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Opinion | How many Michelin-star chefs are there? None, actually; it’s restaurants that are awarded. Why celebrity cook culture is getting out of hand

  • The likes of Joël Robuchon and Alain Ducasse, and not their restaurants, are often credited with Michelin stars, but this is a misconception
  • Our obsession with celebrity chefs ignores the teams behind them. Besides, is a chef who fries noodles any less talented than one who crafts tasting menus?

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Chef Joel Robuchon (centre) with his team at his restaurant The Mansion, in Las Vegas, in 2005. Our obsession with celebrity chefs overlooks the teams behind them that contribute to restaurants’ Michelin-star status. Photo: Getty Images

On April 26, the much delayed results for the latest Hong Kong and Macau edition of the Michelin Guide were released to the world.

In tandem, the website michelinstarredchefs.com, which purports to present a “comprehensive list of Michelin-starred chefs” every year without fail, also shared an update.

Scroll down the page and all you’ll see is a single sentence in English and in French: “There are none. Restaurants, not chefs, are awarded Michelin stars.”

That’s right – there’s no such thing as a Michelin-star chef.
Alain Ducasse (left) and his kitchen team prepare food at his upscale French restaurant Benoit, in New York, in 2017. Photo: Getty Images
Alain Ducasse (left) and his kitchen team prepare food at his upscale French restaurant Benoit, in New York, in 2017. Photo: Getty Images
The late, great Joël Robuchon is frequently cited as having more Michelin stars than any other chef – fans claim he had 31 under his belt, dispersed among his galaxy of restaurants stretching from Paris to Hong Kong.
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