Actually, an award with the stars of Gastronomy Bible Guide Michelin for chefs is a reason to celebrate. Not so for top French chef Sébastien Bras, who returned his three stars a year ago and was honored with two stars against his will in the latest Michelin edition.

He noted this with "astonishment", the 47-year-old explained on Monday. The "contradictory decision" of the Michelin Guide makes him "skeptical". The stars and the "strategies" of the restaurant guide would not interest him anyway.

Bras had announced in a sensational move in September 2017, the three stars of his gourmet restaurant "Le Suquet" in Laguiole in the Auvergne to make. At that time he justified this with the "pressure" that the highest kitchen conventions mean.

"Le Suquet", which has been able to decorate itself with three Michelin stars since 1999, was then no longer listed in the 2018 edition of the Michelin Guide. In the new edition of the gastronomy guide presented on Monday, Bras was again awarded two stars.

A star deduction

The Michelin testers' decision was a source of disappointment for other top chefs: Marc Haeberlin's famed L'Auberge de l'Ill restaurant in Alsace, which had been awarded the highest Michelin rating for 51 years, was awarded three downgraded to two stars. The famous chef Marc Veyrat suffered the same fate with his restaurant "La Maison des Bois". For Veyrat especially bitter: He had received the third star only last year.

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"Michelin Guide" 2019: stars for top chefs in France

There are two newcomers to the list of three-star restaurants: Laurent Petit from Le Clos des Sens in Annecy and Mauro Colagreco from Mirazur in Menton. There are five new additions to the two-star restaurants this year. In total, 75 new restaurants in France have been awarded at least one star - a "record year", as Gwendal Poullennec, head of the gastronomy guide, says.

The Michelin company is best known as a tire manufacturer. The "Guide Michelin" is a travel guide for motorists, in which hotels and restaurants are rated. To make it easy for travelers to find good addresses, the entries are provided with stars.