Guide Michelin

Le guide Michelin est confronté à un nouveau coup dur pour son image
avec le retrait des librairies du guide Bénélux 2005, une première dans
l'histoire du célèbre guide rouge, pour cause de notation trop rapide
d'un restaurant qui était en fait encore en chantier.

Tout a commencé lundi 24 janvier: le guide Bénélux 2005, un des guides
européens du Michelin, est dévoilé à Maastricht (Pays-Bas).

Mercredi matin, le journal belge Le Soir révèle qu'un restaurant
d'Ostende, sur la côte nord, s'est vu attribuer deux fourchettes et un
Bib Gourmand (bon rapport qualité-prix) alors que le restaurant n'a été
ouvert que le 8 janvier.

Le chef de l'Ostend Queen affirmait au Soir que son établissement
figurait dans le Michelin-Benelux 2005 parce que "parrainé par Pierre
Wynants", chef 3 étoiles bruxellois, et grâce à leurs "bonnes relations"
avec la direction du guide, venue les voir le 1er novembre 2004 alors
que le restaurant était encore un chantier.

"Nous avons conclu un accord pour figurer dès l'édition 2005 dans le
guide rouge et ne pas devoir attendre un an inutilement", précisait même
Fernand David. L'explication était confirmée au soir par le rédacteur en
chef du Michelin Belgique Alain Fremiot.

Jeudi matin, un communiqué de Michelin publié à Paris a annoncé le
retrait de la vente du guide en question, une première depuis la
publication des guides français et européens, soit 50.000 exemplaires
qui vont partir au pilon. La nouvelle édition Bénélux devrait sortir
"sous deux mois environ".

Michelin n'a pas souhaité s'exprimer sur les "relations" que le guide
entretient avec les chefs. Un porte-parole a simplement précisé que
"dans un souci de bien-faire" et pensant disposer "des éléments
suffisants et pour ne pas priver les lecteurs d'une nouvelle adresse
intéressante, l'équipe du guide belge, avait pris la décision
d'attribuer un bib gourmand au restaurant Ostend Queen".

C'est la deuxième fois en moins d'un an que Michelin applique son
principe "à situation inédite, réponse inédite". Le 22 avril dernier, le
groupe avait publié une pleine page de publicité dans trois quotidiens
nationaux pour défendre son honneur face aux affirmations d'un ancien
inspecteur.

Pascal Rémy sortait ce jour là un livre dans lequel il affirmait
notamment que cinq inspecteurs seulement étaient en charge de noter les
établissements français et que certains étaient "intouchables".

Régulièrement, Michelin est critiqué pour son manque de transparence
dans son système de notation, ses relations avec certains chefs et ce
que certains chroniqueurs gastronomiques appellent "sa dérive commerciale".

Selon Pascal Rémy, joint jeudi par l'AFP, "Michelin entend rallier
l'opinion publique via les chefs". Il rappelle que le nouveau patron du
guide, Jean-Luc Naret avait lancé une grande enquête auprès des chefs et
hôteliers européens pour leur demander s'ils seraient intéressés de
vendre le guide dans leur établissement.

Un grand chef parisien qui a requis l'anonymat affirme que "le Michelin
reste la référence en France même si personne n'est infaillible". "C'est
vrai que certaines notations posent problème, mais à Lyon pendant le
Bocuse d'Or, tous les chefs ne parlaient que de la prochaine édition du
Michelin-France. C'est toujours le baromètre de la gastronomie".

Le guide France doit sortir le 3 mars.

In the message ...
"stanislas" wrote:

Le guide Michelin est confronté à un nouveau coup dur pour son image
avec le retrait des librairies du guide Bénélux 2005, une première dans
l'histoire du célèbre guide rouge, pour cause de notation trop rapide
d'un restaurant qui était en fait encore en chantier.

Tout a commencé lundi 24 janvier: le guide Bénélux 2005, un des guides
européens du Michelin, est dévoilé à Maastricht (Pays-Bas).

SNIP rest of text in French

Here is one version of the story in English, from The Times online:

"January 28, 2005

Michelin knows just the place for the real gourmand: a building site

By Charles Bremner and Marie Tourres

50,000 copies of the latest guide have been pulped after restaurant was
commended before it was even built


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...459992,00.html


THE Michelin Man was wiping egg from his face again yesterday after
admitting that the Red Guide had awarded high marks to a Belgian seaside
fish restaurant even though it was a building site that had never served a
dish.

In the first such action in its history, the French bible of culinary
excellence withdrew all 50,000 copies of its 2005 Benelux Red Guide, which
reached the shops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on Monday.

