WEBVTT - How do Michelin Stars Work? 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.519 You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.360 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:12.920 Guess what mango was that? 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:13.200 Well? 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.680 All right, well, I know you're a huge Katy Perry fan. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.760 Right, Well not really. 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:21.080 Well, you're at least familiar with the twenty seventeen songs 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.840 she did with Migos called Bone Appetite, right like big One. No, real, 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:28.320 this is it. We may need to do a different episode. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.840 That's fine. I know it's no firework. But the whole 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:33.879 song is basically this extended metaphor. You didn't know she 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:36.720 was into this, right, extended metaphors where Katy Perry is 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:41.159 describing herself as a delicious meal in lots of creative ways, 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.400 and at one point in the song, she says, I'm 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.840 a five star Michelin, a five star Micheline Mengo. 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.440 Five stars is really confident. 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.840 No, it's not confident. It's ridiculous because the Micheline star 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.160 rating only goes up to three stars. And poor Katy 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:01.840 Perry actually didn't realize that sousicians don't fact check their songs. 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:03.960 I know, it's very very disappointing. 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.280 So wait, well, why does Michelin only use three stars 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:08.440 and not like five or ten. 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.680 Well, the Michelin Star system is full of all kinds 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:16.039 of arbitrary, opaque, and frankly mystifying rules, and it's kind 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:17.840 of its whole thing. That's why they do this, and 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.800 that's what we're getting into in this episode. 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.880 Or in the words of Katy Perry Bone Petite. 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:44.160 I knew you were a big fan. 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.760 Welcome back to Part Time Genius. I'm will and as always, 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.680 I'm here with my good friend Mango, and somewhere behind 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.480 that big booth is our pal Dylan, who I think 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.200 is trolling us because he's decorated that booth with all 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:58.640 these posters of the see I think I see the 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:03.040 Pillsbury dough Boy, the Staypuff marshmallow Man, even that character 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.680 from what was it, Big Hero six, Big Hero six? 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.959 Pretty It is definitely trolling us because he's got every 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:14.919 other white puffy character from pop culture except the Michelin Man. Also, 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.960 where did he get so many Pilsburg Dobles. 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.920 He's impressive. He's very into like the you know, finding 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:21.400 the sales. 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:23.480 Yeah, that's probably where he really goes all out. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.720 Well, I'm really excited to be doing this show together, 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:27.920 but I'm curious what made you think to do this 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:29.320 episode on Michelin Stars. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.000 So I watched this Bradley Cooper movie on a flight. 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:32.760 It's called Burnt. 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:34.880 You've seen it, And there's this whole thing where they're 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.360 talking about how to spot these like elite reviewers from 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.800 Michelin whatever, and they come in pairs and order in 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.880 specific ways, and I kind of want to see how 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:42.200 much of. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:44.200 That was true. So that was part of it. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.600 Plus, I know your parents are foodies and they used 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.639 to have all those menus on their porch from restaurants. 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:49.160 I willed it. 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:51.079 Yeah, And I just thought it to be a fun topic. 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.280 Yeah, I'm excited to dive in. So why don't we 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.079 go back to the beginning just to think about where 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.720 the name comes from. So basically, we're going way back 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.640 to eighteen eighty nine and Michelin started out as a 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.320 tire manufacturing company, which I think a lot of people know, 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.080 but it was the brothers Andre and Eduard Michelin, and 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.760 they took over their grandfather's struggling manufacturing business and they 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.480 started producing tires and they were really clever, so they 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.640 pat into this removable pneumatic bike tire. They invented the 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.960 first automobile tire, and they even made rubber train. 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:23.520 Tires, tires for trains. 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.680 That's supposedly why the Paris Metro used to be so quiet. 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.600 I'd never heard of this before, but just then, looking 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.160 to this, it's pretty neat and it doesn't screech like 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.800 New York's. But anyway, in eighteen eighty nine, Michelin debuts 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:39.120 their puffy mascot, the Michelin Man. Way back in eighteen 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:39.680 eighty nine. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.880 Yeah, as Dylan pointed out, looks a whole lot like 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:43.720 the stay Puffed guy from Ghostbusters. 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.200 Yep, except he's not made of marshmallows. He's actually made 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:51.080 of tires. And apparently Michelin tires used to be white. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.400 And one day Eduard looked at this pile of tires 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.880 and he was like, hey, Andre, if that pile of 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.680 tires had arms, it will look like a man. So yeah, 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.520 that's that's how this stuff comes to life. 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.000 Yeah, I mean, I guess anything's a mascot if you 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:04.800 put arms on it. 