Daily SumUp

Have you ever wondered how restaurants get Michelin Stars? Or how the Michelin Star rating system came to be?

The iconic rating, which is awarded to restaurants that meet exceptionally high standards of cooking, has an origin story with very little relation to cuisine.

Here at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, we thought you should know the whole story. After all, some of the cooks we’re training may aspire to join the ranks of restaurants recommended in the famous Michelin Guide.

The Unexpected Origins of the Michelin Guide

Interestingly, the invention of the Michelin Star rating coincides with the invention of the automobile. Michelin Tire founders and French industrialist brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin compiled the first Michelin Guide in 1900 with the aim of creating a demand for automobiles—and therefore, a need for more Michelin tires.

The French guide was handed out for free and included maps, plus instructions on how to repair and change tires. To encourage drivers to use their cars and explore a little more, the guide also included a list of restaurants, hotels, mechanics, and gas stations along popular routes in France.

Within a decade, the Michelin Guide expanded rapidly and became available throughout Europe, as well as Northern Africa.

The Evolution of the Michelin Star Rating System

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 temporarily halted production of the guide, but by 1920 it was back on track and about to enter an important new phase. According to a “favorite anecdote” on the Michelin Guide website, Andre Michelin showed up at a tire shop one day to find one of the guides being used to prop up a workbench.

“Based on the principle that ‘man only truly respects what he pays for,’ a brand new MICHELIN Guide was launched in 1920 and sold for seven francs,” the story goes.

The Michelin brothers ramped up the guide’s quality, eliminated advertising, added a list of hotels in Paris and categorized the list of restaurants. They also recruited mystery diners to visit and review restaurants anonymously.

The guide began awarding Michelin Star ratings in 1926. The restaurants, all of which were in France, were awarded a single star if they were deemed a “fine dining establishment.” In 1931, the rating system expanded to the three-star rating that continues today.

Unlike most star rating systems, one star is not considered a demerit. Any number of Michelin Stars granted to a restaurant signals a huge honor and a rare accomplishment.