Michelin, which built its mystique on the rigorous vetting of restaurants by
anonymous inspectors, said that it had failed to apply its own rules when it
rated the Ostend Queen, atop the resort's old casino, as worthy of two forks
and a Bib Gourmand. This designates excellent food at a moderate price.

The restaurant, which opened this month, two months after Michelin went to
print, was "like a liner dominating the beach and the sea", said the guide.
"This new concept which pays tribute to Neptune, will certainly make waves .
.. ."

The gaffe follows other recent episodes which have tarnished the reputation
of the arbiter of gastronomy.

The Red Guide, under the overall Michelin editorship of Derek Brown,
received bad publicity last year when Pascal Rémy, a Michelin inspector for
16 years, published a book alleging sloppiness, favouritism and dishonesty
in the Michelin methods. He lost a claim for unfair dismissal at a tribunal
in Paris last month.

The power of the grand food guides came under fire in 2003 when Bernard
Loiseau, a celebrity chef, committed suicide in a state of depression,
fuelled in part by fear that Michelin was about to remove one of his three
stars.

The explanation for Michelin's Ostend debacle would appear to confirm M Rémy
's account of cosy relations between Michelin and its favoured chefs.

The guide said that it wanted to give a helping hand to a new restaurant
that was under the aegis of Pierre Wynants, a celebrated Brussels chef who
owns Comme Chez Soi. The three-star establishment is the haunt of EU
commissioners and other VIPs.

To spare the Ostend Queen the need to wait a year for a Michelin mention,
the guide agreed to do a favour for Fernand David, its owner, and list the
yet unopened restaurant.

"We meant well," said Fabrice Lenica, a Michelin spokeswoman. "We did not
want to deprive our readers of this interesting address. But it is true that
the usual quality procedure was not observed . . .

"We do not fear for the reputation of the guide. This is the first time in
105 years that such an incident has taken place."

Mr David, a former director of Hilton hotels in Europe who has invested £20
million in redeveloping the Ostend casino complex, expressed his anger with
Michelin.

"This is a storm in a teacup," he told The Times. "The two forks are a
rating for decor. We were visited by the inspectors who met the architect,
saw the plans and judged the comfort of the surroundings."

The Bib Gourmand was awarded because "the inspectors know the reputation of
Pierre Wynants, who devised the menus and is our chief consultant", he
added. "

rest SNIPPED

Alan (in Brussels) wrote:
|| SNIP rest of text in French
|| Here is one version of the story in English, from The Times online:

could you stop the croosposting please ?
(one of the newsgroup is in french language)

Alan (in Brussels) wrote:
|| SNIP rest of text in French
|| Here is one version of the story in English, from The Times online:

could you stop the croosposting please ?
(one of the newsgroup is in french language)

It is amusing that the owner is so angry with the guide that was trying
to do a favor for him. Could it possibly be that he didn't want the
favor and didn't understand that it was happening. Of course Mr. David
did his best to have no mention of the silly restaurant until it could
actually produce some food to be considered. The inspectors looking
over the plans were just intruders that his staff were too polite to
throw out.

As to the the comment from the publisher's flack this is probably not
the first such incident it's simply the first time that they have been
caught so blatantly.



Alan (in Brussels) wrote:

In the message ...
"stanislas" wrote:

Le guide Michelin est confronté à un nouveau coup dur pour son image
avec le retrait des librairies du guide Bénélux 2005, une première dans
l'histoire du célèbre guide rouge, pour cause de notation trop rapide
d'un restaurant qui était en fait encore en chantier.

Tout a commencé lundi 24 janvier: le guide Bénélux 2005, un des guides
européens du Michelin, est dévoilé à Maastricht (Pays-Bas).


SNIP rest of text in French

Here is one version of the story in English, from The Times online:

"January 28, 2005

Michelin knows just the place for the real gourmand: a building site

By Charles Bremner and Marie Tourres

50,000 copies of the latest guide have been pulped after restaurant was
commended before it was even built


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...459992,00.html


THE Michelin Man was wiping egg from his face again yesterday after
admitting that the Red Guide had awarded high marks to a Belgian seaside
fish restaurant even though it was a building site that had never served a
dish.

In the first such action in its history, the French bible of culinary
excellence withdrew all 50,000 copies of its 2005 Benelux Red Guide, which
reached the shops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on Monday.

Michelin, which built its mystique on the rigorous vetting of restaurants by
anonymous inspectors, said that it had failed to apply its own rules when it
rated the Ostend Queen, atop the resort's old casino, as worthy of two forks
and a Bib Gourmand. This designates excellent food at a moderate price.

