Le Guide

Rouge , The Red Guide, was established in 1900 by the Michelin brothers

to encourage French auto touring, which, of course, sells "tyres."

It has, over

the years, become the ultimate reference for fine dining in all of Europe

and the United Kingdom. The Guide states: "Certain establishments

deserve to be brought to your attention for the particularly fine quality

of their cooking. Michelin stars are awarded for the standard of meals

served."

The Michelin

star system appeared in 1931 for the first time in the French edition,

and has changed little if at all since that time.

Just being

mentioned in the Guide is heady praise. There are about 50,000 eateries

in France alone, for example, and only 479 ­ less than one percent

­ merited stars in Le Guide Rouge in 1999.

The 1999 Guide

listed 402 one-star restaurants in France, each of which is considered

"a very good restaurant in its category. The star indicates a good

place to stop on your journey."

The 74 two-star

restaurants are held up as having "excellent cooking, worth a detour.

Specialties and wines of first class quality. This will be reflected in

the price."

Finally, the

crème de la crème, the 21 three-star restaurants: "exceptional

cuisine, worth a journey. One always eats here extremely well, sometimes

superbly. Fine wines, faultless service, elegant surroundings. One will

pay accordingly!"

The same standards

are applied to other European countries. Anonymous inspectors rate restaurants

using an unpublished set of criteria. An inspector reveals his identity

to the chef only after his meal so that he may inspect the kitchen and

the other facilities not normally visited by diners.

To what criteria

is a restaurant held to obtain one or more stars? No one but the inspectors

know for sure. General agreement is that the first star is based on a

restaurant's food quality, with additional stars awarded for incremental

increases in quality of service; dining room decoration; linen, cutlery

and china; expense of ingredients; a more extensive selection of cheese,

and the size and quality of the wine cellar.

The stars are

awarded as much to the chef as to the restaurant.

On the Michelin

Web site ­ www.michelin-travel.com/eng/gr2000/indexgr.html

an anonymous commentator remarks that after receiving his or her first

star, a restaurateur must decide whether achieving the second star is

worth the risk and the stress.

"Having

one star provides the chef with distinction and prestige," he continues.

"There is additional honor in making the jump from one to two stars,

but there is also then the possible dishonor that comes with going from

two to one star.

"The same

is true for the chef that gains or loses a third star. Additional stars

imply an increase in overhead that may not be compensated by an increase

in revenue. A restaurant must make a considerable investment to obtain

a second or third star. The chef must decide whether to stay in the relative

safety and security of a single star or take the risk of going for the

next star."

One French

chef described how the initial euphoria of getting the first star lasted

only a couple of weeks before the stress of deciding whether to go for

other stars overtook it.