Are Restaurants' Michelin Stars Related to Michelin Tires?

Receiving one or more Michelin stars is one of the highest honors in the restaurant industry. Learn how a tire company started this prestigious tradition in today's episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Bogebam here. Fourteen restaurants in Washington, d C. Got
coveted Michelin Stars in September of this year, including the
city's first three starred restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington.
This was part of Michelin's nineteen rollout of U S cities.

(00:22):
But the Michelin Guide didn't start out as the iconic
fine dining guide we know of today. In fact, it
was originally just a promotion for a tire company. Let's
back up for a bit of history. In eighteen eighty nine,
Edward and Andre Michelin founded their eponymous tire company in
Claremont Ferrand, France. Ten years later, they introduced the famous
Michelin Man mascot, whose official name is Monsieur bi Bendam.

(00:45):
In Michelin's early advertisements, Monsieur b Bendam was pictured with
a glass in hand and the caption nunc esque bendam,
which is Latin for now is the time to drink.
Around nineteen hundred, Michelin started creating and giving out free
guides filled with useful road in from nation locations of hotels,
gas stations and restaurants around France. They're hoping to increase

(01:05):
their tire sales by encouraging more driving, But as the
entire company became more successful, so did the guides. Eventually,
Michelin expanded the coverage across Europe and even began charging
for the guides in nineteen twenty. As the Michelin Guide
gained respect in the industry, the company introduced its first
Fine Dining guide in nine six, and later it's three
star rating system in ninety one. Now, the Michelin Star

(01:28):
is one of the most coveted honors a restaurant can earn.
In fact, restaurants and only four US cities Chicago, New York,
San Francisco and Washington, d C Are even rated. The
bulk restaurants are located in Europe and Asia. What does
the Michelin Star mean? One star indicates high quality cooking
or the stop, two stars excellent cooking or the detour,

(01:49):
and three stars exceptional cuisine worth a special journey. Today inspectors,
as Michelin calls them, are anonymous and pay for their
meals to maintain credibility. They judge their experience based on
the equality of the products mastery of flavoring, cooking techniques,
the personality of the chef in their cuisine, the value
for the money, and the consistency between visits. Michelin acknowledges

(02:10):
that the inspector job isn't quite as glamorous as it sounds,
and that the Michelin Guide isn't considered a source of
profit for the company, but it is nevertheless an important
part of the Michelin brand. And so what does it
take for a restaurant and chef to earn a prestigious
Michelin Star or three lamb ming Kin chef owner of
one Michelin starred long Tail in tai Pei, Taiwan, had

(02:31):
this advice for a panel at the Michelin Guide Singapore
Trade Seminar. They said, cooking involves craftsmanship and a human touch.
There's no fast solution. You need to spend time with
your cooks and train them step by step. It sounds
like the answer to earning Michelin stars is the same
thing that made Michelin Stars so comfortable to begin with,
slow and steady wins the race. Today's episode was written

(02:56):
by Series three Wit and produced by Tyler Clang. For
more on this and lots of other prestigious topics. Visit
our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, m