In European countries, visiting a restaurant you can find out that it has been assigned Michelin stars. What is it and what is it for? You can find out about this by reading this article. Any human activity has its own bar, cooking is no exception. The most coveted award for any restaurant in Europe is the Michelin star. This is the highest quality mark, which is awarded to institutions with excellent cuisine.
It is known that the "Michelin Red Guide" distributes these awards - it is simply called the "Red Guide". Everyone knows: the fact that the institution is mentioned on this list already speaks of its wonderful cuisine. Until recently, only France restaurants that specialized exclusively in French cuisine were present in the guide ; now the list includes worthy establishments throughout Europe, regardless of their specialization. A Michelin Star award can be awarded to anyone who deserves it.
Just a guide, but now what?
It is curious that until 1926 the "Red Guide" was just a guide to interesting places for travelers, it indicated gas stations, parking lots, hotels and eateries. The first such reference books were completely free and were distributed at gas stations and service stations. After 20 years, their concept changed, restaurants began to add to the guide depending on the amount of the average bill, very expensive were marked with a star. And only after 1926, this star began to characterize the excellent quality of the cuisine of the marked institution. Already in the early 30s, the directory acquired a "three-star" look and became the main assistant in the choice of establishments.
Over the past 70 years, the system has not changed, in the guide only the list of star establishments has been constantly increasing. 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 the chef, for such professionals restaurants are constantly waging a fairly serious fight. There were cases when, after quitting, the chef took the award with him to a new job, which, accordingly, deprived the institution of not only a good professional, but also an insignia.
How are restaurants selected?
The selection criteria were always kept in the strictest confidence. All that is known - gourmet experts of the company incognito visit the institution, which is a contender for the award. As ordinary visitors, they order dishes and conduct audits, evaluating the author’s approach to cooking and serving dishes, the design of the establishment and music. Although the main aspect remains the quality of the kitchen 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 Tokyo. The main thing is to remember that if the institution is included in the rating, there is no doubt about the quality of the cuisine. This selection takes place annually, in addition, if complaints are received at the establishment, the stars are easily canceled after a small anonymous check by gourmet experts.
Michelin Star Restaurants
The guide is considered the most authoritative source of information about the best institutions with excellent quality cuisine. The Michelin star awarded to the restaurant is the highest award for any European establishment.
One star speaks about the high quality of the 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, on which hereditary chefs work - geniuses of their craft.
We present to your attention a small list of the most popular institutions marked with a Michelin star:
- Three stars at the restaurant Le Louis XV (Louis XV) in Monaco.
- Two stars: Villa Archange in Cannes-les-Cannes.
- One Star: Antibes-Juan-les-Pins (France).
New Michelin Star Standards
Such regalia cannot be bought or leased. You can only deserve it with great skill, hard work and skillful organization of business. The award is easy to lose if you violate quality standards. A new list is formed every fall, it was at this time that the whole gastronomic world of Europe was in a fever. For the entire period of the existence of the rating, only two masters are known who have confirmed their right to three stars for forty years in a row - these are Paul Bokusa and Paul Eberlen. There are even cases when serious chefs took their own lives after their institutions were excluded from the treasured list.
Change for the better
Until recently, it was believed that 3 Michelin stars received only establishments with tightly starched tablecloths, fine china, table silver, crystal and gourmet dishes. There was a revolution last year, now the main thing for awarding the prize is a well-set business. One of the two-star restaurants was the simple Moissonier bistro, the patron of which still cannot believe what happened and is very worried that people can be disappointed when they first visit his place and not see what was in other places marked by stars . After all, they don’t even have tablecloths in the bistro, not to mention the exquisite dishes.
According to company representatives, these changes were made specifically so as not to turn Michelin into a closed sect. In order to earn Michelin stars, a restaurant must always cook well and bring something individual to this process.
Landmarks for getting the first star
There are several conditions that must always be observed in an institution that claims to be included in the Michelin rating:
- freshness of products;
- quality of food;
- compliance with the cooking time;
- excellent taste of dishes;
- the presence of your own style;
- natural tastes;
- constant quality work of cooks.
For the following stars, you need to constantly improve and develop, striving for excellence.
Case
There are institutions that even began to suffer after receiving such an insignia! In the Black Forest Ferenbach there is a small restaurant "Engel", which was awarded a Michelin star. What every professional restaurateur knows, and not only that, so the first time his owner was very happy with this award. New visitors began to appear in his institution, but over time the number of regular customers decreased, which began to very disturb the owner of a restaurant in a small town. They explained their decision by the fact that they are ordinary people unworthy of an elite restaurant.
The owner even went to headquarters to be stripped of his reward to return customers. It turned out that this is possible only in case of deterioration of the institution, which is unacceptable for professionals. Having entered the position, Engel awarded another award, which is given to inexpensive, but good regional cuisine. This was a great solution, after which the customers returned, and everything fell into place.
Russian question
Despite the fact that European 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 a restaurant to eat, unlike the Europeans. Abroad, the main thing is the kitchen and wine, we have - the interior. In Russia, it is customary to come to establishments for communication, people pay very much attention to interior establishments, a visit to which, in their opinion, shows their status. Convenience and a large amount of space in the institution are not attributes for which Michelin stars give, cuisine is important for them, and, according to experts, it still does not have sufficient development in post-Soviet countries, although this can change.
A look into the future
Now the situation is beginning to change in the right direction. For example, in Russia, a qualifying round of the most prestigious culinary competition in Lyon is held - the Golden Bokue. In the largest cities, restaurants of foreign gourmet cuisine with famous chefs from Europe open. One of the last cases that hit Europe occurred in one elite 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 he was specially purchased.
After understanding the full information about what Michelin stars are, you definitely need to visit the institutions awarded with this award in order to experience the level of the institution and try the dishes prepared at the highest level by the best chefs - real professionals in their field.