15-12-2015
Early in December 2015, at the presentation of the 2016 edition of the Michelin Guide dedicated to Tokyo, the star that generated the biggest clamour was the one shining over a place that was hardly elegant, light-years from the stereotype that, everywhere around the world, one has of a starred restaurant, as the Food&Wine website highlights very well: a shop serving ramen, a popular soup that Japanese people eat in the streets, just like hot dogs in New York and pizza in Naples. Except in this case it’s a different matter: there’s a star! This confirms what managers have always stated, that stars only reward the food, not the restaurant. Except this concept is beginning to be implemented only now, and not even everywhere
We’re back commenting the Michelin Guide due to the impact of its choices. As worldwide director Michael Ellis said on the eve of the presentation, during a dinner at Antonio Guida’s Seta inside the Mandarin Oriental: “I’m not worried about criticism, I’ll be worried when our choices won’t raise comments”. There’s nothing worse than indifference, especially if you’re used to set the rules as in the case of Michelin. And the more powerful you are, the more severe the interlocutors will be. Stars are hard to manage even for those who give and remove them, not just for those who get or loose them.
Max Bergami, professor at Università di Bologna, was the one to make the most beautiful comment to edition number 61, presented in Milan on Thursday 10th December: “On the 2016 Michelin there’s surely a typo in the Combal0 entry”. Many think so, unfortunately not Michael Ellis and Italian editor in chief Sergio Lovrinovich, those who, on page 967, placed one star only instead of two next to the name of Davide Scabin’s restaurant. In a publication that has 8 3-stars, 38 2-stars and 288 1-star, a total record of 324 (plus two compared to 2015), the failure of the chef from Torino created a bigger uproar than everything else.
Davide Scabin at Identità Expo: the downgrading of his Combal.zero in Rivoli near Torino, from two to one star, created an endless polemic Lovrinovich, whom we interviewed, said that Michelin has, with regards to Scabin, “a very rich report, the result of various visits”. All of which were negative, because you wouldn’t fail one of the greatest talents in Italian cuisine just for one bad night. No one doubts this, I do not in the first place, having lived and breathed stars. The question is different and is not exclusively linked to the palate of the inspectors as those who assess failings also assess promotions. There’s no such thing, as in movies and in reality, as the good and the bad cop.
Davide Scabin at Identità Expo: the downgrading of his Combal.zero in Rivoli near Torino, from two to one star, created an endless polemic
There are places that are forgiven for everything, and others where nothing is tolerated. Scabin is never a bore, while other starred chefs guarantee yawning. It is also true that the trattoria in New York and the one in Ivrea, handed to his sister Barbara, increased pressure and commitment, just like the problems connected with the argument with the owners of the place, Castello di Rivoli. Yet it’s not enough. Many tiny things probably added up, sand grains that in the end jammed the mechanism. And the Michelin people perhaps couldn’t believe their eyes: they could demonstrate their power with a sure echo. However, you need to be convincing when you fail too, not just when you award, and in this case the surprise is widespread.
Michael Ellis, worldwide director at Michelin, with Giancarlo Perbellini, chef and patron of Casa Perbellini, in Verona, which was only opened last year and was immediately awarded with two stars
Lombardy is as usual the leading region with 58 top restaurants, while in the second place Campania moves up to 37, and the third place goes to Piedmont and this year Veneto too with 36. There is news in terms of provinces, though: Naples becomes the leader with 20 starred restaurants, one more than Rome and Bolzano, four more than Milan.
Something new is to come at last. This after giving stars to various gastropubs in the UK and to Asian street food like with the ramen shop deserving a star in Tokyo or the street food spot in Hong Kong, places that are light years from every stereotype of starred restaurant that is so dear to the Michelin Guide. It’s a question of culture and goals. Enhancing poor food, as long as it is them, the French, who decide this, without being forced by others, dusting off, renewing themselves, in contrast with the explosion of the web and of other guides as the 50Best and Tripadvisor. Ellis himself said very realistically “People no longer open the Michelin Germany guide to find out when the ferry from Rostock to Gedser departs, why should we still write it?”. The problem is that these novelties have caught the king off guard and now he needs to chase them.
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by
born in Milan in March 1955, at Il Giornale for 31 years dividing himself between sports and food, since 2004 he's the creator and curator of Identità Golose. blog www.paolomarchi.it instagram instagram.com/oloapmarchi