I remember watching a video on how Michelin Stars started out as a travel guide brochure for the best restaurants in France as a sort of advertisement for Michelin branded tyres (look at all these restaurants you could go to with Michelin tyres!).
How did the Michelin stars become so sought after by top restaurants and chefs? Was the head of the Michelin tyre company also a renowned food connoisseur or something? What about other tyre companiee, why didn’t they do something similar? Are Michelin Stars still given by the tyre company, or has it been spun off into its own thing?
Michelin stars are highly valued because advertising, elitism and tradition are highly valued.
The Michelin Brothers thought it would be good advertising for their tire company, and it was, and it kind of became its own thing but stars are still owned and operated by Michelin the tire company.
Important to note that beyond it being owned by a tire company, they don’t even give stars to the best restaurants, only restaurants that fit certain prestige requirements as well as agree to pay Michelin to give them a star.
Other tire companies don’t pursue the same scam because Michelin is the front runner, and it obviously doesn’t tie in to car accessories very heavily, so there’s not much incentive for other tire companies to do the same thing, especially when it’s basically just a “pay me $400,000 for a fake gold star racket”.
I looked into this after watching the bear, when they were talking about Michelin stars, and then I found out the extent of Michelin star chicanery.
Just one factual point - restaurants don’t have to pay for a star. They don’t even have to apply to be considered (but it helps). The only costs are those incurred in running a fine dining restaurant.
Michelin stars are pay to play.
Inspectors will not visit cities unless the city registers with Michelin, which carries high, recurring fees.
That’s why many prominent cities like Boston, for example, have zero Michelin star restaurants, because they won’t pay the shakedowns(tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the city) that Michelin demands for their stars.
They wouldn’t give a star to anyone in Manchester for years. It was a real point of contention. There are two now though.
Wow. Had no idea that’s how it worked over there, fucking ridiculous. Glad that’s not how it works over here.
I get it, I was shocked when I looked it up. Extremely disappointing