Guy Savoy, lauded as world’s best chef, loses Michelin star
Amarachi Orie, CNN
Guy Savoy, who has been praised as the world’s best chef, has lost one of his Michelin stars.
His Monnaie de Paris restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars by the Michelin Guide in 2002, according to the restaurant, and maintained the status for two decades.
The restaurant jointly topped Paris-based guide La Liste’s 2023 world’s best restaurant selection for the sixth consecutive year.
However, its Michelin status has been downgraded to two stars in the latest edition of the Michelin Guide France, to be published next week, the Michelin Group confirmed in a statement on Monday.
Savoy was informed in a private discussion with the international director of the Michelin Guides, Gwendal Poullennec, along with chef Christopher Coutanceau, whose marine-themed restaurant in La Rochelle, southwest France, is also being demoted.
“We are fully aware of the impact of our decisions for the restaurants concerned,” the Michelin Group said in the statement. “We maintain a trust-based relationship with the gourmets and our readers. They expect our recommendations to be serious and reliable in order to guide them in their choices.”
The Michelin Guide said it was in the process of contacting other restaurants that will have stars removed, but said the ratings are “in no way permanent” and are reassessed yearly by their inspection teams.
In 2019, Marc Veyrat became the first chef to sue Michelin, following the demotion of his restaurant La Maison des Bois, based in Haute-Savoie, to two-star status. The decision was said to be down to the cheese used in the soufflé.
However, the court ruled against him on the grounds that the chef provided no proof that the downgrade had caused him damage.
Savoy began training to be a chef in 1968 at the age of 15, and spent the next decade working with chefs and in various restaurants around France, according to his website.
As a child, he would peep at the food being prepared in pans in the kitchen of his family’s restaurant, La Buvette de l’Esplanade, in France’s Bourgoin-Jallieu, according to Michelin.
He opened his first restaurant in Paris in 1980, which moved into a more spacious site in 1987, before eventually being situated in the French national mint building, Monnaie de Paris, in May 2015.
Designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the restaurant features six dining rooms, tall windows, plates with a hand-painted smiling face, colored glass water droplet ornaments and a backdrop of the Seine River.
CNN has contacted Savoy for comment.
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