Showman chef Marc Veyrat has told the guide’s inspectors they are not welcome in his new 450-euro-a-head ($485) restaurant in the Megeve ski resort in the Alps after his previous restaurant was demoted in a scandal dubbed “cheddar-gate”.
Veyrat sued unsuccessfully after inspectors stripped him of a star in 2019.
He claimed the downgrade was because inspectors mistakenly thought he had adulterated a cheese souffle with English cheddar instead of using France’s Reblochon, Beaufort and Tomme varieties.
Vincent Favre-Felix, a chef with a one-star restaurant in Annecy, eastern France, announced last week that he wanted to return his award, which he has held since 2021, after he decided to change his concept.
The Michelin guide stresses that its anonymous inspectors are free to go wherever they want and that stars do not belong to the chefs themselves.
“These are independent recommendations attributed by the guide,” Poullennec said.
– Diverse eating –
The Michelin guide began as a list of restaurants for drivers in France 125 years ago but is now a global business that sends its tasters around the world, producing editions for around 50 destinations.
France remains the country with the highest number of three-star restaurants – the highest award – which denotes kitchens where cooking is “elevated to an art form” and chefs that are “at the peak of their profession”.
Japan is second, followed by Spain, Italy and the United States.