France’s Michelin guide gave the country’s most famous chef a much-prized third star and stripped him of another on Monday, Agence France-Presse reported.
Alain Ducasse, 59, picked up the highest rating for his restaurant at Paris’ Plaza Athenee hotel while he lost a star for another of his tables in the French capital at the equally opulent Le Meurice hotel.
Gordon Ramsay’s Trianon restaurant at Versailles was also downgraded, dropping to just one star.
The big winners this year were luxury hotels in the capital, with Chef Christian Le Squer bringing a third star to the George V, a stone’s throw from Ducasse’s Plaza Athenee outpost.
The guide’s US-born international director Michael Ellis praised Ducasse for his “brave decision to come up with a style of cooking based around the idea of naturalness” at the hotel, while he described Le Squer as “a real virtuoso.”
“Every dish by Christian Le Squer is a real work of art, a shining example of what French gastronomy does best,” he added.
While Ducasse has built a global restaurant brand on the reputation he has won in France, the British-based World Best Restaurant list has been sceptical of his genius, according to AFP.
His Plaza Athenee restaurant languishes at 47th in its rankings, although the alternative French-based La Liste – which claims a more scientific basis for its ranking system – placed his Monaco restaurant Louis XV as the world’s 17th best.
Beyond the merry-go-round among the elite club of 26 three-star restaurants, the biggest shake-up was the inclusion of 10 new two-star and 42 new one-star restaurants making the grade.
The youngest new entry into the hallowed guide was 23-year-old Angelo Ferrigno, chef of the Maison des Cariatides at Dijon in eastern France.
Ducasse wins one – and loses one – Michelin star
