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T HE Michelin Guide handed out new stars to 68 restaurants in France earlier this week at a ceremony that celebrated emerging young talents and proposed food as a tonic for the world’s worries. Two restaurants joined the highest and most coveted three-star category in Michelin’s 2025 France guide, namely Christopher Coutanceau in western La Rochelle and seafood specialist Le Coquillage in northern Brittany. “The world is worried, the tensions, crises, war at the gates of Europe,” Michelin Guide director Gwendal Poullennec said on stage at the ceremony in the eastern city of Metz. “And in the middle of all that, men and women continue to cook, welcome people, pass on knowledge and to create beauty,” he told a crowd of 600 chefs. The famous red bible for gastronomes still makes and breaks reputations, despite increasing competition from rival food lists and the rise of social media influencers. France has the highest number of Michelin-endorsed restaurants of the 50 destinations covered by the guide around world, with 31 three stars, 81 two stars and 542 with one star. Greater diversity Among the notable winners on Monday was Philippe Etchebest, who won a second star for his restaurant Maison Nouvelle in Bordeaux. The 58-year-old, who made a

France’s best chefs o Michelin Guide awards new stars to 68 restaurants in country At Coutanceau’s restaurant, the finest fish and seafood are prepared with care and imagination.

The Michelin Guide describes fare served at Coutanceau’s restaurant as ‘an invigorating ode to the Atlantic Ocean’.

are going faster than we did in our time,” he said. Remi Dechambre, food critic at Le Parisien newspaper, said the 2025 selection for France rewarded many up-and-coming chefs such as Adrien Cachot and Valentina Giacobbe with a single star. “It is the new generation. The guide is constantly evolving and this year is a demonstration,” he said. The Michelin Guide has sought to shed its reputation for elitist and pricey dinners in recent years, with more diverse eating options making it onto its lists of recommended outlets internationally. After rewarding roadside food stalls in Thailand and Singapore, the guide granted a star to a taco stand in Mexico City last year, causing a local sensation but baffling regular eaters there. Rebels without mention Each edition of the Michelin Guide in France produces controversy over who is included, who is not and who has joined the list of anti-Michelin rebels. Showman chef Marc Veyrat had told the guide’s inspectors they were not welcome in his new 450 euro-a-head (RM2,197)) restaurant in the Megeve ski resort in the Alps. Veyrat sued Michelin unsuccessfully after inspectors stripped him of a star in 2019 in a controversy dubbed “cheddar-gate”. He claimed the downgrade was because inspectors mistakenly thought he had adulterated a cheese souffle with English cheddar instead of using local French varieties. His newly opened Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat did not appear among Monday’s winners. Vincent Favre-Felix, a chef with a one-star restaurant in Annecy, eastern France, recently announced he wanted to return his award, which he has held since 2021, after he decided to change his concept. The guide stresses that its anonymous inspectors are free to go wherever they want and stars do not belong to the chefs themselves. A three-star restaurant – the highest award – denotes kitchens where cooking is “elevated to an art form” and chefs are “at the peak of their profession”. Japan has the second-most number of three-starred destinations, followed by Spain, Italy and the US. – AFP

Coutanceau presents a freshly cooked dish at his restaurant Christopher

Coutanceau in La Rochelle, France.

Coutanceau (centre) works with his team at his restaurant.

Seafood specialist Le Coquillage was awarded three Michelin stars, the highest attainable for any restaurant. – PIC FROM INSTAGRAM @LECOQUILLAGE

of French chefs. “We see it on Top Chef , there are a lot of creative young people, who are very open to the world. They

name for himself as a celebrity food judge on TV shows such as Top Chef , said the 2025 guide reflected the strength of the next generation

The Michelin Guide notes that Coutanceau campaigns for sustainable fishing and against waste. – PICS FROM AFP