Our culture has the practice of listing, cataloging and ranking many of the elements of society. For example, the traditional lists of the 100 most listened to artists, the 10 best-selling books or the 50 highest-grossing movies of the year. But there is also the honorable tradition of recognizing and celebrating the most outstanding exponents of the arts (including the culinary), with a large number of prizes and awards given by institutions of global prestige. In this sense, the Michelin Guide is today one of the most important references in the field of gastronomy and its arrival in our country will undoubtedly be a milestone. Indeed, it will place Mexico on the international scene under the precepts that have made this guide one of the parameters of good food.
The Michelin Guide in Mexico
In early 2023, the Michelin Guide announced that it would incorporate new destinations in its sections, which currently include a number of cities in 41 countries. The chosen ones were the US states of Georgia and Colorado, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil, and Buenos Aires in Argentina. On October 19 it was announced that the guide will also arrive to Mexico, with a 2024 first edition featuring Mexico City, Oaxaca, Nuevo León, Los Cabos and greater Baja California.
Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, said that inspectors have worked discreetly in Mexico for the past four years, evaluating various restaurants “from local cuisine, which is deeply rooted in tradition and celebrates indigenous ingredients and the abundance of high quality products, to globally inspired creations”.
The selection of Mexican restaurants included in the 2024 edition of the Michelin Guide will be announced early next year. As enthusiasts of our own cuisine, we can only speculate and place our bets on the restaurants that will be awarded this distinction. Without knowing who the restaurant inspectors are, the Michelin Guide wields its influence in two distinct and interesting ways. The first is that it will allow Mexicans to recognize, from an outsider perspective, the diversity of our own gastronomic proposals, which may not have been on our radars. The second is the international attention it will generate in the culinary field, bringing with it unpredictable but exciting results – from the economic to a new wave of untapped creativity.
A bit of history
The Michelin Guide was launched in 1900 as a travel guide, published by the Michelin tire company, which sought to encourage motorists to travel the roads of France armed with practical information (such as instructions for changing a tire), maps, and recommendations for places to eat and stay. Starting in 1923, this last section became more essential. Under the heading “Recommended Hotels and Restaurants” a team of inspectors, professionals in the hotel and culinary industry, were hired to visit and anonymously evaluate the establishments included. In 1926, the guide began to award stars to the best restaurants and five years later established its well-known hierarchy of one, two, and three stars. Finally, in 1936, they published the rigorous criteria applied to the granting of these awards. This is how the Michelin Guide was consolidated as a reference institution in the gastronomic world.
The awards
Throughout the 20th century, Michelin stars became the most respected recognition in haute cuisine, largely due to the professionalism of the anonymous inspectors, all of them specialists dedicated full-time to this task. The consistency of the assessments was made on the basis of five criteria established in 1936: the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of the flavors, the mastery of the technique, the personality of the chef as expressed through his cuisine, and the consistency over time of the proposal as a whole.
With these considerations, hundreds of restaurants in the 41 countries where the guide is present are evaluated and re-evaluated yearly in order to publish the list of restaurants offering the most outstanding culinary experiences.
The simple fact of belonging to this list is already a distinction to which any restaurant (and its chef) aspires, specifically high-end ones, so the difference between having one, two, or three stars lies in its exceptionality, which is also defined on the basis of clearly established criteria:
- One Michelin star is awarded to restaurants that use ingredients of the highest quality and prepare dishes with distinct flavors at a consistently high level.
- Two Michelin stars are awarded when the dishes showcase the personal and professional skills of the chef.
- Three Michelin stars are reserved for beyond the ordinary cuisine. Chefs who achieve this award are at the pinnacle of their careers and elevate cooking to the level of art, proposing dishes destined to become classics.
In addition to the Michelin stars attributed based on the excellence of the cuisine, there are two other awards offered by the guide. The Bib Gourmand, which since 1997, recognizes good value for money and “highlights simple but skillful cuisine at an affordable price” and the Green Star that is awarded to restaurants at the forefront of sustainable practices.
