We Come to You! How and Why a Michelin Guide Comes to a New Country
Let's start with the fact that today the "Red Guide" is already represented in 28 countries, regions, and cities of the world. The last to join the guide were South Korea and Slovenia. On December 21, 2020, the international director of the guide, Gwendal Poullennec, announced that Michelin would appear in Moscow from 2021, as of today, the only city in Russia.
This practice is not accidental and is observed in many countries: for example, Michelin does not publish a general issue on China but does separate guides on Shanghai and Hong Kong, and in the Scandinavian countries, the opposite happens - here they are all combined into a common guide, without any division. There is a reason why it all happens - the criteria by which the "Red Guide" honors an institution to enter their guide, and not all cities in the country can meet them.
So what does the Michelin guide look at when choosing a particular country or city for its inspection?
There are many criteria, but the main ones are the following: availability of high-quality local products; the presence of restaurants of regional, national cuisine; adherence to seasonality in the menu (since 2020, with the advent of the "green star" - compliance with environmental and ethical beliefs has become an important point for the guide); the growth of the restaurant market in the form of not only commercially successful projects but also those that can be more attributed to the pure art of fine dining; as well as the economic stability, growth, and attractiveness of the country.
Thus, it becomes obvious why, for instance, Moscow was honoured to welcome a guide, and Dubai, in which there are a lot of restaurants, is unlikely ever to attract it. Why?
Because in recent years, Russia, "executed" by the embargo, has made a sharp leap in farming and agriculture, bringing local products and wine business to a new level. Because, over the past ten years, Moscow (the rest of Russia, except perhaps St. Petersburg, does not meet the guide's criteria) has shown that it can open not only "stamped" commercial restaurants but also the places with haute cuisine. And chefs in Moscow can draw the attention of the whole world to the work they do for the benefit of the entire country. Berezutsky brothers, Mukhin, Kazakov - these chefs really managed to glorify not only their restaurants but the whole country, showing that there is a place for haute cuisine in Russia.
The same cannot be said about Dubai, for instance. Despite all the chic and gloss, the restaurant interiors, which are perfectioned to the smallest detail, the fact remains. This city cannot boast of "local" products and stories, which means that there is little attraction for a Michelin guide. Let's not forget that Dubai is not about skillful fine diving, as Bocuse and Troisgros bequeathed, but about successful business models and money.
Although the economic side of the question remains important for the Michelin guide, so one of its criteria, when choosing a country, is, I repeat, financial stability and growth of the country. And this is quite logical.
Coming to a new market, "Red Guide" makes a significant investment in the area, in the inspection of restaurants, which means that it afterward wants to satisfy its "interest" by investing its money. The more the country has seen an increase in the economy, living standards, and paying capacity and an improvement in the level of the restaurant business, the more Michelin may be interested in this market, the more, subsequently, it will earn on its presence there. So that happened with Slovenia. The country has been waiting for the guide to come for many years and finally deserved it in 2019.
But how can a restaurant catch the guide's attention? First of all, it needs to have its own personality. We have already realized that local and seasonal products and national history are close to Michelin, but the "Red Guide" is oriented towards the restaurants of the highest level and above all those with their own ideology and position, philosophy, and style. The chef should be the one who becomes a guide to the world of unique philosophy and ideology, which he recreates through the dishes. The restaurant's mission is powerful storytelling based on a compelling, meaningful story about the country, its products, traditions, and cultural code. And then - it's the matter of details: wine list, qualified staff, good cutlery, and glasses - details that change the picture for the better.
Is it easy to get a star? The question is very delicate and perhaps even rhetorical. They say that it is more challenging to get the first star in Italy than in France, and someone like Ana Ros or Rasmus Munk manage to get two at once, or even - Swedish chef Bjorn Frantzen - a record three stars at once, even though they say that in theory, this is unrealistic. Each case is unique, although the fact of quotas for stars (they say that in each country a Michelin guide has a certain number of stars that it can give) in each country is not a myth at all, but quite a proven truth.
However, a Michelin guide is a colossal chance for the country and its restaurants. Therefore, if this or that location was honored to welcome the guide, it should be grateful - through the thorns of working on yourself and your business, the Michelin guide can help both an individual restaurant and the whole country attract many new customers.
After all, a restaurant exists for the sake of people and their happiness, isn't it?
