STEPHEN JARDINE
Stephen Jardine reckons Michelinstarred restaurants may be happy to ease the pressure
On Monday morning Britain’s top chef will gather in London from all over the country for the announcement of the 2019 Michelin stars.
Some will be devastated as the coveted award is taken away from them. Others will be ecstatic at being included in the Michelin Guide for the first time. Only one establishment won’t care.
This week the owners of the Michelin-starred Checkers restaurant in Wales took the unusual step of handing their award back. On the eve of this year’s big announcement, Sarah and Stephane Borie have had enough. Seven years after first winning their star, the couple have decided the exacting standards of Michelin are incompatible with family life. As the parents of three young children, the couple say they no longer want to be featured in the guide because they are “putting family first”.
Instead they will concentrate on breakfast and lunch service, leaving evenings free for them to enjoy together at home.
For many young chefs, this decision must seem incomprehensible. The Michelin Guide is the holy grail. For many a listing is an aspiration and not something to be tossed aside. Originally sponsored by the tyre manufacturer as the perfect glove compartment guide for any hungry traveller, few people still bother to buy or consult the red book. However it’s reputation means it remains the ultimate measure of good food here and around the world. But that comes at a price. The magic formula required to win a star is hotly debated by people in the restaurant business because the Michelin Guide offers few clues. It states a one star establishment should be “A good place to stop on your journey, indicating a very good restaurant in its category, offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard”.
They key word here is “consistently”. That is very hard to achieve but when it comes to Michelin stars it is non-negotiable. A one-star restaurant open for lunch and dinner five days a week will have over 500 services in a year. Just think how many opportunities that provides for things to go wrong. There is no scope to have an off-day when you hold a Michelin star because at any time the inspector could walk through the door with a table booked under a false name. On that experience your reputation will be cemented or lost.
That relentless, grinding pressure means nothing can ever be left to chance and in time that takes it’s toll. The average age for a UK Michelin chef is 34. Add a few years of relentless pressure and a couple of kids and it’s not surprising a few decide enough is enough.
If the strain of running a one star establishment is high, further up the food chain is even worse. Last year three-star French restaurant Le Suquet quit the Michelin Guide because chef Sebastien Bras said he no longer wanted the “huge pressure” of being judged.
For the chefs who win a star on Monday, such concerns will be lost in the haze of delight and champagne. However when the celebrations are over, the real challenge begins as you have to prove why you are worthy of a Michelin star every single day.