Michelin star French chefs quit over pressure of Red Guide

The Telegraph ^ | 3/2/2009 | Henry Samuel in Paris

[bruinbirdman]

Two Michelin star French chefs have stopped running their world-renowned restaurants after saying they could no longer cope with the pressure of being judged for the 100th annual Red Guide which was unveiled yesterday.

Marc Veyrat, 58, has announced he will cease personally running his celebrated Auberge de l'Eridan near Annecy in the Alps for "health reasons" and that the restaurant's scheduled reopening on May 1 was "on standby".

Marc Veyrat: Mr Veyrat is the second chef in three months to give up running a top restaurant

"Physically, I had reached the limit of what I could do," he said by way of explanation.

His decision to distance himself from his famous restaurant in Veyrier-du-Lac was announced too late for Michelin to make changes to the 2009 edition of its Red Guide, in which the cook retained his three stars.

Mr Veyrat is the second chef in three months to give up running a top restaurant. In November, Olivier Roellinger, 53, turned in his three Michelin stars and closed his Maisons de Bricourt in the small Brittany port of Cancale, saying that: "Physically, I can no longer continue cooking. My legs no longer hold me." Both men cited physical disabilities but the infernal pressure to hold on to the top gastronomic accolade was said to be a key factor behind their move.

Five three-Michelin star chefs in France have renounced their stars in recent years. Joel Robuchon handed in his in 1996, Alain Senderens did the same in 2005 and the Alsatian chef Antoine Westermann followed suit in 2006.

In 2003 top chef Bernard Loiseau committed suicide after it was rumoured he was to lose one of his three stars.

François Simon, Le Figaro's food critic, said :"The pressure is so great. It's as if every

[JRandomFreeper]

The pressure is great, and once you're over 40.... standing on concrete for 14 hours a day and hefting 50 lb boxes is NOT going to work well with normal knees.

If I could, I'd be in a kitchen to earn my daily bread.

Good luck to this great Chef. Kitchen management is like football. You gotta get out at the top of your game.

/johnny

[CoolPapaBoze]

Quitters.

[mnehring]

I recall that Robuchon (arguably the best modern chef) refused his because the award became less about cooking and more about celeb.

[americanophile]

There’s something amusingly French about chef stress.

[eddie willers]

There’s something amusingly French about chef stress.

[Arguendo]

I’ve found Zagat to be about as good the Michelin Guide, and almost certainly less stress-inducing, since it depends on customer satisfaction rather than some possibly arbitrary and never certain standard.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Is that Fr Guido Sarducci????