War is declared, not for the first time, between France and Britain. The conflict might be called “Michelin star wars” or the gastronomic empire strikes back, reports The Independent.
French chefs and culinary experts have long been infuriated by the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” survey launched more than a decade ago by the British magazine Restaurant. In the 2014 list, for instance, there were only three French restaurants in the top 50. The highest was at 11th place.
The survey has sometimes been used in the British and American media – though not by Restaurant magazine – to suggest that French cooking is overrated or passé.
Last week, the French gastronomic magazine Le Chef produced a rival list. And quelle surprise! Six of the world’s top chefs, according to the survey, are French. The top two places go to Pierre Gagnaire (92nd in the 2014 Restaurant survey – which, beyond its name, in fact lists a top 100) and the ageing “pope” of French cuisine, Paul Bocuse, who is not in the “British” list at all.
The highest-placed UK restaurant in the French list is Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck at Bray, Berkshire, which is 28th. The restaurant that topped the “Best 50” list last year – and on three previous occasions – René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, does not even make the French magazine’s top 100.
A question of taste? Or a question of propaganda?
In presenting his new list, the editor of Le Chef, Francis Luzin, said last week that it was the “first accurate snapshot of the best restaurants in the world”. He made a direct attack on the “so-called 50 best” which, he said, “revolted many French chefs”.
Mr Luzin complained that the composition of the “jury” for the “50 best” was “problematic” because it allotted 10 jurors to each country – whether that country had a strong gastronomic tradition or not. This is inaccurate. The British survey is based on 36 regional juries of 27 chefs and cookery writers. France, because of its strong culinary tradition, is a region of its own.
In any case, the jury chosen by Le Chef has a dubious claim to objectivity.