Scheduled for release in bookstores on 1 March, the 2012 MICHELIN guide France offers a unique view of the country’s hospitality industry with 4,457 hotels and 4,289 restaurants recommended, 426 establishments listed for the first time, one new restaurant with three stars, 10 with two stars, 58 with one star and 124 new Bib Gourmand restaurants. In ten years, the number of starred restaurants in France has risen by 15% and the number of Bib Gourmands by nearly 40%. Dining every day in a wide variety of restaurants across all price categories, the MICHELIN guide inspectors can attest to the fact that quality everywhere is on the upswing.

 

 

With an expanding array of culinary trends and a constant focus on ingredients, high standards of cooking and renovated interiors, the French restaurant industry is being revitalized and transformed. Despite the current economic environment, young chefs are boldly – and successfully – carving out their own niches with new gourmet restaurants. As proof, a total of five restaurants that formerly displayed the Bib Gourmand label have this year been awarded their first star: l’Auberge de l’Abbaye in Ambronay (01), L’Arbre in Gruson (59), L’Éventail des Saveurs in Rostrenen (22), Le Bec au Cauchois in Valmont (76) and Le Juliénas in Villefranche-sur-Saône (69). From the most prestigious restaurants to simple bistros, the same commitment to quality is lifting the entire French gourmet dining scene and providing the guide’s inspectors, who test the restaurants every day, with new – and renewed – experiences. Dining anonymously like ordinary customers, they systematically pay their own bills. However, as true hospitality industry professionals, they painstakingly judge each dish to ensure that the restaurant meets Michelin’s criteria in terms of product quality, preparation and flavours, the chef's personality as revealed through his or her cuisine, value for money, and consistency over time and across the entire menu. The best restaurants are awarded the Bib Gourmand label or stars, distinctions that are based solely on cooking quality and are always attributed on a consensus basis. Comfort and service are rated separately.