By Scott Mechura EBS FOOD COLUMNIST
We see it all the time, restaurants and bars, somewhat
reluctantly, get on what Americans seem to think is a must for everything under
the sun: a list—from trivial websites created for no other reason than
advertising to programs such as Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
Once an establishment gets overnight notoriety, things are
never the same. Then the inevitable: the atmosphere, uniqueness and quality
begin to suffer.
While living in Texas, I patronized one such eatery. It was,
of course, on a list for the best burger in the city. When the table next to me
overheard me lamenting over what might have been, they said the place was never
the same ever since the publicity.
On a more refined scale, the French have had the same
challenge for decades. Although instead of the dreaded triple D of Guy Fieri,
it’s the triple star from Le Guide de
Michelin.
Michelin star chefs are giving up their stars throughout
Europe. I would tell you that the rate at which chefs are returning stars is
unprecedented. But the reality is that the very fact they are doing it at all
is unprecedented. It wasn’t that many years ago that turning
down or giving up a coveted Michelin star was considered
business suicide. And fellow chefs would ask you, in the sincerest way, if you
had lost your mind.
While other French chefs, such as the late Bernard Loiseau,
have been quoted in books saying they wish they never would have received any
Michelin stars, or at least the coveted third star, the prickly British chef
Marco Pierre White may have been the first chef to renounce his stars when he
did so for his flagship London restaurant. White went so far as to ask Michelin
not to rank his Singapore restaurant or even patronize his restaurant, at least
while wearing their guide hat.
And they’re nor stopping at three stars. Jerome Brochot
received his very first star and returned it shortly after. Laguiole, France is
home to the father and son team of Michel and Sebastian Bras. Their legendary
eatery is set, somewhat inconspicuously, in the French countryside. They too
have given back their stars, citing too much pressure, day in and day out, to
the point of losing passion and diminishing the enjoyment of their craft. And
it’s happening all over Europe—from Nice to Tuscany, from London to San Sebastian.
If you still don’t think that restaurants and restauranteurs
feel a pressure most other businesses can’t imagine, or that we are compelled
to besiege and ingest what someone deemed an exceptional restaurant, no matter
what we leave in our wake, consider this: Do actors give back Oscars or Tonys?
Do scientists say thanks but no thanks to the Nobel Prize? Has a Pulitzer ever
been turned down? So, what are we to do?
Perhaps there is still something to be said about simply
enjoying the experience and just taking in the moment. For me, there’s
something about knowing that you may have your own little corner of the
world—that place that makes the best Boulevardier, the silkiest foie gras
torchon or even the best burger.
We may just be inadvertently be putting unnecessary pressure
on these chefs by holding them in such high regard. In the end, it is, after
all, only food.
Scott Mechura has
spent a life in the hospitality industry. He is a former certified beer judge
and currently the executive chef at Buck’s T-4 Lodge in Big Sky.