Latest news with #MarcVeyrat
Local France
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Local France
Michelin Guide unveils new stars for 68 restaurants in France
Two restaurants joined the highest and most coveted three-star category in Michelin's 2025 France guide, namely Christopher Coutanceau in western La Rochelle and seafood specialist Le Coquillage in northern Brittany. "The world is worried, the tensions, crises, war at the gates of Europe," Michelin Guide director Gwendal Poullennec said on stage at the ceremony in the eastern city of Metz. "And in the middle of all that, men and women continue to cook, welcome people, pass on knowledge and to create beauty," he told a crowd of 600 chefs. The famous red bible for gastronomes still makes and breaks reputations, despite increasing competition from rival food lists and the rise of social media influencers. France has the highest number of Michelin-endorsed restaurants of the 50 destinations covered by the guide around world, with 31 three stars, 81 two stars and 542 with one star. READ MORE: 8 tips for finding a good restaurant in France Global food scene Among the notable winners on Monday was Philippe Etchebest, who won a second star for his restaurant Maison Nouvelle in Bordeaux. The 58-year-old, who made a name for himself as a celebrity food judge on TV shows such as Top Chef, said the 2025 guide reflected the strength of the next generation of French chefs. "We see it on Top Chef, there are a lot of creative young people, who are very open to the world," he told AFP. "They're going faster than we did in our time." Advertisement The Michelin Guide has sought to shed its reputation for elitist and pricey dinners in recent years, with more diverse eating options making it onto its lists of recommended outlets internationally. 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 there. Remi Dechambre, food critic at Le Parisien newspaper, also told AFP that the 2025 selection for France rewarded many up-and-coming chefs such as Adrien Cachot and Valentina Giacobbe with a single star. "It's the new generation. The guide is constantly evolving and this year is a demonstration," he said. READ MORE: Which French foods do French people love the most? Controversy Each edition of the Michelin Guide in France produces controversy over who is included, who is not and who has joined the list of anti-Michelin rebels. Showman chef Marc Veyrat had told the guide's inspectors they were not welcome in his new €450-a-head restaurant in the Megeve ski resort in the Alps. Veyrat sued Michelin unsuccessfully after inspectors stripped him of a star in 2019 in a controversy dubbed "cheddar-gate". Advertisement He claimed the downgrade was because inspectors mistakenly thought he had adulterated a cheese souffle with English cheddar instead of using local French varieties. His newly opened Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat did not appear among Monday's winners. Vincent Favre-Felix, a chef with a one-star restaurant in Annecy, eastern France, announced last week that he wanted to return his award, which he has held since 2021, after he decided to change his concept. The guide stresses that its anonymous inspectors are free to go wherever they want and that stars do not belong to the chefs themselves. A three-star restaurant -- the highest award -- denotes kitchens where cooking is "elevated to an art form" and chefs are "at the peak of their profession". Japan has the second-most number of three-starred destinations, followed by Spain, Italy and the United States.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michelin Guide unveils new stars for 68 restaurants in France
The Michelin Guide handed out new stars to 68 restaurants in France on Monday at a ceremony that celebrated emerging young talents and proposed food as a tonic for the world's worries. Two restaurants joined the highest and most coveted three-star category in Michelin's 2025 France guide, namely Christopher Coutanceau in western La Rochelle and seafood specialist Le Coquillage in northern Brittany. "The world is worried, the tensions, crises, war at the gates of Europe," Michelin Guide director Gwendal Poullennec said on stage at the ceremony in the eastern city of Metz. "And in the middle of all that, men and women continue to cook, welcome people, pass on knowledge and to create beauty," he told a crowd of 600 chefs. The famous red bible for gastronomes still makes and breaks reputations, despite increasing competition from rival food lists and the rise of social media influencers. France has the highest number of Michelin-endorsed restaurants of the 50 destinations covered by the guide around world, with 31 three stars, 81 two stars and 542 with one star. - Global food scene - Among the notable winners on Monday was Philippe Etchebest, who won a second star for his restaurant Maison Nouvelle in Bordeaux. The 58-year-old, who made a name for himself as a celebrity food judge on TV shows such as Top Chef, said the 2025 guide reflected the strength of the next generation of French chefs. "We see it on Top Chef, there are a lot of creative young people, who are very open to the world," he told AFP. "They're going faster than we did in our time." The Michelin Guide has sought to shed its reputation for elitist and pricey dinners in recent years, with more diverse eating options making it onto its lists of recommended outlets internationally. 