When you hear about a Michelin Starred restaurant, you usually have to make reservations well in advance. But do you know how this all started?
Well, read on....
All chefs desire the infamous Michelin Stars. When a restaurant receives one Michelin Star, it is clear that a restaurant has flourished and succeeded to a higher level. But let’s chat about the history, you might be surprised 2 brothers started it, and you might recognize the name for something else still in use today.
Surprisingly, the Michelin guides had truly little to do with cuisine as they originally initiated as guidebooks published by the French tire company Michelin for more than a century. The term coined from the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest European hotel and restaurant reference guide, grants up to three Michelin stars to a select few restaurants. The businesses can be influenced dramatically by the addition or loss of the Michelin Star. Once a restaurant obtains all three, the restaurant is usually booked for months in advance and vastly populated.
Michelin Stars' era came to place as the increase of demand in cars, and tire manufacturers became more apparent. The company had started in 1889 as brothers Edouard, and Andre Michelin published a guide for French motorists explaining the repair and replacement instructions, car mechanics listings, hotels, gas stations, and more throughout France. They joined in to look for a method to draw in the limited number of drivers to make more journeys and, as a result, buy more tires to increase their profit. The first print included 35,000 free copies of the guide that displayed the wealth of information for motorists showcasing the best meals and accommodation while touring in their vehicles. As time went on, the business expanded along with the guide.
The guide's publication had been suspended during World War I; however, the publication resumed by 1920. As the brothers ramped up the quality of the guide, they began to change them. The first actual Michelin star ratings were given in 1926, and a few years later, the rating system expanded to become the Michelin three-star rating in 1931. The dining component was in such high demand that Michelin decided to set up a team of anonymous inspectors to visit and rate restaurants based on this three-tier scale. The three stars exhibit "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey," two stars as "excellent cooking, worth a detour," and one star as an "exceptionally good restaurant in its category."
In 2005, Michelin reached the United States and published its first American guide covering 500 restaurants in five boroughs of New York City and 50 hotels in Manhattan.
Presently, the renowned Michelin Stars are awarded selectively to a small number of restaurants globally for superior quality. Suppose you are an aspiring chef or enjoy celebrated cuisines. In that case, it is recommended to go to popular cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Vegas, as the Michelin Guide only touches on a small number of US cities. It currently covers 23 countries, with 14 editions sold in 90 countries.
Would you like to visit a Michelin Star restaurant on your next vacation? Maybe you want a food tour that includes meeting a chef. Let's chat! There are many options available when traveling and if cuisine is the top of your list, let's find places that fit your itinerary.
