Michelin Star Rating Will Make the Catering Industry Pay a Price
When the chef Caroline Glover heard in June that Michelin would be publishing a restaurant guide to Colorado, she was thrilled at first.今年6月，当主厨卡罗琳·格洛弗听说米其林将出版科罗拉多州的餐厅指南时，她一开始感到非常兴奋。"I’ve seen Michelin move across the country, but never thought Colorado would be next" said Ms. Glover, who co-owns the restaurant Annette in Aurora. One of the state's culinary leaders, she was named best chef in the Mountain region last year by the James Beard Foundation. Her restaurant is a fixture on best-of-Denver lists.“我知道米其林在全国各地评选餐厅，但我从没想过科罗拉多州会是下一个入选地。”格洛弗说，她在科罗拉多州的奥罗拉与人合伙开了一家名叫安妮特的餐厅。作为该州的一流厨师之一，去年她被詹姆斯·比尔德基金会评为山区最佳厨师。她的餐厅常年入选丹佛最佳餐厅排行榜。Colorado's stars will he revealed on September 12th at a gala event in Denver and speculation has been frenzied. Her restaurant is a fixture on best-of-Denver lists. Colorado's stars will he revealed on September 12th at a gala event in Denver， and speculation has been frenzied. But one thing is certain: No Michelin inspector has inspected Ms. Glover's restaurant, and she will not be getting any stars. That's because Annette is about 500 feet past the city limit that divides Denver and Aurora. And while the Denver tourism board paid Michelin to be included, its counterpart in Aurora did not.科罗拉多州的米其林星级评选结果将于9月12日在丹佛的一场庆典中揭晓，人们也对结果进行了热烈的猜测。但有一件事是肯定的：没有任何米其林测评员去过格洛弗的餐厅，她也不会得到任何米其林星星。这是因为安妮特餐厅的位置超出了丹佛和奥罗拉之间的界限约500英尺。丹佛旅游局付钱给米其林让丹佛加入评选范围，而奥罗拉旅游局并没有这样做。 The Michelin Guide, owned by the French tire manufacturer, is the world's most widely recognized authority on fine dining. Its stars have fueled the dreams of generations of chefs, and are always the first thing mentioned about restaurants that have them.法国轮胎制造商米其林旗下的《米其林指南》是全球认可度最高的高级餐饮权威。米其林星星激励了一代又一代厨师的梦想，也是人们谈论获得星星的餐厅时首先会提到的东西。In recent years，with competition from the World's 50 Best Restaurants list and other awards. The company has been aggressively seeking new ways to generate revenue， expand its geographic reach and modernize the idea of what makes a Michelin restaurant. But they also voiced reservations about Michelin's priorities and influence.近年来，面对来自“世界50家最佳餐厅榜单”等其他奖项的竞争，米其林一直在积极寻找新的方式来创造营收、扩大其地理覆盖范围，并使米其林餐厅的理念更加现代化。在采访中，全国各地的数十名餐厅老板、主厨和官员表示，米其林星星赋予餐厅的地位是无价的，由此也带来巨大的盈利潜力。但他们也对米其林看重的因素和影响持保留态度。Curiosity has always swirled around how the company does its work: Who are the inspectors? How often do they visit? What does it take to rise from two stars to three? Now, more sweeping questions are arising about what the guides mean in today's culinary world. Does the guest for stars generate excellence or sameness? Do deals with the tourism industry and food brands suggest that Michelin's attention and the prestige confers are at least partly for sale? And can the stars keep their luster as Michelin selectively expands its universe?人们一直对该公司的评选方式感到好奇：测评员是谁？他们多久来一次餐厅？从两颗星升到三颗星需要满足什么条件？现在，关于米其林指南在当今烹饪界有何意义的一些更宏观的问题也出现了。对星星的追求带来的是卓越，还是千篇一律？米其林与旅游业和餐饮品牌的交易是否表明，米其林给予餐厅的关注和它为餐厅带来的声誉至少有一部分是可以花钱买到的？而且当米其林有选择地扩展其评选范围时，米其林星星还能保持它们的光泽吗？Gwendal Poullenec, the director of the guides. aid in an interview that although the company accepts partnership' money to offset the expenses of the review process, the decision about whether a region merits ts own Michelin guide is determined solely by the company's inspectors, who "assess the maturity" of the culinary scene as a preliminary step. Mr. Poullenec said that "vibrancy"and "dynamic potential" are also taken into consideration, as an explanation of why rapidly growing Florida and Colorado and Atlanta, coming next year - have guides, while New Orleans and New England do not.