Why is the Michelin star lost?

Every now and then we happen to read about restaurants who lose the Michelin star. At first glance, such news makes us think that the activity has been downgraded to the famous one gastronomic guide for a matter of quality. Which is generally true but it doesn’t embrace all the cases. So let’s see in more detail when and why a restaurant loses the coveted Michelin star.

Michelin star: the regulation

If we read the online regulation of the guide, which is published annually, we discover that the reason for the loss of the star is simple: “The Guide Michelin are meant for our readers, so if we feel that the Kitchen of a restaurant is no longer at the same level, we will not award the Star againnext year”.

Stars go to restaurants, not chefs

But one thing needs to be clarified. The star, acknowledgment of the guide’s excellence, is awarded at the restaurant and not at the chef, as is often mistakenly thought. Each venue can receive a maximum of Three, and the star is awarded after one or more visits by inspectors operating with similar criteria around the world. So it is said that if one chef leave a restaurantit will automatically lose the macaron.

The Michelin regulation reads: “Sometimes, the restaurant promotes a sous-chef who has proven to have the same talent as his predecessor; other times it may hire a talented chef from another restaurant. We’ll just go back to the restaurant and check the level of its cooking”. Many times this doesn’t happen. Just look at one of the latest changes in Italian haute cuisine: the Piedmontese restaurant “La Madernassa” in fact, after Michelangelo’s farewell Mammoliti also lost his second star despite the enthusiasm for his successor Giuseppe D’Errico.

Star lost due to closure or renovation

That said, why lose a Michelin star, then? One of the reasons that leads to a downgrade is inevitably closure. A closure that does not necessarily mean something definitive, however. Often restaurants lose their star in the period of refurbishment of the premises. Which is often accompanied by a change of philosophy and course. So the inspectors are waiting for the reopening for a new evaluation. One of the latest examples is the bistellato “Don Alfonso 1890″ in Massa Lubrense (NA) which will reopen in 2024 after the renovation of the premises.