Diner’s Diary | Michelin Guides wouldn’t exist without sponsors, says director in defence of practice that has raised some eyebrows

Soliciting sponsors, such as an operator of 40 restaurants for Michelin Guide Singapore, is as natural as sports having sponsors and newspapers having ads, says Michael Ellis. Besides, without sponsors there’d be no guides, he says

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Michael Ellis, international director, Michelin Guides, on stage at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore where the 2018 awardees were announced. Photo: courtesy of Michelin Guides

Published: 4:33pm, 26 Jul 2018Updated: 2:55pm, 27 Jul 2018

The Michelin Guides’ international director has defended the dining bible’s sponsorship in Asia by businesses and tourism boards, which has prompted questions about how independent the guides are.

Michael Ellis said Michelin would continue to seek sponsorship for the annual guides, and equated this to sponsorship of sporting events or newspapers soliciting advertising as a form of financial support.

Chefs whose Singapore restaurants were awarded a star in the Michelin Guide Singapore 2018 on stage at a ceremony on Wednesday at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore. Photo: courtesy of Michelin Guides

“If you look at any event, whether a sporting event, tennis match, sailing events, Formula One, sponsors are part of life. If you look at newspaper advertising, it’s a form of sponsorship at the end of the day, that’s their business model,” said Ellis, who will soon leave his post.

Ellis, 60, spoke to the Post ahead of the unveiling of the 2018 edition of the Michelin Guide Singapore on Wednesday at Resorts World Sentosa – one of the guide’s sponsors, along with French mineral water companies Badoit and Evian, credit card giant American Express, dining reservations service Chope, Nespresso, and the Singapore Tourism Board.

Resorts World Sentosa operates 40 restaurants, one of which, Osia, this year lost the Michelin star it had previously been awarded. Its two others with Michelin stars – Joël Robuchon Restaurant, the lone three-star restaurant in Singapore, and two-star L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon – closed last month.