Guy Savoy, one of the most famous French chefs in the world, has lost his third star in the Michelin Guide. Causing quite a stir in the world of gastronomy.
Twenty-one years. Twenty-one years since Guy Savoy stood in the firmament. On Monday the 27th of February, the announcement hit: his Parisian restaurant will only be awarded two stars in the Michelin Guide in 2023. A premature announcement. Indeed, it is only next week, on March the 6th, that the Red Guide has planned its grand ceremony that awards the French stars. It would seem that the buzz has got the better of this well timed operation. The subsequent news that Christopher Coutanceau’s 3rd star in La Rochelle has been withdrawn has also caused quite a stir.
“Well-considered decisions”
“These are exceptional restaurants, so you can imagine that these decisions have been carefully thought out, backed up by numerous visits by our inspectors,” said Gwendal Poullennec, the Guide’s director. As a matter of fact, Guy Savoy’s restaurant in Paris has been elected for the sixth consecutive time “best restaurant in the world” according to the international ranking published by La Liste.
Returning stronger next year
On Monday evening, the man who considers himself to be more of a “cook” than a “Chef” spoke about this new shock: “Until now, I have only had the best moments in my career. We lost the game this year, but we’ll win it again next year,” said Guy Savoy. While on social networks, tributes were pouring in:
“Some tears” for Michel Sarran
In the aftermath, it was announced that the two stars of well-known chefs such as Jean-Luc Tartarin in Le Havre and Michel Sarran, who has also had two stars for twenty years in Toulouse, would be withdrawn. The latter says that he shed “a few tears” during “this difficult moment” and that this way of proceeding, a week before the official announcement, was not respectful “either for (his) teams or for the customers who had already booked”.
On the “one star” side, about twenty restaurants would have apparently lost their star… To be confirmed on the 6th of March.