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:07.920 And they had this kind of funny concept for it. 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.760 They named their tire man Bibindam because that comes from 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:15.520 the Latin phrase nunc s bibindum which means now is 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.160 the time to drink. Because in these earliest ads, if 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.880 you look at them, he's actually holding up this goblet 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.480 of nails and broken glass, because the whole concept was 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.440 they wanted to show that michelin tires were unfazed by 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:28.520 obstacles on the road. 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.800 So in this super weird scenario, he's drinking nails and 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:32.359 broken glass. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:33.600 Yes, the tire man, that's what it is. 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.440 Okay, So Michelin man is like this well fed, indestructible 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.440 bon Vivonne, the kind of guy who can eatn drink 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.360 all day and night and just keep going. 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.719 It's such as it's impressive. Yeah, it's a very French 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:49.000 illustration of longevity. So anyway, in nineteen hundred, Michelin begins 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.720 publishing these free travel guides to France and eventually they 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.479 make guides for other parts of Europe. And it's a 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.800 pretty smart play because Michelin's basically acting like tourism pioneers, 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.160 so they're encouraging ordinary people to take longer and longer 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.280 road trips. As you know, of course, helps boost hire sales, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.040 and from the beginning of these tourism road trip guys 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.159 included restaurant recommendations. 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.880 So I guess these early French travelers weren't like eating 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.120 handfuls of Twizzlers or beef jerky on they. 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.360 Really missing out, really really missing out. And Michelin was 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:23.440 smart about their review system too. The reviews were always 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.120 conducted anonymously, and so this gave Micheline this extra layer 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.159 of credibility with customers. They weren't just handing out good 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.680 reviews to friends. Then you fast forward to nineteen twenty 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.800 six when the stars first began appearing. So this is 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.560 a quarter of a century later, but at that time 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:43.640 they're all awarded to restaurants in France, and so initially 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.840 they were just starred and non starred restaurants. But then 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.840 in the nineteen thirties, Michelin created the three star system 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:51.120 that remains in place today. 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.720 So there's no real reason that's three stars. 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.080 They just kind of decided that. I mean, they're French, 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.080 so they have to do something. It's a little different. 0:05:58.080 --> 0:05:59.640 I don't know if you've ever been to a Michelin 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.479 star restaurant, Mango a one or two or I got 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:03.320 a three Mango. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.600 Listen, Milo's a three star restaurant. 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.800 The fast food burger joint. I think it was two stars, 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:13.200 and still they started putting that extra nub of meat 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.159 on the paddy. It's just a little bonus nub, and 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.800 then that got them to three. No, actually I don't 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:20.039 think they have any stars mego. 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.279 So I think what's funny about the whole Michelin Star 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.200 thing is how vague the distinctions are between sort of 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.280 the one, two and three star establishments. 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:29.320 What do you mean by that? 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:33.000 So apparently one Michelin Star is award to restaurants using 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:37.120 top quality ingredients, where dishes with these distinct flavors are 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.120 prepared to a consistently high standard. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:40.080 Yeah that sounds good. 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.960 Yeah, it totally sounds good. And then two Michelin Stars 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:45.080 are awarded when the personality and talent of the chef 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.800 are evident in these expertly crafted dishes and their food 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.640 is refined and inspired. 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:52.640 M hm also sounds good, m H. 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.800 And three Michelin Stars, the highest award, is given for 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.960 the superlative cooking of chefs at the peak of their profession. 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.479 The cooking is to an art form, and some of 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.360 their dishes are destined to become classics. 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.559 That also sounds good. Mengo like system that's the things. 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.160 They all sound good, I mean, and they also kind 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:11.600 of sound the same, right, like like one star is good, 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.280 two stars is more good, and three stars is just 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:15.680 like more and more good. 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:16.640 Seriously, it's good. 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.480 Yeah, So how do you eat a meal and decide 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.240 that the food is refined and inspired versus you know, 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:24.560 a meal that's an art form, right? How do they 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:25.680 even make these judgments? 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:27.400 Well, I'm glad you asked that, mango. 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.480 Yeah, it's almost like I set you off. 