In the first part of my post about Michelin I mentioned that the Red Guide might actually be hated by some. If hated is perhaps too strong a word, then certainly its objectivity has been called into question on countless occasions, and also, over the years, it has also been accused of a certain bias.

It is clear however, that at the very least, Michelin has been inconsistent in the midst of its struggle to evolve. Many now consider its rating system to be outdated, a foundation built during the time when cooking was about who made the best Cassoulet or the best Boeuf Bourgignon. Perhaps out of political correctness or a perverse type of over-compensation it not only attempts to include a variety of ethnic restaurants, but also a few casual, more informal restaurants sometimes discovered in very odd locations. 

Perhaps the best example of this was the Australian chef Skye Gyngell who’s cafe style restaurant was located in a south-west London garden centre. However she managed to achieve her notoriety is not the main issue, and was presumably based on some fine cooking. The problem was more the type of clientele that her single (unwanted) Michelin star started to attract….  people who suffer the misfortune of being led by Michelin; people, that is, who are gastronomically clueless and who expect the ‘fine dining experience’; deluded people preoccupied by the status that patronisation of a particular restaurant attaches to them. An army of fine diners that drink whatever is expensive and relish the fact that it takes five flunkies to open their chosen bottle.

Naturally, when these food ‘connoisseurs’ were suddenly confronted with a complete lack of starched table linen, rickety tables, “haphazard service” and “loos in a wooden shed”, they were thrown into a state of shock, and reacted by complaining that their expectations had not been met. One patron complained that they had only been offered one type of cheese, and another that “it simply wasn’t up to Michelin standards”.

Despite having previously held high pressure kitchen positions in Paris and Mayfair, and eight years in charge at the nursery cafe, Skye Gynell sadly resigned, and was quoted as saying upon her departure “if I ever have another restaurant I pray we don’t get a star”.

In the first part of my post about Michelin I mentioned that the Red Guide might actually be hated by some. If hated is perhaps too strong a word, then certainly its objectivity has been called into question on countless occasions, and also, over the years, it has also been accused of a certain bias.

It is clear however, that at the very least, Michelin has been inconsistent in the midst of its struggle to evolve. Many now consider its rating system to be outdated, a foundation built during the time when cooking was about who made the best Cassoulet or the best Boeuf Bourgignon. Perhaps out of political correctness or a perverse type of over-compensation it not only attempts to include a variety of ethnic restaurants, but also a few casual, more informal restaurants sometimes discovered in very odd locations. 

Perhaps the best example of this was the Australian chef Skye Gyngell who’s cafe style restaurant was located in a south-west London garden centre. However she managed to achieve her notoriety is not the main issue, and was presumably based on some fine cooking. The problem was more the type of clientele that her single (unwanted) Michelin star started to attract….  people who suffer the misfortune of being led by Michelin; people, that is, who are gastronomically clueless and who expect the ‘fine dining experience’; deluded people preoccupied by the status that patronisation of a particular restaurant attaches to them. An army of fine diners that drink whatever is expensive and relish the fact that it takes five flunkies to open their chosen bottle.

Naturally, when these food ‘connoisseurs’ were suddenly confronted with a complete lack of starched table linen, rickety tables, “haphazard service” and “loos in a wooden shed”, they were thrown into a state of shock, and reacted by complaining that their expectations had not been met. One patron complained that they had only been offered one type of cheese, and another that “it simply wasn’t up to Michelin standards”.

Despite having previously held high pressure kitchen positions in Paris and Mayfair, and eight years in charge at the nursery cafe, Skye Gynell sadly resigned, and was quoted as saying upon her departure “if I ever have another restaurant I pray we don’t get a star”.