Michelin Guide

The Michelin Guide (Le Guide Michelin) is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term refers by default to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the famous Michelin stars. Michelin also publishes Green Guides for travel and tourism, as well as several newer publications such as the Guide Voyageur Pratique (independent travel), Guide Gourmand (good-value eating-places), Guide Escapade (quick breaks) and Guide Coup de Cœur (hotels of character).

History

In 1900, André Michelin published the first edition of a guide to France to help drivers maintain their cars, find decent lodging, and eat well while touring. It included addresses of gasoline distributors, garages, tire stockists, public toilets, etc.

The guide was distributed free until 1920. According to a story told by the Michelin brothers, the charge was introduced after a pile of guides was found propping up a workbench in a garage, showing that a free gift would not be taken seriously. In 1926, the guide introduced the star to note good cooking; two and three stars were added in the early 1930s. The cover of the guide was originally blue, but since 1931 has been red.

As motoring became more widespread and democratic, the star system was developed and guides to other countries introduced. Today a series of twelve guides lists more than 45,000 hotels and restaurants across Europe, and the guide to France has sold 30 million copies since it was introduced. There is now a Red Guide covering each of the following places: France, Benelux, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, the "Main Cities of Europe", and as of 2006, New York City.

Red and Green Guides

The Michelin Red Guide has historically had many more listings than its rivals, relying on an extensive system of symbols to describe each establishment in as little as two lines. Restaurants rated with a star also listed three specialities. Recently, however, very short summaries (2-3 lines) have been added for many establishments, for example 9,000 in France. These short summaries are written in the language of the country for which it is published, but the symbols are universal. The Red Guide uses anonymous inspections and does not charge for entries, unlike some restaurant and hotel guides which are in effect little more than advertising. Michelin claims to re-visit establishments on average once every eighteen months in order to keep ratings up to date.

There is a Green guide for each French region and many countries, regions, and cities outside France. Most Green Guides on France are available in several languages. They include background information and an alphabetical section describing points of interest. Like the Red Guide, they use a three-star system for recommending sights: three stars, "worth the trip"; two stars, "worth a detour"; one star, "interesting".

Michelin stars and other ratings

The Guide's restaurant ratings using Michelin stars are probably the most famous and influential gastronomic ratings in the world.

The guide awards one to three stars to a small number of restaurants of outstanding quality. Stars are awarded sparingly; for instance, in the UK and Ireland 2004 guide, out of 5,500 entries, there are 98 with one star ("a very good restaurant in its category"), 11 with two stars ("excellent cooking, worth a detour"), and only 3 with three stars ("exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey"). Michelin stars are taken very seriously in the restaurant business, where the addition or loss of a star can mean a difference in turnover of millions of euros. Some three-star restaurants are able to charge hundreds of euros for a meal on the strength of their reputation.

Since 1955, the Guide has also highlighted restaurants offering "good food at moderate prices", a feature now called "Bib Gourmand". They must have a menu priced at no more than £25 in the case of the UK, or €36 in the Republic of Ireland. The name comes from Bib (Bibendum), the Michelin Man, Michelin's logo for over a century.

Controversy

The Michelin guides have been the centre of various controversies. Perhaps none too helpful has been the fact that the inspectors use secret criteria, unknown to even the most experienced chefs.

Loiseau affair

In February, 2003, Bernard Loiseau, a prominent French chef with a history of bipolar disorder, committed suicide when his widely-admired restaurant Côte d'Or in Saulieu, Burgundy, was rumoured to be in danger of a downgrade by Michelin from three to two stars. However, most news reports attributed this suicide to a downgrade by the rival Gault Millau guide, the Michelin guide having stated he would not be downgraded.

Allegations of lax inspection standards

Pascal R, a disgruntled former reviewer, wrote a tell-all book in 2004, claiming that Michelin had become extremely lax in its standards. He gave evidence that, though the guide claims to visit all 4,000 reviewed restaurants every 18 months in order to keep the guide up to standards, they're actually visited about every 3.5 years, unless a specific complaint had been made.

Accusations of bias

As the Michelin guide is published by a French company, many international food critics have denounced the rating system as inherently biased toward French Cuisine. When the Michelin guide released the first edition of the New York City guide, many American media sources, including The New York Times noted the complete omission of any stars for many otherwise highly reviewed restaurants, specifically Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe. They also noted that over half of the restaurants that received two or more stars served French cuisine.

However, as stated above, Gordon Ramsay recently hosted the former Michelin president, who is British, at a Scottish restaurant. Though, again, Ramsay confirmed that the inspectors' criteria is secret. Ramsay, "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares"

References

External links

1900 introductions | Consumer guides | Michelin Starred Restaurants | Travel books

Guide Michelin | Guide Michelin | Michelinguiden | Michelinguiden | Michelinguiden

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