Red is the new black,' jokes Jean-Luc Naret. The elegant Frenchman isn't giving sartorial advice, but pondering his question of the moment: Why do all three of the new food guides published this year have red covers?
His, of course, is the original little red book: the Michelin Guide, of which he is the sixth director in its 108-year history.
The first Michelin guide to Hong Kong and Macau is coming out in December. The Zagat Survey of Hong Kong came out in May, and the newest kid on the block - the Miele Guide to the 320 best restaurants in 16 countries in Asia - is due to be launched on October 31.
Naret is the public face of Michelin and has an enviable job. He eats at the best restaurants chosen by his team of anonymous inspectors, who have been in and out of Hong Kong and Macau since late last year, living locally for weeks at a time, doing reconnaissance and dining at and reviewing restaurants before writing up reports.
Hong Kong and Macau are in the spotlight as the second part of Asia to be covered by Michelin after the debut of the guide to Tokyo last year. Naret says, 'When we thought of Asia, we looked at global Asia - we looked at everywhere from New Delhi to Sydney. There was no doubt Hong Kong would be the second city in Asia - it was the right port of entry for China. We thought about all the talent you have in the hotels here, but we also thought about the diversity of food and culture.'
Naret estimates that, as of a week ago, the team of 14 inspectors had visited about 850 of the 1,200 or so restaurants originally shortlisted for consideration in the guide. 'The list had every restaurant with potential. We did research from everything that was available, from guides in other publications, newspapers and magazines, and from different contacts we had. Then we had to filter this down and we assigned inspectors to [cover] specific areas - some are in charge of a certain part of Kowloon, others cover a part of Central. Each of them has to go through the restaurants on his list and in between lunch and dinner, he walks around the neighbourhood, trying to find restaurants that aren't on the list that should be covered.'