What is a "Michelin star"?

In European countries, visiting the restaurant you can find out that he has been given Michelin stars. What is it and what do they give? You can find out about this by reading this article. Any human activity has its own bar, cooking is no exception. The most cherished award for any restaurant in Europe is the Michelin star. This is the highest quality mark, which is awarded to institutions with excellent kitchen.

It is known that these awards are distributed by the "Red Guide Michelin" - it is simply called the "Red Guide". Everyone knows that the fact that the establishment is mentioned in this list speaks of his wonderful cuisine. Until recently, only French restaurants that specialized exclusively in French cuisine were present in the guide , now the list includes worthy institutions throughout Europe, regardless of their specialization. The award "Stars of Michelin" can get everyone worthy.

Just a guide, and now what?

It is curious that until 1926 the "Red Guide" was simply a guide to interesting places for travelers, it indicated refueling, parking, hotels and snack bars. The first such directories were completely free and distributed at gas stations and maintenance stations. In 20 years their concept has changed, in the guide began to add restaurants depending on the amount of the average check, very expensive marked with a star. And only after 1926 this star began to characterize the excellent quality of the kitchen labeled institution. Already in the early 30-ies the directory acquired a "three-star" look and became the main assistant in the choice of institutions.

Over the past 70 years, the system has not changed, the guide has only constantly increased the list of star institutions. To date, it has restaurants in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, England and 10 other countries. Sometimes the Michelin star is awarded to the chef, for such professionals, restaurants are constantly engaged in quite a serious struggle. There were cases when, having quit, the chef took the award with him to a new place of work, which, accordingly, deprived the institution of not only a good professional, but also a sign of distinction.

How is the selection of restaurants?

Always the selection criteria were kept in the strictest secrecy. All that is known - experts-gourmets of the company incognito visit the institution, which is the applicant for the award. As ordinary visitors, they order dishes and conduct an audit, evaluating the author's approach to cooking and serving dishes, decorating the institution and music. Although the main aspect is the quality of the kitchen and the principle of making menus.

It is known that restaurants with Michelin stars in the number of three in the largest number are in Paris, in second place in Tokyo. The main thing is to remember that if the institution is included in the rating, there is no doubt about the quality of the cuisine. This selection takes place annually, moreover, if complaints are received at the institution, the stars are easily annulled after a small anonymous check by experts-gourmets.

Restaurants with the Michelin Star Award

The guide is considered the most authoritative source of information about the best establishments with excellent quality of the kitchen. The Michelin star, awarded to the restaurant, is the highest award for any European institution.

One star talks about the high quality of the kitchen and is considered a serious reward. When a restaurant has two stars, its dishes are considered a work of art. 3 Michelin stars are awarded only to the author's kitchen, over which the hereditary chefs work - the geniuses of his craft.

We present to your attention a small list of the most popular establishments marked by the Michelin star:

• Three stars at the restaurant Le Louis XV (Louis XV) in Monaco.
• Two stars: Villa Archange (Villa Arshange) in Cannes-Le Cannet.
• One star: Antibes-Juan-les-Pins (France).

New standards of the Michelin Star award

Such a regalia can not be bought or rented. It can only be earned by great skill, hard work and skillful organization of the case. The award is easy to lose if you violate the quality standards. A new list form each fall, it is at this time that the whole gastronomic world of Europe is strongly feverish. For the entire period of the rating existence there are only two masters who have confirmed their right to three stars for forty consecutive years - Paul Bocuse and Paul Eberlen. There are even known cases when serious cooks took scores with life after their institutions were excluded from the coveted list.

Change for the better

Until recently, it was believed that 3 Michelin stars received only establishments with tightly starched tablecloths, fine porcelain, silverware, crystal and exquisite dishes. Last year there was a revolution, now the main thing for awarding is a well-established job. One of the two-star restaurants was the simple bistro "Moissonier", the cartridge of which still can not believe in what happened and strongly worries about the fact that people can be disappointed by first visiting his institution and not seeing what was in other institutions marked with stars . After all, they do not even have tablecloths in the bistro, not to mention exquisite dishes.

According to the representatives of the company, these changes were made specifically not to turn Michelin into a closed sect. To earn Michelin stars, the restaurant must always cook well and bring something individual to the process.

Landmarks for getting the first star

There are several conditions that must always be respected in the institution that claims to be included in the Michelin rating:

• Freshness of products;
• Quality of dishes;
• Observance of cooking time;
• Excellent taste of dishes;
• Presence of own style;
• Naturalness of tastes;
• Constant high-quality work of cooks.

For the next stars, you need to constantly improve and develop, striving for excellence.

Case case

There are institutions that even started to suffer after receiving such a mark of difference! In the Black Forest Ferencbach there is a small restaurant "Engel", which was awarded a Michelin star. Every professional professional restaurateur knows this, and not only, so for the first time his owner was very happy with this award. In his institution began to appear new visitors, but over time the number of regular customers decreased, which began to bother the owner of the restaurant in a small town. They explained their decision by being simple people unworthy of an elite restaurant.

The owner even applied to the headquarters to be deprived of the award for the sake of returning customers. It turned out that this is possible only if the work of the institution worsens, which is unacceptable for professionals. Entering the position, "Engel" was awarded another award, which is given inexpensive, but good regional cuisine. This was an excellent solution, after which the customers returned, and everything fell into place.

The Russian question

Despite the fact that European countries are in constant struggle for superiority in the number of restaurants with the "Michelin Star" award, Russia still can not boast of this regalia. The most common explanation is that our restaurant culture is still quite young. Today, we have almost no traditions of haute cuisine. Our people still go to a restaurant to eat, unlike Europeans. Abroad, the main thing is the cuisine and wine, we have an interior. In Russia it is customary to come to institutions for communication, people pay great attention to interior establishments, whose visits, in their opinion, show their status. Facilities and a large amount of space in the institution are not attributes for which the Michelin stars give, for them the cuisine is important, and it, according to experts, does not yet have sufficient development in the post-Soviet countries, although everything can change.

A look into the future

Now the situation begins to change in the right direction. For example, in Russia the qualifying round of the most prestigious culinary competition in Lyon is held - "Golden Bokue". In the largest cities restaurants of foreign high cuisine with famous chefs from Europe open. One of the last cases that struck Europe, occurred in one elite restaurant in Russia. He was associated with a spoiled truffle weighing almost 1 kilogram, not waiting for the well-known oligarch Abramovich, for whom he was specially purchased.

After understanding the full information about what Michelin stars are, you should definitely visit the institutions marked by this award in order to experience the level of the institution and taste dishes cooked at the highest level by the best chefs - true professionals of your business.