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 there. Remi Dechambre, food critic at Le Parisien newspaper, also told AFP that the 2025 selection for France rewarded many up-and-coming chefs such as Adrien Cachot and Valentina Giacobbe with a single star. "It's the new generation. The guide is constantly evolving and this year is a demonstration," he said. - Controversy - Each edition of the Michelin Guide in France produces controversy over who is included, who is not and who has joined the list of anti-Michelin rebels. Showman chef Marc Veyrat had told the guide's inspectors they were not welcome in his new 450-euro-a-head ($485) restaurant in the Megeve ski resort in the Alps. Veyrat sued Michelin unsuccessfully after inspectors stripped him of a star in 2019 in a controversy dubbed "cheddar-gate". He claimed the downgrade was because inspectors mistakenly thought he had adulterated a cheese souffle with English cheddar instead of using local French varieties. His newly opened Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat did not appear among Monday's winners. Vincent Favre-Felix, a chef with a one-star restaurant in Annecy, eastern France, announced last week that he wanted to return his award, which he has held since 2021, after he decided to change his concept. The guide stresses that its anonymous inspectors are free to go wherever they want and that stars do not belong to the chefs themselves. A three-star restaurant -- the highest award -- denotes kitchens where cooking is "elevated to an art form" and chefs are "at the peak of their profession". Japan has the second-most number of three-starred destinations, followed by Spain, Italy and the United States. adp-mdv/sbk
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
World's longest-standing Michelin-starred restaurant loses a star
A French restaurant that has held a Michelin star for longer than any other establishment in the world has lost one of its stars. Georges Blanc, in the eastern French commune of Vonnas, was first awarded a star almost a century ago and has boasted three stars continuously since 1981, a spokeswoman for the 153-year-old establishment told CNN. The Michelin Guide confirmed the loss of Georges Blanc's third star to CNN on Friday. 'Our evaluation criteria have been the same for 125 years. They are focused solely on the dish,' a Michelin spokeswoman said. 'It's about five key criteria: the quality of the ingredients, the cooking technique, the harmony of flavors, the personality of the chef as expressed in their menu, and the consistency and regularity between different inspector visits.' 'Michelin inspectors visit the restaurant several times a year, with different inspectors visiting each time. The process is collegial—it's not a decision made by a single inspector; it's a decision made after multiple visits with different inspectors,' she added. Reacting to the news, 82-year-old chef Georges Blanc told French news agency AFP: 'We didn't expect it. One star will be missing, fading away, so we will manage with two stars. It's not an issue.' CNN has reached out to Blanc for further comment. The restaurant, founded in 1872 with the name 'La Mère Blanc,' earned its first Michelin star in 1929—only three years after the Michelin Guide started awarding stars to fine dining establishments. It was awarded to Blanc's grandmother, Élisa, who also accepted the second star in 1931, the restaurant's spokeswoman told CNN. Three generations of women were chefs at the family restaurant before Blanc joined his mom in the kitchen. He took the helm in 1968 at age 25 and later went on to earn the restaurant its third star, according to the website of Relais & Châteaux, the company that owns it. Georges Blanc is open for just 1 hour and 15 minutes for dinner on Thursday and for lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday, according to its site. Diners choose their meals in advance, and an à la carte menu competes with two six- and seven-course tasting menus. Diners can feast on a creative take on Bresse chicken, lobster and local-style crepes—to be paired with wine from a cellar of 140,000 bottles, according to the restaurant. The Michelin Guide, which will hold a ceremony to mark this year's France selection on March 31, has at times faced a backlash over its decision to award or take stars away from popular chefs. In January, French chef Marc Veyrat banned Michelin inspectors from his new restaurant, Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat, five years after taking the guide to court—and losing the case— over an unfavorable review of his cheese soufflé. However, anonymous Michelin inspectors could still turn up to assess the restaurant, as South Korean chef Eo Yun-gwon found out in 2019, when he sued the guide for awarding his restaurant a star after he asked it not to.