The restaurant, which opened this month, two months after Michelin went to
print, was "like a liner dominating the beach and the sea", said the guide.
"This new concept which pays tribute to Neptune, will certainly make waves .
. ."

The gaffe follows other recent episodes which have tarnished the reputation
of the arbiter of gastronomy.

The Red Guide, under the overall Michelin editorship of Derek Brown,
received bad publicity last year when Pascal Rémy, a Michelin inspector for
16 years, published a book alleging sloppiness, favouritism and dishonesty
in the Michelin methods. He lost a claim for unfair dismissal at a tribunal
in Paris last month.

The power of the grand food guides came under fire in 2003 when Bernard
Loiseau, a celebrity chef, committed suicide in a state of depression,
fuelled in part by fear that Michelin was about to remove one of his three
stars.

The explanation for Michelin's Ostend debacle would appear to confirm M Rémy
's account of cosy relations between Michelin and its favoured chefs.

The guide said that it wanted to give a helping hand to a new restaurant
that was under the aegis of Pierre Wynants, a celebrated Brussels chef who
owns Comme Chez Soi. The three-star establishment is the haunt of EU
commissioners and other VIPs.

To spare the Ostend Queen the need to wait a year for a Michelin mention,
the guide agreed to do a favour for Fernand David, its owner, and list the
yet unopened restaurant.

"We meant well," said Fabrice Lenica, a Michelin spokeswoman. "We did not
want to deprive our readers of this interesting address. But it is true that
the usual quality procedure was not observed . . .

"We do not fear for the reputation of the guide. This is the first time in
105 years that such an incident has taken place."

Mr David, a former director of Hilton hotels in Europe who has invested £20
million in redeveloping the Ostend casino complex, expressed his anger with
Michelin.

"This is a storm in a teacup," he told The Times. "The two forks are a
rating for decor. We were visited by the inspectors who met the architect,
saw the plans and judged the comfort of the surroundings."

The Bib Gourmand was awarded because "the inspectors know the reputation of
Pierre Wynants, who devised the menus and is our chief consultant", he
added. "

rest SNIPPED

Salut "Claudie", bjr à tous,

could you stop the croosposting please ?
(one of the newsgroup is in french language)

Bravo Claudie,

Ton anglais m'impressionne.
Sincèremen, 1° degré seulement,

bises à toi, PapyPierre

--
Ceci est une signature automatique de MesNews.
Site : http://www.mesnews.net

PapyPierre a écrit :
Salut "Claudie", bjr à tous,

could you stop the croosposting please ?
(one of the newsgroup is in french language)


Bravo Claudie,

Ton anglais m'impressionne.
Sincèremen, 1° degré seulement,

bises à toi, PapyPierre


Elle part en croisade contre les étrangers...

Eric

Syrah wrote:
|| Elle part en croisade contre les étrangers...

je pars en croisade contre la connerie
PLONK donc

PapyPierre wrote:
|| Ton anglais m'impressionne.
|| Sincèremen, 1° degré seulement,

mouarrrrrffffff bon tu me fais bien rigoler Pierre ! merci
la langue anglaise je l'aime bcp bcp mais pas sur les groupes francophones
;-)

Claudie qui aime bien ranger ! hihihihi

Claudie a écrit :
Syrah wrote:
|| Elle part en croisade contre les étrangers...

je pars en croisade contre la connerie
PLONK donc



Pourquoi parler anglais est une connerie ?

Seule l'intolérance et des idées réductrices provoquent la connerie...
.... alors comment veux-tu partir en croisade contre quelque chose qui
touche tout le monde, toi y compris ?

Claudie, je te le redis, rien ne t'autorise à intervenir comme un
gendarme, ici, on est en toute liberté. Tu n'as pas plus de droit qu'un
autre ; on ne t'a chargé d'aucune charge divine...
.... alors si certains posts ne sont pas de ton goût, ne les lis pas et
n'y réponds pas !

C'est assez pénible de voir certains vouloir tout réglementer. Si les
forums .fr sont francophones effectivement, rien n'indique qu'il est
interdit d'intervenir dans une autre langue. Dans le cas présent, si
quelqu'un veut une information sur un restaurant situé en France mais
qu'il ne parle pas français, il semble que l'anglais soit tout indiqué,
non ?
Il n'existe pas pour l'instant des rec.cuisine.bonnes-adresses.france en
portugais, allemands, thaïs... Ce NG fait moins de 6 posts par jour
alors pourquoi vouloir encore le brider par des amendements directement
sortis de nul part...

Amicalement,

Eric