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:33.720 So the judging is done by anonymous Michelin inspectors, all 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.280 of whom work full time and have prior restaurant and 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:41.320 hospitality experience. Multiple inspectors dine at a restaurant under consideration 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.320 and then they talk about these ratings together, so it's 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.800 not just one person that's passing judgment on a place 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:51.320 after a single meal. Inspectors visit multiple times for different 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.360 meals with the goal of experiencing the full range of 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.320 the menu. So it's a really thorough process. And Michigan 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:02.440 claims there is quote no seqk mathematical formula and that 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:06.280 decor degree of formality, type of cuisine, like all of 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.000 that that they really don't matter, of course, there are 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:13.400 five specific criteria the judges used to award stars. So 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.160 here they are. The first is quality of the ingredients, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.360 The second is the harmony of flavors. Then you have 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:23.320 the mastery of culinary techniques. Fourth is the personality of 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:26.600 the chef is expressed through their cuisine. And then the 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:30.920 fifth is consistency of the above but across the entire 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.880 menu and over time. And it's worth mentioning there's also 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.800 this thing called the bib Gourmand designation and it's given 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.960 to the most affordable restaurants that offer high value for 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.000 the money. And I have wondered this before, because you'll 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:46.120 notice this in cities. Sometimes it'll be like a diner 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.520 or something like that that'll end up with a Michelin Star. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.080 I do think that's pretty cool to think they think 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.160 about it this way. But all of this judging has 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:57.560 done completely anonymously, and that just actually seems crazy to me, Like, 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:01.080 I don't understand how these inspectors could keep their identity 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.760 a secret if they're hopping around to all the world's 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.120 best restaurants multiple times a year. 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.600 Yeah, and that's exactly the part I wanted to dig into. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.400 So why don't we tackle that after a break sounds good. 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.280 Welcome back to part time Genius, where we're talking about 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.959 Michelin stars and why chefs are so darn thirsty for them. So, Magel, 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.719 I think you were just about to tell us how 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.240 the food criticism at Michelin works. 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.040 That's right. So in two thousand and nine, The New 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:44.199 Yorker published this profile of a New York inspector and 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:48.000 it's super fun and cloak and dagger. The inspector's pseudonym 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.319 was Maxine, and the first really interesting thing is that 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.880 she said, most Michelin executives don't even know who the 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:54.760 inspectors are. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:55.400 Oh wow. 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.640 In fact, inspectors are told to keep their work secret 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.960 from their friends and even from their parents. 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.719 I have to be honest, I don't think I could 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:04.040 keep that secret from my parents. 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:05.920 Yeah, I know. I feel like Bill and Paulette would 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.480 definitely be dining with you and bringing everyone boxes of 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.959 fancy leftovers. But Maxine revealed that she ate restaurant meals 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.440 about two hundred days per year, dinner and lunch, and 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.679 almost always alone, because inspectors really can't risk being identified 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:22.080 through conversations at the table. 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.040 I love eating out, and I love eating out at 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.960 good restaurants, but two hundred days a year I have to, 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:30.160 and especially like by yourself most of the time. That 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:31.600 kind of seems like torture. 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.720 I know. It's almost like work travel, Like as a kid, 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:36.720 you think it's going to be so exciting, like on 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.480 the road in hotels and stuff, and then you do 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.200 it for a few months and it kind of loses 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.720 the charm. But at Michelin, the system is almost set 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.000 up like this secret service. So Maxine said when she 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:50.560 was being considered for the job, she had to eat 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.600 several meals under supervision of inspectors who operated like spies. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.880 And this is her quote. You never know the name 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.320 of the person you're meeting, You never know where their 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.200 meeting until right before, so they call you up and 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.400 say meet me at the corner of XYZ and xyz. 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.440 So dramatic, like you kind of forget for a second 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.920 we're talking about food, like it seems like a national 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.839 security thing, but it's really like who has the best 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:15.480 pork belly. 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.880 Yeah, And aspiring inspectors also have to attend a secret 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.680 Michelin training course in France and then they have to 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.079 complete all this additional still anonymous training in another country, 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.000 and then they do a three to six month still 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:32.520 very anonymous apprenticeship with a more senior inspector. So another 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.920 anonymous inspector from a twenty seventeen Food and Wine article 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.400 did shed a little bit of light on what happens here. 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:42.079 He said, we always order three courses, an appetizer and 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:44.320 entree and dessert, and we try to pick items that 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.920 are the best representation of the menu concept or chef's talents. 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:52.160 But of course, despite Michelin's best efforts, in December two 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.400 thousand and three, there was this big tell all. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:56.440 I was hoping you would get to a tell all. 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.320 Yeah, you kind of have to hope for it. So 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:01.360 this book comes out from this inspector in Pascal Remy, 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.440 who was fired after revealing that he'd kept a diary 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.880 of his career, and he planned to publish this book. 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.760 And so the book is called The Inspector Sits Down 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.120 at the Table, and it was published in France in 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.559 April two thousand and four, and it caused a huge stir. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.560 One journalist from France called it a storm and a 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:19.960 saucepan A storm. 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:21.480 I kind of love that. 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.680 Yeah, it's great, right, it's also a good description of Ruby. 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.880 But Remy alleged some pretty wild stuff in this book, 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.960 all of which Michelin disputes. He said that despite publishing 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.240 new guides with updated ratings every year, Michelin didn't actually 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.960 visit or revisit every restaurant annually, which is a huge 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:43.040 scandal right in part because there aren't enough inspectors. Remy 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.640 wrote that there were only five inspectors in all of 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:47.960 France as of two thousand and three when he was writing, 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.719 which is not nearly enough to cover the country's ten 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.440 thousand restaurants. He also said there's some three star restaurants 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:59.160 which were secretly deemed untouchable, so like, under no circumstance 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:02.040 could they lose their talpeting. Even though Remi claimed more 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.040 than a third of the guide's three star rated establishments 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:07.800 didn't actually meet the three star criteria. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:09.719 I feel like that's a really bad look for a 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.880 rating system that's supposed to be, you know, super objective 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.280 and impartial for this whole history of its existence. But 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.120 when you have something like a Michelin star that sought 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.880 after and means so much to these restaurants, there's definitely 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:24.080 going to be some fallout from this. 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:25.920 So what are you thinking about right now? 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.920 Well, for example, obviously, getting a Michelin star can catapult 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.559 a restaurant into fame in many cases bring these huge profits. 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.000 But losing a star, and I had not really thought 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.800 about this before, but it can bring just the opposite 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.480 of that effect. So Thornton's at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, a 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.200 high end Dublin restaurant, lost its Michelin star back in 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.600 twenty fifteen, and it maintained this star for two decades, 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.360 and when it did, profits dropped by seventy six percent 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.280 by the end of twenty sixteen. Yeah, and actually the 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.800 place ended up having to close after that. And as 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:03.200 the chef, Kevin Thornton told The Irish Independent, losing the 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:06.600 star felt like quote getting stabbed in the heart. I mean, 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.000 it means so much to these people. In fact, one chef, 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:14.320 Bernard Lazeau, was so terrified of losing his three Micheline 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.320 stars that it may have actually contributed to his two 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.040 thousand and three suicide. 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:20.640 That's really terrible. 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:22.520 Yeah, it really is. I mean he'd been running this 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.200 Burgundy restaurant called Lecouteur, where he had actually gotten a 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.480 third Michelin Star in nineteen ninety one, but in two 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.240 thousand and three, this French newspaper Le Figaro published this 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.080 rumor and claimed that he was slated to lose his 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.040 third star, and his widow told The Observer that the 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.720 rumor had a real impact on her husband because he 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:46.359 feared that losing a star would have these devastating financial consequences. 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.880 But one of the saddest parts of the story is 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.920 after his death, the two thousand and three Michelin Guide 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:56.280 gave the restaurant its usual three stars. That is so sad, 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.080 it really is. But it's not just losing a star 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.320 that can have negative consequences for a restaurant. Even getting 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.240 a star can throw a place into turmoil. So it's 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:07.840 an example of that. After being listed in the twenty 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.400 sixteen Hong Kong Guide, there was this dessert shop called 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.360 Kai Kai Dessert that was forced to move because its 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.000 landlord got greedy and thinking that it would bring this 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:19.840 new spike in business, he raised the rent by one 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.800 hundred and twenty percent, which is awful. Yeah, and the 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.560 owners did get lucky though there was this loyal customer 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.160 that offered them rent in a nearby space at a 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.200 rent that he could afford. But the Michelin Star branding 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.480 can be especially tough on small establishments that don't have 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.880 the capital or the capacity to meet this sudden demand 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.200 that comes with a rating. Like seventy two year old Jafi, 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:45.040 who earned a Michelin Star in twenty seventeen for her 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.280 cooking at an open air street food restaurant in Bangkok. 