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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Bogebam here. Fourteen restaurants in Washington, d C. Got

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Speaker 1: coveted Michelin Stars in September of this year, including the

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Speaker 1: city's first three starred restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington.

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Speaker 1: This was part of Michelin's nineteen rollout of U S cities.

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Speaker 1: But the Michelin Guide didn't start out as the iconic

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Speaker 1: fine dining guide we know of today. In fact, it

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Speaker 1: was originally just a promotion for a tire company. Let's

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Speaker 1: back up for a bit of history. In eighteen eighty nine,

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Speaker 1: Edward and Andre Michelin founded their eponymous tire company in

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Speaker 1: Claremont Ferrand, France. Ten years later, they introduced the famous

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Speaker 1: Michelin Man mascot, whose official name is Monsieur bi Bendam.

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Speaker 1: In Michelin's early advertisements, Monsieur b Bendam was pictured with

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Speaker 1: a glass in hand and the caption nunc esque bendam,

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Speaker 1: which is Latin for now is the time to drink.

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Speaker 1: Around nineteen hundred, Michelin started creating and giving out free

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Speaker 1: guides filled with useful road in from nation locations of hotels,

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Speaker 1: gas stations and restaurants around France. They're hoping to increase

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Speaker 1: their tire sales by encouraging more driving, But as the

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Speaker 1: entire company became more successful, so did the guides. Eventually,

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Speaker 1: Michelin expanded the coverage across Europe and even began charging

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Speaker 1: for the guides in nineteen twenty. As the Michelin Guide

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Speaker 1: gained respect in the industry, the company introduced its first

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Speaker 1: Fine Dining guide in nine six, and later it's three

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Speaker 1: star rating system in ninety one. Now, the Michelin Star

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Speaker 1: is one of the most coveted honors a restaurant can earn.

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Speaker 1: In fact, restaurants and only four US cities Chicago, New York,

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Speaker 1: San Francisco and Washington, d C Are even rated. The

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Speaker 1: bulk restaurants are located in Europe and Asia. What does

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Speaker 1: the Michelin Star mean? One star indicates high quality cooking

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Speaker 1: or the stop, two stars excellent cooking or the detour,

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Speaker 1: and three stars exceptional cuisine worth a special journey. Today inspectors,

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Speaker 1: as Michelin calls them, are anonymous and pay for their

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Speaker 1: meals to maintain credibility. They judge their experience based on

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Speaker 1: the equality of the products mastery of flavoring, cooking techniques,

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Speaker 1: the personality of the chef in their cuisine, the value

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Speaker 1: for the money, and the consistency between visits. Michelin acknowledges

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Speaker 1: that the inspector job isn't quite as glamorous as it sounds,

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Speaker 1: and that the Michelin Guide isn't considered a source of

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Speaker 1: profit for the company, but it is nevertheless an important

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Speaker 1: part of the Michelin brand. And so what does it

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Speaker 1: take for a restaurant and chef to earn a prestigious

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Speaker 1: Michelin Star or three lamb ming Kin chef owner of

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Speaker 1: one Michelin starred long Tail in tai Pei, Taiwan, had

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Speaker 1: this advice for a panel at the Michelin Guide Singapore

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Speaker 1: Trade Seminar. They said, cooking involves craftsmanship and a human touch.

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Speaker 1: There's no fast solution. You need to spend time with

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Speaker 1: your cooks and train them step by step. It sounds

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Speaker 1: like the answer to earning Michelin stars is the same

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Speaker 1: thing that made Michelin Stars so comfortable to begin with,

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Speaker 1: slow and steady wins the race. Today's episode was written

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Speaker 1: by Series three Wit and produced by Tyler Clang. For

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Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other prestigious topics. Visit

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Speaker 1: our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, m