New European
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Josh Barrie on food: The chefs who shun a Michelin star
It's that time of year again, when the Michelin Guide dishes out its prestigious stars. This year's UK awards will be held in Glasgow on February 12, though do not imagine that means Scotland is a shoo-in for accolades: last year, Michelin plumped to host its UK ceremony in Manchester but no new stars were handed out to restaurants in the city. The French guide is an unruly, uncertain and mysterious beast, even if its recommendations help to flood dining rooms – much needed today as hospitality struggles. Tom Kerridge told me only last week that he's barely breaking even this month at his two-star flagship the Hand & Flowers (now 20 years old). I'm sure trade there will pick up. It's Kerridge for one thing, and the pub is in Marlow, where you can find unwanted skis in charity shops and almost every driveway houses a Land Rover Defender. But the most interesting tale of Michelin in 2025 is about a chef who doesn't want to be in it. We have our fair share of Guide sceptics – Marco Pierre White handed back his three stars years ago and says he prefers to eat out at local Cantonese restaurants or Caribbean canteens in Chippenham rather than the kind of places that Michelin prizes – but nothing compares to the unadulterated ego of an old French chef. There's a reason Ratatouille was set in Paris, you know. This year's most prominent tyre burner can be found in Megève, a luxurious French ski resort. There, the chef Marc Veyrat has banned Michelin from his latest venture, Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat, where dinner costs €450 a head (that's £380) and where restaurant inspectors aren't welcome. He told CNN: 'I've even got a small sign on the front door' (warning them off). 'I'm 75 this year. I don't want to be taking exams and getting ranked.' Five years ago, Veyrat took Michelin to court over an unfavourable review of a cheese soufflé. In 2019, the guide downgraded his restaurant La Maison des Bois, in the Alpine village of La Croix Fry, from three stars to two (it has since been taken on by his daughter, who has renamed it Le Hameau de mon Père, or 'my father's hamlet', in honour of her dad). Veyrat was incredibly upset at the time and filed a lawsuit against the Michelin Guide . He demanded they remove the listing and called inspectors 'incompetent'. It gets better. One of the reasons Michelin felt the restaurant was undeserving of its past three stars was because they believed Veyrat had used Cheddar in his soufflé. Veyrat argued he used local cheeses, including Reblochon and Beaufort, and that inspectors could have confused the striking colour with a 'hint of saffron' he had added to his recipe. Will Michelin visit Veyrat's latest restaurant, his first since the great soufflé war of 2019? I think it would be impossible for any food fan with a hefty expense account to stay away. He is undoubtedly a talented chef – he won three stars after all; two is a monumental feat in itself – and the guide rarely seems to care whether its anonymous inspectors are discouraged. Also in 2019, Michelin included the South Korean restaurant Eo in its guide to Seoul despite the owner, chef Eo Yun-gwon, asking to be omitted. In Spain, the chef Julio Biosca once returned his star (as much a stunt as anything else, some might say) after claiming it held him back. Sébastien Bras of Le Suquet in southern France requested to have his place removed after 20 years. Why? He wanted freedom and independence and felt Michelin brought too much pressure. 'Life is too beautiful and too short,' said Bras in 2017. And Frédéric Ménager maintains that he refuses to let judges into La Ferme de la Ruchotte, his highly rated farmhouse inn up in the hills of Burgundy. He said he has received phone calls from the guide but that 'the only stars that count are the ones in the eyes of guests when they leave the table, mesmerised by their gastronomic experience'. I can't imagine there will be such drama in Glasgow in February. Few British chefs are as out there as Veyrat these days. He tours his new dining room in sunglasses and a pilgrim-style hat, bases his menu around aromatic herbs, and runs the restaurant with his wife Christine, who is known as the 'beloved witch'. It is unclear whether they're serving a soufflé. For food's sake, I bloody hope so.
