Becoming a Michelin Chef is the definitive moment in a Chef’s career that proves they belong among the best in the culinary world. To achieve this, it takes years of experience and delivering the best possible dishes consistently.
People outside the culinary world are often familiar with the “Michelin” title but don’t know what it truly symbolizes or how Michelin Stars are earned. If you’re looking for a job as a Chef, learning more about the topic can help prepare you for working in the culinary industry.
So, what exactly is a Michelin Chef? How do you become one? What impact will the title have on your restaurant? We’ll answer all of these questions, and much more, in this post.
Understanding the Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide is a series of guidebooks that highlight the best restaurants and hotels in certain geographical areas. Select few restaurants in each area were awarded a Michelin star, highlighting their excellence and experience.
History and purpose of the Michelin Guide
In the year 1900, when there were only 3,000 cars in France, Michelin (yes, the same company that produces car tires) wanted to encourage more people to get on the roads.
To do that, the company developed the Michelin Guide to rank hotels, restaurants and gas stations around the country. The company would send anonymous inspectors to review establishments and rank them.
The guide quickly spread around Europe and Western Africa, and in the 1920s, it began using the star system for fine-dining establishments. Initially, only a single star was awarded, with the three-star system being introduced in 1936.
The Michelin Guide finally reached the United States in 2005. The first American Michelin Guide covered 500 restaurants in NYC and 50 hotels in Manhattan.
The guide featured its first restaurants in Florida in 2022, and the next year, it expanded to Colorado and Atlanta as well.
The significance of Michelin stars
When Michelin’s anonymous inspectors visit restaurants, they award them with one, two or three stars if they think they’re worth paying a visit. The system works in the following way:
- One star: High-quality cooking, worth a stop
- Two stars: Excellent cooking, worth a detour
- Three stars: Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey
The company has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the identities of its inspectors remain hidden, with even many of its top executives never meeting them.
This is why the biggest names in the industry consider Michelin stars to be the most genuine accolades out there. The famous French Chef, Paul Bocuse, even said that “Michelin is the only guide that counts.”
The Michelin Guide also gives the Rising Star award to restaurants that have the potential to qualify for one star in the future or can earn an additional star.
In 2020, the Michelin Guide also introduced the Green Star which is given to restaurants that excel in sustainable gastronomy.
The guide also highlights restaurants that offer “exceptionally good food at moderate prices” with the Bib Gourmand award. “Bib” is the nickname for the famous Michelin Man in the company’s logo.
What Defines a Michelin Chef?
Michelin stars are one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Although they’re given to the restaurant, the Chef is usually credited for this achievement. Those who help their restaurants earn stars are referred to as Michelin Chefs.
The criteria for earning Michelin stars
A restaurant and its Chefs can earn Michelin Stars if they satisfy the inspectors’ criteria. When giving out stars, they take into account five aspects:
- Quality of the ingredients
- Harmony of flavors
- Value for money
- The personality of the Chef as expressed through their cuisine
- Food consistency, especially between separate inspector visits
To evaluate all these criteria of a restaurant, inspectors typically visit it at least once a year. They have both lunch and dinner at the restaurant, and keep their schedule inconsistent on purpose, sometimes visiting over the weekend, other times choosing a work day.
Michelin inspectors can visit a restaurant they’re assessing alone, in pairs or in groups. They order as many dishes as possible over the course of the year and evaluate whether they’re of a consistently high standard.
It’s also important to mention that they focus solely on what’s on the plate and don’t take into account the style of the restaurant.
Service also doesn’t play a part, which is why Michelin Stars are usually associated to Chefs and the quality of their dishes.
Qualities and skills of a Michelin Chef
Michelin Chefs have the same qualities as skills as regular Chefs, but they’ve proved themselves to be the best in the industry. They caught the attention of Michelin inspectors by continually delivering top-notch meals and demonstrating their skills when they were put to the test.
Being a Michelin Chef is all about mastering the skills necessary for the role, which includes cooking, creativity, time coordination and leadership.
Throughout your career as a Chef, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to develop your skills and improve in the role. Doing this and combining it with a true passion for cooking will take you one step closer to becoming worthy of Michelin Stars one day.
The Path To Becoming a Michelin Chef
Becoming a Michelin Chef is all about developing exceptional cooking skills and helping your restaurant deliver the best dishes possible at all times. The Michelin Guide advises aspiring Chefs to cook for their customers and not to win awards. The awards will come naturally if the restaurant impresses with good food and excellent customer service.
Education and training
Getting culinary education won’t earn you Michelin Stars itself. You can even become a Chef without finishing professional culinary school. However, it’s still a great way to begin your journey. Every cooking technique and presentation style you master will bring you one step closer to the goal of earning a Michelin rating.
The same goes for Chef certifications. Whether you have one or not doesn’t impact your chances of getting a great review from Michelin inspectors. However, they can play a big part in how you manage your team which significantly impacts the dishes your kitchen delivers.
