Elite Traveler May-June 2016

INSPIRE MICHELIN

to 1900. There might have been only 3,000 cars in all of France at the time, but brothers André and Édouard Michelin recognized driving as a lasting trend and foresaw that motorists would need to find places to refuel, rest and change their tires. They created the first edition of the Michelin Guide and handed out 35,000 copies for free. A charge was introduced in 1920; by that time there were five country editions. Six years later the brothers created the famous star system. Today the guides cover 18 countries and more than 50 cities around the world – a Singapore guide will follow next year. In addition to the star system, there is also the Bib Gourmand, the accolade rewarded to restaurants that provide “good meals at moderate prices”. Mystery surrounds the inspectors and their anonymity is fiercely protected. Michelin is cagey about the number of inspectors working for them, but they have a professional background and a thorough understanding of the industry. This may come from years working in a restaurant kitchen or the wine business. Inspectors also need to be committed to the job – typically they have between 220 and 250 meals out a year. “The inspectors do have to be passionate about the business, but there is such a huge variety in the guide – they never get jaded,” says Rebecca Burr, editor of the Great Britain & Ireland guide. New inspectors receive up to six months training, shadowing experienced inspectors in different locations around the world. “It has always been a global approach, so we’ll have people from Germany coming to the UK and vice versa,” Burr says. The individual craft Michelin Guide ratings are based solely on what they call 'the food on the plate'. “We don’t close our eyes to the environment or who serves the food, but any chef operating at that level and serving that kind of food is not going to serve it in a filthy place with staff who can’t be bothered,” says Burr. The food is measured against five criteria: the quality of the ingredients; the skill in preparing and combining them; the chef’s personality as revealed through the cuisine; value for money; and the consistency of culinary standards. One of the many misconceptions is that stars are awarded to chefs. They are not. They are awarded to the establishments, so chefs don’t take the stars with themwhen they leave a rated restaurant. So how do you clinch a coveted star? When the Great Britain & Ireland Guide 2016 was published, Burr said that chefs should not

1945: The Michelin Guide is back on the shelves. A note on the cover read: “This edition, prepared during the war, can not be as complete and precise as our pre-war publications. Nevertheless, it should be useful.”

1956: The Michelin Guide Italy is launched.

1997: The Bib Gourmand is introduced in France.

“When we got the second star people still said we couldn’t get a third and when we did everybody went crazy”

1999: British chef Marco Pierre White hands back his three stars.

2001: Michelin goes digital and the full selection is published on viamichelin.com

David Muñoz DiverXO, Madrid

2003: French chef Bernard Loiseau commits suicide amid rumors that his restaurant La Côte d’Or is about to be downgraded. Also, French inspector Pascal Remy was fired after publishing a tell-all account of the Guide.

be cooking for the inspectors, they should find their own way. “For those chefs it is about their customers and that is always our philosophy. It is about individual craft,” she says. Burr points to Spanish chef DavidMuñoz whose restaurant DiverXO in Madrid was awarded a third star in 2014. “At that level between two and three stars we are looking for more personality, signature and technically stronger cooking, and he is a fine example of that,” Burr says. It was big news when the avant-garde restaurant in Madrid received the third star in 2014. But Muñoz is symptomatic of the wave of chefs Burr refers to who are following their own path. The food in DiverXO is very different and experimental; the waiting staff are young and the atmosphere relaxed. Flying pigs decorate the walls and the wine coolers are giant ice cream cones.

2005: The first US guide is launched in New York City.

2005: The espoir – rising star – is introduced, but later dropped.