Wealth Blog | Michelin Guide stars mean stress for chefs – and do diners care?

I wonder who, apart from chefs and restaurant public relations people, pays attention to the annual Michelin Guide awards for Hong Kong and Macau. Gold by Harlan Goldstein’s Harlan swears his stars are a big draw, but surely Hong Kongers let Open Rice, not a French guidebook decide where they eat. Michelin only started here in 2009, but has made some odd calls, such as dishing out stars to local dim sum joint Tim Ho Wan.

But fine dining it is not and that’s what Michelin is supposed to be about. Ask any European contender and they will tell you it’s also about back of house and surroundings, which in Europe are judged as keenly as what’s on the plate. So the guide’s excuses that food, not plastic seats and kitchen hygiene are not being judged would raise eyebrows in Paris. For Europe, Michelin food must be perfect, every carrot identical, even ice-cream made fresh daily and yesterday’s chucked. During my chef days I was shocked at how wasteful it was. Every barrelled spud that was not identical went into the stockpot. I’d be surprised if the same standards were applied when making dim sum.

But Michelin defends their Hong Kong decisions. Michael Ellis, Michelin Guides’ international director, insists the evaluation criteria are the same everywhere. “Our method has always been the same focus on quality of ingredients, personality, consistency and value,” he says, pointing out that local experts do the reviews in each location. What’s more, he added, the designation of stars is based on what’s served, not how or where it’s served. Perhaps he should see how his judges in Paris and London do it.

Regardless, there’s a hint of emperor wearing no clothes about hordes of people queuing outside a Michelin starred dim sum restaurant for HK$26 dumplings, no matter how wonderful they are. And many of the tried and tested restaurants, which are packed every day, such as those in Mandarin Oriental, only just this year picked up a second star for their posh Pierre, while their Chinese restaurant Man Wah was awarded a Michelin star for the first time. Has the food suddenly improved there in the five years since Michelin set up shop? Meanwhile Mandarin Grill retains its single star for the fifth consecutive year. I can vouch for the Grill having improved dramatically under the current chef – yet it still only rates a single star.