The Age of the Michelin Star
Michelin stars in the world of dining seem to dictate the quality of a restaurant and the consequential success and or possible rise to fame of the chefs owning star-bearing restaurants. Having largely dominated the 20th century as a means of rating restaurants, Michelin stars remain a very big indicator of quality and prestige. One star represents a very good cuisine in its category, two stars excellent cuisine worth a detour, and three stars exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.
The ratings of restaurants are more and more often contested by the masses, and the stars often put tremendous stress on chefs, be it the loss of a star, (or, in the case of the renowned French chef Bernard Loiseau, the anticipation of the loss of a star which led to his suicide at 52 years of age), or the acquisition of stars which can increase business to an undesirable level and transform the art of cuisine into something much less pleasurable.
Michelin recently expanded its guides to include Tokyo, employing both European specialists and Japanese specialists to rate the restaurants of Tokyo, but many stars were refused by chefs. Although generally accepted as a more or less accurate source in Europe, many Japanese chefs claim that Europeans are inadequate judges of their cuisine.
Bell, Emily. “On Michelin, 2011: What’s in a Star?” 7 Oct 2010. Starchefs.com
Fackler, Martin. “Michelin Gives Stars, but Tokyo Turns Up Nose”. 24, Feb 2008. The New York Times.
Katz, Basil. “Another Top Chef Turns in His Michelin Stars”. 18, Nov 2008. The New York Times.
Steinberger, Michael. Au Revoir to All That: The Rise and Fall of French Cuisine. Bloomsbury, NY. 2009.