Michelin never gets it right. No matter how many stars the guide hands out or holds back on, someone's always got something to say about it. And this year's French guide is no exception.
Celebrating its 100th edition (they missed out several editions in times of war), Michelin awarded 73 restaurants with new stars bringing France's number of starred establishments to 548, four times more than in the UK and Ireland.
The guide awarded 63 restaurants their first star, including Alain Ducasse's Jules Verne restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower.
Nine chefs were given two stars, including Gordon Ramsay au Trianon in Versailles, but only one new chef was elevated to the coveted three-star-status, Eric Fréchon at the luxury Hotel Bristol in Paris, one of President Nicholas Sarkozy's favoured hangouts in the French capital. And this is exactly where the controversy begins.
France's most feared food critic, Francois Simon of Le Figaro newspaper, has come forward heavily criticising both Ramsay's and Fréchon's promotions by Michelin.
Simon warns that any real food lover should object to the award of two stars to the "stereotyped" and "déjà vu" cuisine of Ramsay's restaurant, adding that while the quality of the British chef's food is "not bad at all" it's "nothing original". Ouch!
And as far as Fréchon's singling out for three stars is concerned, Simon insists it is linked to Sarkozy's patronage as much as the quality of Fréchon's cooking.
"No one will ask whether this promotion is deserved or not," Simon warns. "It is all part of Michelin's clever marketing, because this is the President's favourite place to eat."
Meanwhile, Michelin doesn't seem to care too much Simon's comments, with director Jean-Luc Naret brushing off any criticism: "Why change a formula that works? We have no competitor in France or internationally."
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