It's one of the highest culinary honours to be bestowed on a restaurant, but for decades, the process around how they're awarded has been shrouded in secrecy. Will-they-won't-they romance aside, the most interesting plot point of the new season of Emily in Paris may be chef Gabriel's dream of obtaining a coveted Michelin star at his restaurant, l'Esprit de Gigi. From The Menu to The Bear, quite a few fictional chefs have been pursuing this illustrious distinction in recent years, and while Emily in Paris may get Paris so wrong , its treatment of the Michelin star's secrecy and solemnity is right on the money.
"Even for us, the Michelin Guide is a little hazy," said Julia Sedefdjian, who became France's youngest Michelin-starred chef at the age of 21. "It's not like we have a grading scale in front of us." But given the tight-lipped anonymity of the Guide's inspectors, perhaps the best people to offer insight into what it really takes to earn a Michelin star are chefs.
The Michelin Guide began humbly in 1900 as a free guidebook for Michelin tyre customers indicating refuelling stations, hotels and restaurants. The three-star hierarchy only surfaced in 1931, with one-starred establishments said to be worth a stop, two-starred a detour and three-starred a whole trip. The contemporary Guide is shrouded in mystery, with an undisclosed number of inspectors reviewing more than 40,000 restaurants in more than 30 countries.
France alone counts 639 Michelin-starred restaurants , of whi.