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.240 So the award made her this overnight celebrity, which is great, 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.680 but she was one of only seventeen chefs in Thailand 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.600 with a star, and a few months later she actually 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.200 told a reporter she wanted to give the star back. 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:03.440 Can you actually give a starback? 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.040 Not really? But if I explain that her restaurant's vibes 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.320 had been super relaxed before and the star had basically 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.720 turned it into chaos, I actually feel like I've experienced 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.520 this before at restaurants when they seem so good and 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.960 suddenly they gained this notoriety and that experience has just 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:24.359 changed totally. So the award made her this overnight celebrity. 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:27.040 She was the only person cooking, so suddenly there was 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.400 this increase in traffic, and it meant she no longer 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.080 had time to take breaks or chat with her diners 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:35.000 that were there, and her servers were overwhelmed from the 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.640 stress and just worry that neighbors on their street were 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.280 going to get angry because of the crowds and the noise. 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.720 But the worst part was that Jay Fi had all 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:47.040 these tax inspectors that started showing up seemingly because they 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:50.120 thought she must be making more money than she had reported, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:52.480 and they kept trying to look through her books. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:55.560 So it is Jay the only chef who's tried to 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:56.440 give these starsback. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.880 Have you heard more? Not even close. So there's this 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:02.760 South Korean chef oh Ya Kwan got an Italian eatery 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.320 called Restaurante O, and it received a Michelin star in 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:10.040 twenty seventeen. It was a guide to soul dining there 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.080 and O claims that as soon as he learned this, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:17.119 he contacted Michelin and asked to be removed, but it 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.080 unfortunately didn't work for him, and his restaurant appeared again 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.040 in twenty eighteen with a star. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.639 So, I mean, I guess there's another way, right, he 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:27.359 could just try to lower the quality of the food 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.560 theirs out, But I mean, I guess that's not anything 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.399 any self respecting chef wants to do well. 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:37.800 In the twenty nineteen edition, oh actually did lose the star, 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:40.480 but he still appeared in the guide, at which point 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.960 he actually sued Michelin, not for the demotion, but for 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:47.800 including his restaurant at all. There was this CNN interview 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.560 that he did and he explained that the guide's methodology 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.720 was part of the problem. It's the cruelest test in 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.560 the world, he says. It forces the chefs to work 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.640 around a year waiting for a test, and they don't 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.240 know when and it's coming. I mean, I do love 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.280 that there's this rating system to help guide me as 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.600 this outsider, especially in cities that I don't know. 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.439 But you can see how it's hard on chefs. And 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.320 also there have been strange stories that make you question 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:17.680 the objectivity and fairness of the organization, like apparently Michelin 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.920 inspectors are supposed to visit a restaurant several times before 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.280 they raid it, but in two thousand and five, for 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.800 the first time in history, Michelin was actually forced to 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.840 recall one of its guides. The two thousand and five 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.600 guide covering Belgium, the Netherlands in Luxembourg, was pulled after 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.879 fifty thousand copies had already been published, and the reason 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:39.600 was that this Belgian restaurant, the Austin Queen, had been 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:42.639 given that bib Gorman designation, you know, the one for 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:46.320 like great cheap food, but the restaurant hadn't actually opened 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:50.720 yet loops. So you know, there's also this issue of 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.080 investors in the Michelin Guide. The whole thing is a 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.280 really expensive enterprise, and so like you're talking about these 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.480 big tabs from fine dining restaurants plus printing up the 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.760 actual guide. So some Michelin guides are the result of 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.359 investments from the countries themselves. Michelin guides to Thailand and 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:11.320 Singapore and Hong Kong are actually backed in part by 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.480 payments from the local tourism boards, which totally makes sense, 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:19.080 but the sums are pretty impressive. Like Thailand paid supposedly 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.000 four point four million dollars to be paid out over 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.760 the course of five years to fund like multiple editions 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:26.520 of the Michelin Thailand Guide. 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:27.639 That is a lot of money. 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:30.119 Yeah, and corporate sponsors can get involved too, like to 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.640 launch the Hong Kong Guide in two thousand and eight, 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:38.119 Michelin got funding from several brands, including Evian Espresso, Robert 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.520 Parker Wine Advocate, which Michelin owns a stake in, And 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.480 while the details are kind of scarce, it kind of 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.240 makes it hard to verify if government or corporate money 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.359 is influencing Michelin Stars and if they are, what extent 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.119 are they actually having their influence met? 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:54.760