What is a Michelin star?

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

In European countries, visiting a restaurant you can find out that it has been awarded Michelin stars. What is it and why are they given? You can find out about this by reading this article. Any human activity has its bar, cooking is no exception. The most coveted award for any restaurant in Europe is the Michelin star. This is the highest quality label given to establishments with excellent cuisine.

It is known that these awards are distributed by the Michelin Red Guide - simply called the Red Guide. Everyone knows that the fact that the institution is mentioned in this list speaks of its wonderful cuisine. Until recently, the guide included only restaurants in France that specialized exclusively in French cuisine, now the list includes worthy establishments throughout Europe, regardless of their specialization. The Michelin Star award is open to everyone who deserves it.

Just a guide, now what?

It is curious that before 1926The Red Guide was simply a guide to interesting places for travelers, it indicated gas stations, parking lots, hotels and eateries. The first such guides were completely free and were distributed at gas stations and service stations. After 20 years, their concept changed, restaurants began to be added to the guide depending on the amount of the average check, very expensive ones were marked with a star. And only after 1926, this star began to characterize the excellent quality of the cuisine of the marked establishment. Already in the early 30s, the directory acquired a "three-star" look and became the main assistant in choosing establishments.

Over the past 70 years, the system has not changed, the list of star establishments in the guide has only constantly increased. Today it has restaurants in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, England and 10 more countries. Sometimes a Michelin star is awarded to a chef; restaurants are constantly fighting for such professionals. There were cases when, having quit, the chef took the award with him to a new job, which, accordingly, deprived the institution not only of a good professional, but also of a distinction.

How are restaurants selected?

Always the selection criteria were kept in the strictest confidence. All that is known is that the company's gourmet experts incognito visit the institution that is a contender for the award. Like ordinary visitors, they order dishes and carry out an audit, evaluating the author's approach to cooking and serving dishes, the design of the establishment and the music. Althoughthe main aspect remains the quality of the cuisine and the principle of compiling the menu.

It is known that restaurants with three Michelin stars in the largest number are in Paris, in second place is Tokyo. The main thing is to remember that if the establishment is included in the rating, there is no doubt about the quality of the cuisine. This selection takes place annually, and if the establishment receives complaints, the stars are easily canceled after a little anonymous review by gourmet experts.

Michelin Star Restaurants

Guide is considered the most authoritative source of information about the best establishments with excellent cuisine. A Michelin star awarded to a restaurant is the highest accolade for any European establishment.

One star indicates the high quality of cuisine and is considered a serious award. When a restaurant has two stars, its dishes are considered a work of art. 3 Michelin stars are awarded only to the author's cuisine, which is worked on by hereditary chefs - geniuses in their field.

We present to your attention a small list of the most popular establishments marked with a Michelin star:

• Three stars at Le Louis XV restaurant in Monaco.
• Two stars: Villa Archange in Cannes-Le Cannet.
• One star: Antibes-Juan-les-Pins (France).

New Michelin Star Awards

This regalia cannot be bought or rented. It can only be earnedcraftsmanship, hard work and skillful organization of the case. It is easy to lose an award if quality standards are violated. A new list is formed every autumn, it is at this time that the entire gastronomic world of Europe is in a fever. For the entire period of the rating's existence, only two masters are known who have confirmed their right to three stars for forty years in a row - these are Paul Bocuse and Paul Eberlen. There are even cases when serious culinary specialists took their own lives after their establishments were excluded from the coveted list.

Change for the better

Until recently, it was believed that 3 Michelin stars were awarded only to establishments with tightly starched tablecloths, fine china, silverware, crystal and gourmet dishes. Last year there was a revolution, now the main thing for awarding an award is a well-organized business. One of the two-star restaurants was the simple bistro Moissonnier, whose patron still cannot believe what happened and is very worried that people may be disappointed when they visit his establishment for the first time and not see what was in other establishments marked with stars. After all, they don't even have tablecloths in the bistro, not to mention exquisite tableware.

According to company representatives, these changes were made on purpose so as not to turn Michelin into a closed sect. To earn Michelin stars, a restaurant must always cook well and bring something personal to the process.

Landmarks for getting the first star

There are several conditions that mustalways be observed in an establishment that claims to be included in the Michelin rating:

• freshness of products;
• food quality;
• observance of cooking time;
• excellent food taste;
• having your own style;
• natural flavors;
• constant quality work of chefs.

For the next stars, you need to constantly improve and develop, striving for excellence.

Casus case

There are establishments that even began to suffer after receiving such a distinction! In the Black Forest, Ferenbach, there is a small restaurant "Engel", which has been awarded a Michelin star. What it is, every professional restaurateur knows, and not only, therefore, at first, its owner was very pleased with this award. New visitors began to appear in his institution, but over time the number of regular customers decreased, which began to worry the owner of a restaurant in a small town very much. They explained their decision by saying that they were ordinary people, unworthy of an elite restaurant.

The owner even applied to the headquarters to have his reward removed in order to return customers. It turned out that this is possible only in the event of a deterioration in the work of the institution, which is unacceptable for professionals. Having entered the position, Engel was awarded another award, which is given to inexpensive but good regional cuisine. It was a great decision, after which the clients returned, and everything fell into place.

Russian question

Despite the fact thatEuropean countries are in a constant struggle for leadership in the number of restaurants with the Michelin Star award, Russia still cannot boast of this regalia. The most common explanation is that our restaurant culture is still quite young. Today we have almost no tradition of haute cuisine. Our people still go to restaurants to eat, unlike Europeans. Abroad, the main thing is the cuisine and wines, here - the interior. In Russia, it is customary to come to establishments for communication, people pay great attention to interior establishments, visiting which, in their opinion, shows their status. Convenience and a large amount of space in an establishment are not attributes that Michelin stars give for, the cuisine is important for them, and, according to experts, it still does not have sufficient development in the post-Soviet countries, although everything can change.

A look into the future

Now the situation is starting to change in the right direction. For example, in Russia, the qualifying round of the most prestigious culinary competition in Lyon, the Golden Bocue, is being held. In the largest cities, restaurants of foreign gourmet cuisine are opened with famous chefs from Europe. One of the latest cases that struck Europe occurred in a high-end restaurant in Russia. It was associated with a spoiled truffle weighing almost 1 kilogram, which did not wait for the famous oligarch Abramovich, for whom it was specially purchased.

After understanding the full details of what Michelin stars are, you should definitely visitaward-winning establishments to experience first-hand the level of the institution and taste dishes prepared at the highest level by the best chefs - true professionals in their field.