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Two of the most famous chefs in the world were about to lose a Michelin star — the most coveted recognition of their craft. Christopher Coutanceau and Guy Savoy’s restaurants would be downgraded from three to two stars in the forthcoming French edition of the Michelin Guide – a downgrade that could tarnish the chefs’ reputations and hurt their business.
So Gwendal Poullennec, the guide’s international director, hopped in his car and drove five hours from Paris to La Rochelle, the southwestern town home to Coutanceau’s eponymous restaurant, and spent “the time it took the chef to listen and… understand,” Michelin’s decision, a spokesman said. Poullennec also had “a private conversation” with Savoy, whose restaurant is located in the historic Monnaie de Paris building in the French capital.
It’s a practice that’s becoming more prevalent amid a growing awareness of the mental health issues chefs can face while navigating the pressure cooker of the high-end restaurant industry.
The organization “is in the process of contacting the two dozen other chefs who will lose a star in the Michelin Guide France in 2023.” The full ranking will be announced at an event in north-eastern France on Monday.
“We are fully aware of the impact of our decisions on the restaurants affected,” the group said.
Achieving three Michelin stars is a lifelong aspiration for many top chefs, but the race to achieve and then retain that honor is notoriously stressful. In France, the suicide of two star chefs over the past two decades is often cited as a cautionary tale.
Having “received 3 stars for being the best of the best,” losing a star would “feel like someone ripping your heart out,” said Samuel Squires, a chef at the Old Crown Coaching Inn in Oxfordshire, England , via WhatsApp. The “public and media attention and also your doubts about whether I’m good enough will all come into play,” he said.
Dayan, a chef from Australia who spoke on the condition that he be identified by his first name only to discuss sensitive issues, agreed with the idea that chefs’ reputations are linked to their work – whether it’s a star or a rating.
“Although I didn’t lose a star, I was slammed by a critic in a national newspaper. It was awful, the anguish I felt and the pain it caused me,” he said via email. After the negative review came out, Dayan said he attempted suicide.
While the “pain eventually subsided,” Dayan said, his workplace couldn’t accept that the negative review “actually had very little impact on trading.” That realization “has influenced the way I handle criticism from guests, staff and stakeholders,” he said.
After two Michelin-starred chefs – Benoit Violier and Bernard Loiseau – died by suicide in 2016 and 2003 respectively, those who knew them speculated that pressure to maintain their rankings may have played a part in the tragedies. Her death helped spark a conversation about the pressures of the job.
“It’s lonely being a chef,” said Kris Hall, founder of the Burnt Chef Project, a campaign to promote mental health in the hospitality industry.
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The job can include up to 12-hour days at some restaurants, with little time for rest or personal life. “It takes a tremendous toll, not only on your mental state but also on your physical condition,” said Hall, who spent years supplying ingredients to fine dining restaurants in England before founding the group.
“Chefs are stoic, strong personalities. They’re also said to be very resilient, which means we’ve been sort of trained… not to show any signs of ‘weakness,'” Hall said. That prevents many chefs from seeking help in times of crisis, he adds. “You’re going to hear stories … of people who’ve cut themselves or been burned pretty badly, and they’re going to keep on duty to get the job done.”
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Chefs sometimes put “a lot of pressure on their shoulders and on the shoulders of their teams because they want to maintain a certain level of performance,” the Michelin guide spokesman acknowledged, speaking on condition of anonymity to openly discuss company policies. It’s one of the reasons why Poullennec, after taking the helm of the organization in 2018, began systematically reaching out to star-losing chefs, the spokesman said. “There were a few calls before him, but not all,” the rep added.
Michelin is getting in touch well ahead of the public announcement, at a time when chefs aren’t working – lest they have to return to their kitchens and face customers immediately after learning. “It’s really important that we take the time to get it right,” said the spokesman.
Though Michelin hasn’t developed any formal guidelines for the practice, the organization says it’s committed to it over the long term. “We don’t want to surf on a trend [of mental health]’ said the spokesman. The group prefers to speak of a “development” towards a “more transparent” way of working. “We remain independent and that is our strength, so we don’t compromise on that, but we can also take the time to explain our choices,” they added.
The development of Michelin’s approach to meeting chefs’ expectations with stars comes at a particularly difficult time for workers and the hospitality industry. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many restaurants to close, leading to a shortage of trained chefs and waiters. Gourmet restaurants aren’t spared either: Copenhagen’s Noma, which has three Michelin stars and been named the “best restaurant in the world”, announced its closure this year, citing an “unsustainable” business model.
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The Michelin guide is also under pressure to prove it’s still relevant in an age when restaurant recommendations can be easily accessed on TikTok and Yelp. And it has drawn criticism from chefs, some who say the process of awarding and removing stars is opaque and others who say the pressure to receive stars stifles creativity.
Sebastien Bras, a chef who held a Michelin star, asked the organization in 2017 to take it away from him so he could experiment “without wondering if my creations will please the Michelin inspectors or not”.
Explaining his unusual request in an interview with Agence France-Presse at the time, Bras said he – like “everyone, restaurateurs and tour guides” – had in mind the memory of Loiseau’s death.
“Maybe I’ll lose notoriety, but I accept it,” Bras told AFP. “I will be able to feel free.”