Michelin's Role In The Restaurant Rating Industry

Michelin is not only one of the best tire companies on earth but also known as one of the most recognized restaurant-rating system all over the world. Established in 1926, Michelin Rating System has been playing its important role in the restaurant industry until today. Their anonymous restaurant inspector team has been reviewing and granting hundreds of restaurants with their prestige stars, which are highly valued by restaurateurs and chefs all over the world. The star is really important and influential for chefs and the restaurants. It is taken as the Oscar for fine dining industry since it reflects the quality of their exceptional food and gives them recognition to stand out among thousands of other competitors (Hickman, 2008). However,

Terry Durack, The Independent On Sunday's food critic, finds Michelin has lost its plot since 1990 makes it still interesting but no longer important (Hickman, 2008). Now, Michelin restaurants start to look and taste the same since creativity has always been considered too risky, some chefs even more motivated to please Michelin rather than their own customer (Gill, 2012). However, some chefs and restaurateur such as Ruth Watson realize that all of this time they were focusing on a wrong thing. 3 starred chef; Mitsuhiro Araki voluntarily surrendered all of his stars to seek more challenges (Victor, 2014). He said “Keeping the creative spark alive is important for a chef”. Mr. Araki is not the only one who lost interest in Michelin star. Ruth Watson was irritated on how Michelin limits chefs to be creative. She even wrote Michelin, asking to take back their stars from her restaurant (Green, 1993). “It is an insult. I thought I’d rather not be in the guide. We have got to persuade chefs that it does not matter to be creative. And if we succeed, maybe Michelin will go back to France with its tail between its leg” said Mrs.