Three Stars and
a Kingdom?
A Star Can Make Them Happy, But Not Necessarily
Wealthy
by
André Gayot
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Anne-Sophie Pic
|
Although the
French are all ears for the many candidates for
the Presidency of their Republic and passionate
about the upcoming elections next March, the
food establishment is abuzz with another
question: who is in and who is out of the club
of triple-starred ones as proclaimed by the
undisclosed jury selected by the famous tire
maker?
This
year, five new members are admitted, among them
a woman, which is not that common in a rather
macho world: Anne-Sophie Pic
from
Maison Pic in Valence (near Lyon) is only
the fourth French woman ever to be receive
three stars. She is also the only female chef
in Michelin's 2007 edition. The
other lucky recipients are Jacques
Lameloise at
Lameloise in Chagny (Burgundy);
and in Paris: Yannick Alléno
at
Le Meurice (Rising
Chefs of France); Pascal
Barbot (L'Astrance);
and Frédéric Anton (Le
Pré Catelan), while two others get an F and
return to the lower grades: Both Alain
Solivérès (Taillevent)
and Philippe Legendre (Le
Cinq) lost a star this year.
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Yannick Alléno |
At the
end of the day, will it really matter? It used
to, but probably not as much today—not only
because the world has changed and maybe France
is no longer the culinary centre of universe,
but also because there’s a silent but rising
rebellion against the tire makers’
dictates—although the
Michelin Guide’s boss was all smiles among
a slew of über-chefs from all over at the late
Bocuse’s birthday party when he turned 81
earlier this month.
But
others still ponder over
Bernard Loiseau’s death and still question
whether his suicide was caused by the pressures
exerted on him, the fear of the potential loss
of a star. That would mean that maybe the
stakes are too high, that not everyone can play
that game and that the rules should be better
defined. The so called "revelations" of a
former inspector with allegations that all
establishments were not visited every year,
even if that was not clearly proven nor denied
caused some interrogations. This is probably
only bad-mouthing, trifle and
negligible.
Reality
is cruder: a star would in the past boost
business by twenty percent. Not anymore.
Explanation: it’s the economy, stupid! That was
true also for Bernard Loiseau, who had invested
left and right, above his reasonable
capacities. Food writer Jean-Claude Ribaut
explains: Remember what
Alain Senderens of Lucas Carton did a
couple years ago. Stating the amount of
investment necessitated to reach and mostly to
stay at the three-star level versus the
monetary return, he and his accountants decided
to write to Michelin: “Thank you, but no thank
you. Keep your stars, I don’t want them.”
(Senderens
Renounces Michelin Laurels) He probably
also had in mind that
Pierre Gagnaire, who in Saint Etienne had
bent backwards to get his stars, spent so much
money in the wrong place at the wrong time to
only succeed in going belly up. Fortunately, he
was able to recover in Paris.
The
other sad story is that of
Marc Meneau at
L’Espérance in Vézelay. When he lost his
third star in 1999, he told us: “It’s like
losing a child.” Meneau retrieved his
three-star status in 2004, but that did not
help much. He is now in bankruptcy, awaiting
court decision.
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Ferran Adrià
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The
world has changed for sure.
Ferran Adrià in Spain is a well-known cook
promoting so-called molecular cuisine and doing
his best to destroy—or
deconstruct if you prefer—the
product. Meanwhile, Philippe Rochat in Crissier
near Lausanne does everything to preserve the
quintessential nature of the ingredients. What
do these two have in common and what can one,
two, or three stars tell us about the value for
our palates of such extremely opposite
foods?
Whether
we like it or not, the world is global. Tire
manufacturing can adjust to these new borders
or rather, lack of borders, with a little—or
not so little—bit of “delocalization.”
It might very well be trickier for gastronomy.
What does a star or the absence of a star mean
for an arrow’s nest or a shark’s fin in our
bowl?
And
what about Senderens?
He is
fine, thank you. He is now booked solid and has
never made so much money. They were so vexed
that despite his refusal to accept their stars,
they gave him two of them, compliments of
Michelin, no hard feelings.
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