Tastes like rubber
It doesn’t quite compute that the prestigious Michelin Star restaurant rating system is ran by the same people who sell you car tyres, does it? Well, strangely enough, it is.
French brothers Andre and Edourd Michelin started the tyre company in 1889 and along with it, a free monthly guidebook for their customers. One of the crafty brothers had a little lightbulb moment and realised that if they recommend restaurants all over the country, it would encourage the then limited number of drivers to make more journeys and by extension, buy more tyres. Little did they know their savvy marketing strategy would have celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey in tears two centuries later when his restaurant, The London, lost its two-star recommendation.
As the business grew, so did the guide. It grew so popular that in 1920 they started to charge for it. The fine dining section was arguably the most popular and the wise brothers noticed – they began sending anonymous inspectors to restaurants and rate them on a 3-star basis. At the time, 1 star meant that the place was ‘a very good restaurant in its category’, 2 stars is ‘excellent cooking, worth a detour’ and the prestigious 3-star restaurants were described as ‘exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey’.
By 1933 there were 23 restaurants in France alone with three stars and they began to recommend some other places across Europe (hopefully encouraging some serious tyre demand). Suspended during WW2, Michelin relaunched their three-tier system in 1951 but with a much higher standard.
Across the world now, there are a total of 2,817 Michelin Star restaurants. The country with the most is, of course, France with a total of 600. Tokyo alone has 217! There are, however, only 113 restaurants, globally, with three Michelin Stars. England is home to four – The Dorchester by Alain Ducasse, The Waterside Inn owned by Michael Roux, Core by Claire Smyth – and everybody’s favourite foul-mouthed foodie got himself back on the list with Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
“From an image standpoint, it certainly has helped as a halo for a tyre brand. Because tyres, of course, aren’t the sexiest product,” Tony Fouladpour, Michelin director of corporate public relations, has said.
Now then, you can’t eat at a Michelin Star restaurant every week (or ever?) and if you could it would get boring! They certainly won’t cater for your wedding. Parties To Go, however, certainly will.
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