Professional experience and mentorship
Becoming a better Chef is all about gaining experience and learning more about the role throughout your career. Therefore, it’s important to always look for new ways to improve and obtain new skills. Evaluate your own work and take any feedback you get seriously.
If you’ve just taken on your first job as a Chef, another thing you can do is learn from more seasoned Chefs in your kitchen. An Executive Chef you work under probably has more experience and can pass their knowledge on to you.
Even if you’re just starting a job as a Cook, Experienced Chefs will likely take the opportunity to offer mentorship and help you progress in your career.
Achieving and maintaining excellence
Since Michel stars are only awarded to the best restaurants, your establishment needs to be the best one in its respective area to earn them. This means you have to study different flavor profiles, experiment with seasonal ingredients and create new and unique dishes of exceptional quality.
Michelin inspectors judge the ways you express your distinctive vision or voice, so you should also always look to add your own touch to traditional dishes.
Things like these aren’t something you can learn in textbooks. Instead, they’re something you develop over time and as you gain more experience. Traveling and observing other cultures and flavors can also play a big part.
It’s also important to continuously look for quality additions to your team and better equipment. From professional Chef knives to appliances in your kitchen, everything can have a big impact on the quality of your dishes.
Challenges and Rewards of Being a Michelin Chef
Being a Michelin Chef is incredibly rewarding but it comes with its challenges. Once you earn this rating, you’ll be considered among the best in the industry and you’ll have to continuously prove yourself.
Impact on career and reputation
Becoming a Michelin Chef is truly a career-defining moment. It helps you build a name for yourself in the industry and attract more customers.
If you get a three-star rating from the guide, you can expect to have people go out of their way just to visit your restaurant and try your food.
Of course, Michelin Chefs can make more money than traditional Chefs.
Pressure and expectations
Pressure and high expectations are something you’ll always encounter when working in busy restaurant kitchens. These challenges will become even greater once you become a Michelin Chef.
Consistency in food quality is something Michelin inspectors value highly and it’ll be up to you to deliver it. On top of that, you’ll have to do it year in and year out, since inspectors will continue to check out your restaurant even after you’ve earned your reputation.
Famous Michelin Chefs
Some of the most famous Chefs in the world have earned over a dozen Michelin Stars throughout their careers. Listed below are some of the most significant and influential ones.
Joël Robuchon
The late Joël Robuchon is often considered to be the best Chef of the modern age. Throughout his career, he earned a total of 31 Michelin stars on three different continents.
He received his first Michelin star in the same year he opened his first restaurant, Jamin, in Paris. The establishment went on to earn two stars one year later, and finally got a three-star rating the following year. But, this wasn’t enough for Robuchon who continued to open restaurants across the world, many of which have earned Michelin stars over the years.
Alain Ducasse
The French Chef Alain Ducasse is the second most-decorated Michelin Chef in the world with 21 stars in total. He earned Hotel Juana’s La Terrasse its two stars and continued to open haute cuisine restaurants, many of which later earned stars of their own.
Ducasse also impacted the culinary world through his culinary school École Ducasse in Paris, which he established in 1999 and is still going strong today.
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay is famous for his stints in TV cooking shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares, but he’s also a decorated Michelin Chef.
His first restaurant, Gordon Ramsay, located in Chelsea, that’s famous for its French cuisine, gained three Michelin stars in 2001 and it managed to retain them to this very day. The famous Chef earned a total of 17 stars throughout his career.
Suzette Gresham
Suzette Gresham is one of the most famous female Chefs in the world. She specializes in Italian cuisine and got her start working as a Chef at the Donatello Hotel in San Francisco. The owners of the Donatello Hotel later opened a new place called Acquarello. After moving to work at Acquarello, the restaurant was awarded two Micheli stars shortly after.
She has a specific way of training kitchen staff, going as far as assigning them homework. But all of that makes her a great mentor and teacher for aspiring Chefs who don’t mind going the extra mile to become the best Chefs they can be.
Yannick Alléno
Chef Yannick Alléno, who’s known for modernizing the foundations of French cuisine, has earned 16 Michelin stars across his 17 restaurants scattered around the world. He received his first star in 1999 and has led his Pavillon Ledoyen establishment to become the world’s highest-rated independent restaurant.
Alléno continues to carry out research to modernize the foundations of French cuisine. He studies and experiments with sauces, fermentation and meal sequencing to develop it even further.
Pierre Gagnaire
Chef Pierre Gagnaire runs two three-star rated restaurants, namely Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and Sketch in London. In total, he has earned 14 Michelin stars, with his first three-star rating coming early in his career in the town of St. Étienne.
Gagnaire is known for taking traditional dishes and blending them with new flavors. His motto is to run a restaurant that is “facing tomorrow but is respectful of yesterday.”
