Michelin Guide seen making its mark

She said the launch of the company’s renowned restaurant guide in particular cities would benefit the local restaurant sector and supply chain, including the farming sector and the sourcing of food ingredients.
In general, a restaurant that is rated in a Michelin Guide will enjoy higher revenue of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, and up to between 50 per cent and 100 per cent for the Michelin-starred restaurants," she said.
Clauzel said that Bangkok is the 30th edition for the Michelin Guide.
The Michelin Guide is now published in all countries in Europe. In Asia, the guide has been launched in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Seoul, and six editions in Japan, including Tokyo. In North America, the guide book has published in New York, Washington, San Francisco, and Chicago, with there is one edition each for Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo in South America.
The group announced yesterday that it planned to publish the first edition of the Michelin Guide in Guangzhou, as the second city in China.
“For the past 10 years, Asia has a good potential for the gastronomy landscape,” said Clauzel, citing China, Thailand, and Japan as example for where foods and gastronomy are part of the culture.
“There are lot of exchanges between countries and cultures within and outside the region. Asia itself has strong development of tourism activities and local dining outs. Young people today are also interested in gastronomy,” she said.
“Once the gastronomy landscape has been changed with an increasing number of restaurants and emergence of quality cooking and ingredients, you then have capacities to have good restaurants,” added Clauzel.
“This is also good for the development of local agricultural products as chefs are going to push farmers to produce good quality ingredients through quality processing system. A good ecosystem will be developed around, including the durability and sustainability of the food supply chain and sourcing of ingredients.”
She said that there are five major criteria for Michelin Guide for rating restaurants, which are same all over the world. They are quality of products, quality of cooking, personality of chef, consistency and regularity, and value for money.
Michelin on Wednesday unveiled its first selection for the Michelin Guide Bangkok, which features 98 restaurants, comprising three two-starred restaurants, 14 one-starred restaurants, and 35 Bib Gourmand (Value for Money) restaurants.
Clauzel said that Bangkok is considered successful in having 17 per cent of the 98 listed restaurants being awarded the group’s coveted stars in only its first edition.
She said that in France, where the Michelin Guide has been published for more than 100 years, only 13 per cent of the restaurants listed in the local guide have been awarded stars. There are 4,500 restaurants listed in the French edition.
Clauzel said that there are 22,000 restaurants all over the world listed in the Michelin Guide. Out of those, there are only 116 three-starred and 450 two-starred restaurants.