Paris (AFP)

The famous Michelin gastronomic guide, who withdrew his third star from the Paul Bocuse restaurant, has been successful for over a century but has also sparked controversy.

The Guide downgraded in its 2020 edition this flagship of French gastronomy, estimating that "the quality of the establishment remained excellent but more at the level of a three stars".

- The beginnings -

In 1900, less than 3,000 cars were driven in France. The brothers André and Édouard Michelin, who believe in the development of the automobile, decided to make a document available to motorists to facilitate their journeys with the addresses of mechanics and hotels.

The first edition was printed in 35,000 copies. "This work appears with the century, it will last as long as it does," says the visionary prefacial.

In 1904, the first guide came out of France, in Belgium. From 1910, the guides Germany and Spain / Portugal appeared. Many more will follow.

The guide is free until 1920.

- The appearance of the stars -

The complete star hierarchy, applied to the whole of France, dates from 1933: a table "worth the trip" for the three stars, "worth the detour" for the two stars, is "a very good table" for one star.

In 1997, the pictograms "Bib gourmand" appeared, which indicated very good value for money, or "Les piécettes", which denoted restaurants offering complete and economical menus. In 2000, Michelin introduced a few lines of text on the establishment for the first time.

In a century, the French edition has sold some 30 million copies. Other guides, notably Anglo-Saxon, are now facing tough competition.

- Critics and controversies -

The guide has been criticized in particular by two books published in 2004, revealing the unforgiving world of cooking or highlighting the lack of transparency in the rating system: "The inspector sits at the table", by Pascal Rémy, and "Food Business : the hidden face of French gastronomy ", by Olivier Morteau. Pascal Rémy, Michelin inspector, was dismissed for serious misconduct and breach of confidentiality clause.

At the origin of recurrent debates, the granting of laurels creates an ever increasing pressure on the lucky beneficiary, which is sometimes badly experienced.

Several triple-star chefs have thus tried to solve the problem in one way or another (accelerated retirement, restaurant closure, request to leave the guide ...): Joël Robuchon in 1996, Alain Senderens in 2005, Antoine Westermann in 2006, Olivier Roellinger in 2008, Sébastien Bras in 2017.

More dramatic, the suicide of the three-star chef Bernard Loiseau in 2003. In question, among other reasons, the pressure exerted by the food critic.

Another chef, Benoît Violier, also committed suicide in 2016, 24 hours before the release of the Michelin, which nevertheless maintained its "three stars".

At the end of 2019, chef Marc Veyrat, who had taken legal action to find out why the Guide had deprived one of his restaurants of his third star, was dismissed.

Out of around 20,000 restaurants worldwide listed in the guide, only a hundred have obtained the supreme "three star" distinction.

- The international red guide -

In 2005, Michelin left Europe for the first time with the publication of the New York guide, followed in 2007 by San Francisco then Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The first guide in Asia concerns Tokyo in 2008. Michelin launched a Hong Kong and Macao edition for China in 2008. Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, Seoul and Bangkok now have their guide.

Because it now refuses reservations from the general public, a renowned Tokyo sushi restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, which was rated three stars, has just been struck from the last edition.

As a sign of democratization, the restaurants around the world selected in the guide can be identified this year on the Tripadvisor site and can be booked on LaFourchette, the world leader in online restaurant reservations.

© 2020 AFP