How the Michelin Guide went green

Michelin, alone within the hospitality industry, possesses the ability to provoke elation or tears in professional chefs. If you thought the victims on the receiving end of an expletive-laden tirade from Gordon Ramsay were a sorry sight, just imagine the faces of the poor broken chefs who lose one of their coveted Michelin stars. Some may claim that they are an outdated measure of excellence and that they do not give a jot about them — the enfant terrible of the British restaurant scene, Marco Pierre White, even famously returned his, citing the crippling pressure they brought— but Michelin retains the power to reduce grown men to sobbing infants with one sprinkling of their stardust.

But the institution has faced unsurprising criticism recently for the extravagant style of food its stars often promote. It’s probably unfair to blame it on Michelin — and gone are the days when only haute cuisine was deemed star-worthy — but there’s no doubt there are issues within the fine dining restaurant world and in particular when it comes to food waste.