The Michelin Guide reveals its awards this Monday at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

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ALLILI MOURAD / SIPA

  • The Michelin Guide will be unveiled this Monday, January 18 at noon on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

  • Fifty-seven new stars will be awarded.

    No three-star restaurant will be downgraded.

Faced with Covid-19, the Michelin Guide is trying to gain height.

The 2021 winners will be unveiled this Monday from noon, during a ceremony without an audience, broadcast from the Eiffel Tower and posted on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

This is where the names of the 57 establishments that have won their first star or that will be promoted with an additional badge will be revealed.

Slightly fewer new stars than in previous years - they were 63 last year.

And probably fewer retrogrades, given the context, unprecedented and particularly harsh for restaurateurs, many of whom are fighting for their survival.

Although… The Michelin is not the type to be softened and it is a safe bet that those who have closed, like Thierry Drapeau in Vendée, or who have changed their concept to reorient themselves towards a more accessible cuisine like Guy Martin in the Grand Véfour in Paris, or Alexandre Bourdas at SaQuaNa in Honfleur, will pay the price.

Private summer vacation inspectors

The only assurance to date: the Michelin Guide has assured three-star chefs that they keep all their macaroons.

"To support the profession despite the context and perhaps because of the context, it was necessary to maintain this announcement," said the director of the guide Gwendal Poullennec, this Friday to AFP, in response to criticism and questions about the relevance of releasing a new vintage despite the fact that restaurants have been closed for several months.

To justify the value of its guide, of which it still sells 50,000 copies each year and which will go on sale at 24.90 euros on January 21, the inspectors have worked "hard", says the boss of Michelin, going even until canceling their summer vacation when restaurants briefly reopened in France between the two confinements.

"This selection was made with the same seriousness, the inspectors were able to make as many meals as in previous years," he says.

"Despite the difficulties, the chefs have been there and some have even managed to continue to progress", estimates Gwendal Poullennec, confident in the "combativeness" of the 57 new winners of this 2020 edition.

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