Stars lose sparkle for restaurants
The latest UK edition of the Michelin Guide is at the printer’s, ready to hit bookshelves within days.
Chefs are holding their breaths, brows sweating, while anorak diners are preparing for another season of braggadocio banqueting.
But there are signs the annual “restaurant bible” is becoming increasingly out of step with the mood in the kitchen — and expectations in the dining room.
One of France’s most acclaimed chefs, who has held three Michelin stars since 1999, has asked to be stripped of them. Sebastien Bras, who runs Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole, says he yearns to be free to cook away from the hysteria that comes with Michelin stars.
He is weary of maintaining the standards of Michelin’s anonymous judges, who can arrive at any second.
“You’re inspected two or three times a year, you never know when. Every meal that goes out could be inspected . . . every day, one of the 500 meals that leaves the kitchen could be judged,” he said. “Maybe I will be less famous, but I accept that.”
Chefs can’t, technically, return stars: restaurants earn them, not individuals. However, revamping a menu or renaming a restaurant is one way of surrendering them.
Nevertheless, in publicly shunning his stars, Bras has proven right critics who bemoan the guide’s limited scope, pomposity and imposition of standards that act like a straitjacket.
Then there’s sustainability: some restaurants simply can’t afford to run a financially viable business with a Michelin star hanging over them.
Boath House is a luxury hotel near Inverness, Scotland, whose kitchen holds one star.
“While we are extremely proud of the Michelin star we gained 10 years ago and it undoubtedly enhanced our reputation, our restaurant has consistently made a loss,” said Wendy Matheson, who owns the hotel with husband Don.
“We believe that the expectations from Michelin are at odds with achievable profit margins and put an enormous stress on a small familyrun business like ours.”
Matheson said they decided to take the restaurant in a more informal direction after listening to diners.
“The feedback . . . is that they want an experience that is more informal and relaxed and this extends to the restaurant, the food and even how it is served.
“The food industry is changing, the hospitality industry is changing.”
However, there is little sign Michelin is.