good food as a younger person, and often stories about mothers cooking and childhood memories are featured strongly when they talk about food.
Second is knowledge. Gathered and passed down through the generations, from kitchen to kitchen, this knowledge gives a chef the ability to produce the quality of food required, to allow Michelin to award one or more stars. Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre white are two excellent examples. They are very high achievers, who learned from their masters, to progress to their full potential. Classic technique, sourcing and using quality produce, restraint, skill and practice can all be taught. And when taught well, can produce fantastic results and in many cases, multiple stars.
In the UK, there are two legendary and unrivalled chefs - Michel and Albert Roux. Before they arrived in the UK, the dining scene here was a barren waste ground with few quality offerings. Together they slowly revolutionised eating out in London with their restaurant Le Gavroche, which became the first in the UK to receive one, two and then three Michelin stars. The Roux brothers then opened The Waterside Inn in Berkshire, which today has held 3 stars in the Michelin Guide for a whopping 30 years. In 1984, the Roux brothers were ahead of the curve and started the Roux scholarship giving up and coming chefs the chance of winning the competition and opportunity to work in any Michelin starred restaurant of their choice. This has proved a successful scheme, giving such chefs as Andrew Fairlie, Simon Hulstone, Andre Garret and Sat Baines, amongst others, the spring board to progress their careers to one Michelin star and beyond. The restaurant kitchens and scholarships of the Roux brothers can be linked with an extraordinary amount of skilled and successful chefs working in the industry today. The bloodline of these two chefs, is like a who's who in the UK dining scene and these brothers are almost a double personification of Michelin starred cooking in the UK and beyond. This success was all possible, because of the dedicated cultivation of new talent and passage of knowledge in their kitchens over many years. No other chefs in the UK have achieved this scale of positive output and there are no other pretenders to the throne.
Many people sing the praises of the Michelin Guide and have done so for many years. The industry is a better place because of it, and many people have benefited from it as a by-product of the awards. Producers are now heralded and celebrated because of the quality of their produce. Tableware producers play an integral part in how the food is presented and are the equivalent of the twelfth man. In many cases, they reach almost cult status because the most highly decorated starred chefs use their produce or products. It’s a symbiotic relationship where achieving Michelin status becomes possible with the best ingredients. Tools of the trade like knives, tableware and other equipment are not essential but certainly seem to play a small part.
One Michelin star is a real achievement. The quality of food (and ingredients) served in a one star place is very good indeed, and there is a great deal of work going into producing it. Michelin know it. They understand how kitchens work. They were there at the beginning. They know the Hours and hours of toil and sweat required to achieve the accolade. But Michelin don’t mess about. If the food is not deserving, they make it known. They take away the (a) star. Boom! Back down to earth with a bump. And so, it goes for two stars, but with double the trouble. Two stars are the next step. Harder to achieve and a greater fall from grace. Being granted three stars, is the highest achievement. The quality of food served is of the highest calibre. It doesn't get any better. At the time of writing there were only 4 restaurants in the UK guide with three stars. The two-star list was populated by 21 restaurants. And the number of one star winners was 147. With this, it’s clear to see how Michelin differentiates between the different levels.
Although the Michelin Guide (for some) is the best known and most highly valued guide, there is a sometimes murky under belly. It can be a bit of a poison chalice. To have a star can have a real and tangible effect on the chef and the business. Bookings increase to the point of a waiting list of weeks and possibly months. Higher prices can be charged, boosting profits, and the chef can be propelled to fame and fortune like never before. But if the worst should happen and Michelin decide to remove the stars, it can have a devastating opposite effect.
This is where the pressure comes from. Many chefs put pressure on themselves to make each plate of food as good as possible, and this pressure can become greater than the sum of its parts.
One example of this, was in 2003, when the 3 Michelin starred French chef, Bernard Loiseau, committed suicide in his restaurant, because he thought he may lose one of his prized Michelin stars. He had already been downgraded in another guide and was deep in debt, with the idea of the Michelin Guide downgrade being too much. He had previously suffered from depression but some people still attributed some of the blame to Michelin. Marco Pierre White famously "gave back" his three Michelin stars in 1999 after many years of working towards, achieving and retaining his. He had become disillusioned with Michelin and considered being judged by people who knew less than him to be unpalatable. Long hours and sacrificing time with his family had become less important than his own personal happiness. More recently, Australian chef Skye Gynnel of Petersham Nurseries Cafe in London, returned hers after calling it a "curse". She disliked the high expectations it gave customers and was unhappy that customers complained about the decor in her "shabby Chic" restaurant.
Many more examples of Michelin hard luck stories can be found, because it matters to the people who use Michelin stars as their bench mark. It’s important to them to have their performance rated and ratified by an independent entity other than the average customer. And the most respected guide for many is Michelin. Young, hungry chefs who want to go far, want to work with the Michelin starred chefs. They want to learn how to get stars, one day fulfilling their own dreams of seeing their name in print. This is their arena for learning and this is where they cut their teeth.
In many ways, the industry needs the Michelin guide. It is the metaphorical glue that holds the whole thing together. Yes, it can produce stuffy service, uncomfortable environments and dining rooms where it is difficult to relax. Yes, shouty, angry chefs and bullying have been common place in the past. And despite it being an uncomfortable thing for the industry to discuss, is still present today as the stakes are so high. But the Michelin guide continues to make dreams come true. It continues to celebrate talent, quality food, good ingredients and commitment to perfection. The industry is evolving, with some business owners trying to give their staff a better work life balance, improved salaries and better working environments. The dreamers can have their dreams fulfilled in a more user friendly fashion today, because of these industry leaders. The quality and consistency required for Michelin, should be easier to achieve all round.
Food is evolving and Michelin is evolving with it. Their reach has spread over the years with recognition going to many varied establishments. No Frills street vendors in Hong Kong have made it into the latest guide. Tom Kerridge’s country pub with two Michelin stars and the Japanese sushi restaurant in an unassuming car park in Tokyo with three Michelin stars, are just two of the Michelin success stories. These examples go a long way to reinforce the claim that stars have nothing to do with stuffy service and French food. If the food fulfils the five point criteria, that's all that matters. The reality of twenty first century dining, is that as people learn more about food and cooking, the quality of the offering grows at a tremendous rate. And as higher standards are demanded by the diners, Michelin continues to be the ever-evolving culinary dream maker.
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