Guy Savoy, the Frenchman often called “the best chef in the world”, has had a Michelin star taken away from his flagship Paris restaurant.
Restaurant Guy Savoy — Monnaie de Paris, which has held three Michelin stars since 2002, has been demoted to two stars in the latest edition of the guide to France, which is published on March 7.
Speaking to The Times, Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, explained that restaurants given stars are “exceptional” and decisions to remove them are “carefully considered” and “supported by numerous visits from our inspectors throughout the year”.
He continued: “The reasons are not made public, and communicated only to the chefs involved. For such important decisions, we include not just French inspectors but also some from other countries.”
Monnaie de Paris’s sister restaurant in Las Vegas held two stars in the days when Michelin published a guide to the Nevada city, while Savoy was this year named the world’s best chef for the sixth year running by the French restaurant guide La Liste.
The 69-year-old opened his first restaurant in Paris in 1980 and has trained many of the biggest names in global gastronomy, including Gordon Ramsay, who calls Savoy his “culinary mentor.” Such is Savoy’s fame in France that in 2007 he voiced the character of sous-chef Horst in the French version of Ratatouille.
Christopher Coutanceau, a seafood restaurant in La Rochelle, has also been demoted from three to two stars in the latest edition of the Michelin Guide to France, while around 20 restaurants have been downgraded from two stars to one.
Eight UK restaurants currently hold three stars. The country’s most famous chefs will find out whether they still hold the highest accolade awarded by Michelin when the new Great Britain and Ireland stars are announced at a ceremony at Silverstone racetrack on March 27.
