French chefs quake as Michelin prepares new guide
The famous red bible for gastronomes still makes and breaks cooking careers, despite increasing competition from rival food lists and the rise of Instagram influencers with their younger, online followers.
The 2025 Michelin edition on Monday promises to celebrate kitchens outside Paris, with new talents uncovered "in all regions in mainland France", Michelin guide boss Gwendal Poullennec told AFP.
At stake are not only the reputations of chefs and hundreds of businesses that depend on the guide for visibility but also France's image as a fine food destination.
"The level of the world food scene is constantly rising but I must say that France is holding its own and is part of this dynamic with a growing number of starred restaurants each year," Poullennec added.
What began as a guide for people wealthy enough to own a car in France 125 years ago is now a global business that sends its under-cover tasters to restaurants around the world, producing editions for around 50 destinations.
France remains the country with the highest number of three-star restaurants, the highest award, which denotes kitchens where cooking is "elevated to an art form" and chefs are "at the peak of their profession".
Japan is second, followed by Spain, Italy, and the United States.
But the guide has sought to shed its reputation for elitist and pricey dinners, with more diverse eating options making it onto its lists of recommended destinations.
After rewarding roadside food stalls in Thailand and Singapore, the guide granted a star to a taco stand in Mexico City last year, causing a local sensation but baffling regular eaters at the simple four-dish outlet.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Insider
5 days ago
- Gulf Insider
Oman's Giant Sinkholes Draw Tourists — And Safety Concerns
Shrouded in fog in the lush mountains of southern Oman, a giant chasm plunges into the landscape, echoing with mysterious sounds that have spawned myths and legends among nearby tribes. This enormous sinkhole is one of four that dot Dhofar governorate, including one of the world's biggest: the yawning Kahf Teiq, up to 211 metres (692 feet) deep and 150 metres wide. At the Tawi Atair sinkhole, tourists potter around on concrete paths and stairways. Not all of the holes are so welcoming, however. The sheer drop of the Sheeheet pit, a 40-minute drive away along mountain roads, is ringed with slippery mud, prompting the authorities to put up a fence and warning signs. During AFP's visit, one tourist slipped and slid perilously close to the edge. Dhofar's governor, Marwan bin Turki A Said, gave assurances that safety was a priority at the sinkholes, in a briefing attended by AFP. Tawi Atair means 'Well of Birds' in Dhofar's regional language, a reference to the avian twittering, distorted by echoes, that reverberates off the rock. It lay unknown to the outside world until 1997, when a team of Slovenian researchers working with Oman's Sultan Qaboos University brought it to international attention. Now the sinkholes are marketed as a tourist attraction in Dhofar, whose temperate climate draws many visitors from the Gulf during its punishing summers. Dhofar folklore has it that the sinkholes were created by meteorite strikes, direct hits from outer space that gouged the colossal craters. But Ali Faraj Al-Kathiri, a geologist based in Dhofar, explains that water seeping into the porous limestone forms an acid that dissolves it, creating the caverns over a period of thousands of years. The Oman sinkholes are not to be confused with the 'Well of Hell', the foul-smelling, pitch-black Barhout pit across the border in eastern Yemen that is reputed as a prison for demons.
Gulf Weekly
31-07-2025
- Gulf Weekly
The Special Squad
July 31 - August 6 ,2025 By Melissa Nazareth A new comic series, dedicated to children with special needs has been launched in Bahrain, expressing solidarity and empathy with them and their caregivers, writes Melissa Nazareth. The Special Squad is the latest initiative of Shahzaib's Club House, a local community of differently abled people, and tackles topics like regulating difficult emotions, common apprehensions felt by differently abled individuals and pursuing ambitions against the odds, among others. The comics are brought alive as conversations, inspired by real-life dialogues the children at the club house have had with their parents, teachers or others. 'While the comic series was born in Bahrain, its heartbeat is universal, and we're thrilled to have started it in collaboration with a creative agency in Pakistan,' club house founder and director Amena Shahrukh told GulfWeekly. 'The Special Squad is a visual story world where children of determination aren't pitied or 'managed'. They take centre stage and are bold, tender, hilarious, curious and unapologetically themselves. Each comic is a real conversation. These stories reflect what really happens at Shahzaib's Club House,' she added. Amena started the club house, registered under Bahrain Mobility International, three years ago, as an extension of her personal journey with her late son, Mohammed Shahzaib Lali, who was differently abled. He died of pneumonia at the age of 21. Talking about plans for the comic series, Amena revealed that she hopes to publish them as a book and eventually launch themed merchandise. 'We will be releasing merchandise for special children, designed to uplift, inspire and represent them like never before,' she added. To read the comics, follow @shahzaibsclubhouse on Instagram.
Daily Tribune
30-07-2025
- Daily Tribune
Heidi Klum ‘doesn't worry about age-shaming'
Bang Showbiz | Los Angeles Heidi Klum thinks society has become 'more welcoming of wrinkles'. The 52-year-old model has suggested that attitudes towards ageing have changed in recent years, observing that it's now 'okay to be older'. Heidi told People: 'I feel like we're more welcoming of wrinkles and rolls on our body. Being accepted at every age is amazing. That we've changed and come all that way.' Heidi doesn't have any fears of 'age-shaming or body-shaming'. She shared: 'For me to be older, it doesn't matter. I don't have this age-shaming or body-shaming thing. I feel like everyone should do what they want to do. I like to run around sexy — even now at 52.' Heidi actually loves posting sexy photos of herself on social media. The model suggested that she's been posting so-called thirst traps since before social media was invented. She said: 'I've been photographing nude or in lingerie since 1992, way before Instagram. 'So for me, it's nothing new. For the past 15 years, other people are now doing what I've been doing for 30 years. Instead of being in my little bottoms in a magazine, I'm on Instagram. It's the same thing.' The model has also encouraged other women to not 'hide' once they reach 50. She said: 'The biggest misconception [about] being in your 50s is that you are off the shelf. You're not off the shelf. We are very much on that shelf for everyone to see. 'Don't hide in your 50s. Beauty is ever- changing, and I'm here for the change. If it's always the same, life is boring.'
