By Sara Williams
In the run up to the latest guidebooks' release date in September, we look at the dos and don’ts for the awards and the history behind them.
The History:
Andre Michelin, the French industrialist, founded the tyre company with his brother Edouard in 1888. The Michelin Guide is a series of annual books, first published in 1974 to boost the demand for cars in France as there were fewer than 3,000 cars at the time. Boosting the demand for cars also boosted the demand for tyres. Nearly 35,000 copies were printed and given away free of charge containing all you need to know for motorists.
How are the stars awarded?
Michelin inspectors visit the premises once every 18 months; a star candidate will receive four visits, a two star restaurant receives ten visits before becoming a three star. The visits take place anonymously - the inspectors are on the road three weeks out of four.
One star indicates a very good restaurant in its category, offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard. A good place to stop on your journey.
Two stars denote excellent cuisine, skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. Worth a detour.
Three stars reward exceptional cuisine where diners eat extremely well, often superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients. Worth a special journey.
The Good Food Guide is a popular guide reviewing and writing about restaurants, pubs and cafes since 1951. The guide aims to bring together the best places to eat out from throughout the country and over the years they built up a meticulous, thoroughly comprehensive reporting system that casts a critical eye over Britain’s cafes, pubs, bistros and restaurants.
Scoring Guidelines
1/10 – capable cooking, with simple food combinations and clear flavours, but some inconsistencies.
2/10 – decent cooking, displaying good basic technical skills and interesting combinations and flavours. Occasional inconsistencies.
3/10 – good cooking, showing sound technical skills and using quality ingredients
4/10 – dedicated, focused approach to cooking; good classical skills and high quality ingredients
5/10 – exact cooking techniques and a degree of ambition; showing balance and depth of flavour in dishes, while using quality ingredients
6/10 – exemplary cooking skills, innovative ideas, impeccable ingredients and an element of excitement
7/10 – high level of ambition and individuality, attention to the smallest detail, accurate and vibrant dishes
8/10 – a kitchen cooking close to or at the top of its game – highly individual showing faultless technique and impressive artistry in dishes that are perfectly balanced for flavour, combination and texture, there is little room for disappointment here.
9/10 – this mark is for cooking that has
