What Did Anthony Bourdain Really Think About Michelin Stars?

Since the first Michelin stars were given out in 1926, the fine-dining rating system has ranked thousands of restaurants, declaring them the very best in the world. However, the true worth of Michelin stars has been heavily debated over the years. The Michelin Guide (which was created by a company that produces tires) has come under fire from some chefs and food critics for its harsh, arguably biased ratings. Anthony Bourdain was one of the most notorious critics of the awards.

The former host of CNN's beautifully made show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" made his general dislike of Michelin stars known in an interview with Vanity Fair years before the beloved chef's passing at the age of 61. In the interview, Bourdain laid out his frustration plainly after Daniel Boulud's restaurant — fittingly named "Daniel" — lost one of its three stars in 2014. Bourdain said, "The only people who really care about Michelin stars in New York are French guys. We could live without it quite nicely. I don't know how the game works, but I think it's bulls**t that Daniel lost a star—it's utter bulls**t."

Bourdain's stance certainly has some merit; Michelin stars are generally considered a bigger deal among French chefs, and it's not hard to understand why. France, known for its exquisite fine dining, is home to both the most three-star restaurants of any country with 30 and the most Michelin-starred restaurants overall with more than 600.

The fact Michelin stars seem to be mostly appreciated by French chefs was not Bourdain's biggest concern. Later on in the Vanity Fair interview, Bourdain called into question the Michelin Guide's ability to grade in an honest and unbiased way. He said, "Michelin is very generous to some chefs with whom they seem to have a prior relationship, and harsh, even punitive, to others. It's like sausage—no one wants to see how the hell it's made." Bourdain concluded with the claim that above all else, Michelin's system is inherently predatory. 

While Bourdain himself never worked at nor owned a Michelin-starred restaurant, he was close to several people who did. One of Bourdain's closest friends, Eric Ripert, is the co-owner of French restaurant Le Bernardin which has had three Michelin stars since 2005. Because of his proximity to these people, Bourdain understood the stress and pain that Michelin stars cause. He even commented on French chef Bernard Loiseau's suicide in 2003 which some people thought was linked to the chef receiving a reduced rating from another company called Gault Millau. Bourdain indicated that, despite public outcry, he expected organizations including Gault Millau and the Michelin Guide to not change their practices at all.