指南的负责人格温达尔·普勒内克在接受采访时说，虽然公司接受“合作”资金来抵消评选过程中的费用，但关于一个地区是否值得拥有自己的米其林指南，这完全由公司的测评员决定，他们会评估该地区餐饮界的“成熟度”，这是测评的初步阶段。普勒内克称，“活力”和“动态潜力”也被考虑在内，这也是为什么快速发展的佛罗里达州和科罗拉多州--以及明年即将入选的亚特兰大--都有指南，而新奥尔良和新英格兰则没有。A Michelin announcement about its Colorado guide last month declared. "Our anonymous inspectors combed the Centennial State for the most delicious spots " but in fact, only restaurants in Denver. Boulder Aspen, Vail, Snowmass and Beaver Creek were being considered.上个月发布的关于科罗拉多州指南的声明称，“我们的匿名测评员仔细搜索了这个百年之州，为了找出最佳的美食地点”，但事实上，只有丹佛、博尔德、阿斯彭、维尔、斯诺马斯和比弗克里克的餐厅被考虑在内。 Michelin's inspection process, and the firewall it long maintained between the guides and the restaurant industry -no free meals, no sponsors, no advertising have given it a special status. It is a costly undertaking (which used to e financed by the sales of hundreds of thousands of hardcover guides per year), but it has convinced consumers and chefs that Michelin makes all its decisions impartially.米其林的测评过程，以及它长期以来在导游和餐饮业之间建立的防火墙--不接受免费餐饮，不拉赞助商，不打广告--赋予了它特殊的地位。这是一项耗资巨大的事业(过去每年靠卖出数十万本精装指南筹集资金)，但它让消费者和厨师相信，米其林做出的所有决定都是公正的。For Michelin's first century. that was largely true, including for the first New York City guide, in 2005. and the San Francisco Bay and Napa Valley guides in2007. But only since 2019, when Visit Califoria paid Michelin s600.000. nave too restaurants in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the state earned stars. So while it is still true that individual restaurants can't buy stars, tourism boards and hotel owners can buy the possibility.在最初的一个世纪，很大程度上情况确实如此，包括2005年的第一本纽约市米其林指南，以及2007年的旧金山湾和纳帕谷指南。但直到2019年，“加州观光”向米其林支付了60万美元后，洛杉矶和加州其他地方的顶级餐厅才获得了米其林星星。因此，尽管餐厅本身依然无法买到米其林星星，但旅游委员会和酒店拥有者可以买到获得星星的可能性。In 2010, after the guides had been losing money for years. the parent company hired the consulting giant Accenture to assess their future. Soon, the Michelin Guide began to transform itself from an elite, arms-length critic of the restaurant industry to a financial partner. Michelin began accepting money from sponsors like food brands, liquor distributors, hotel chains and tourism agencies. Michelin guides in Thailand, South korea, Hong kong and Singapore were all published with financial backing from local tourism authorities.2010年，在指南亏损多年后，母公司聘请了咨询巨头埃森哲来评估指南的前景。很快，《米其林指南》开始从精英的、铁面无私的餐饮业评论者转变为金融合作伙伴。米其林开始接受食品品牌、酒类分销商、连锁酒店和旅行社等赞助商的赞助。泰国、韩国、中国香港和新加坡的米其林指南都是在当地旅游部门的财政支持下出版的。The director of the Colorado Tourism Office, Tim Wolfe, led the effort to bring Michelin to his state. Among Colorado's tourism boards and even its state restaurant association, the notion of restaurants -rather than ski slopes or rock faces -as travel destinations is rather new. But, he said, he knew that international visitors to Colorado spend five times more than domestic ones, so it was an easy call.科罗拉多州旅游局局长蒂姆·沃尔夫带头将米其林带到了科罗拉多州。对于科罗拉多州的旅游委员会和州餐饮协会而言，将餐馆--而不是滑雪道或岩壁--作为旅游目的地是相当新奇的概念。但是，沃尔夫说，他知道来科罗拉多州的国际游客的消费额是国内游客的五倍，所以让米其林来到科罗拉多州是一个不难做出的决定。To get the guide, his agency agreed to contribute $100,000 a year for three years. Following suit were four tourism boards and two resort companies; they told The New York Times that they each paid Michelin $70.000 to $100,000. The chef Brother Luck the owner of three restaurants in Colorado Springs and a former"Top Chef" contestant, was appalled to see his city passed over. "How do you leave out the second-largest city in the state?" he said. "It feels like a slap in the face."为了得到米其林指南，旅游局同意每年捐赠10万美元，为期三年。效仿这一做法的是四个旅游局和两家度假村公司，他们向《纽约时报》称各自向米其林支付了7万至10万美元。主厨拉克兄弟在科罗拉多斯普林斯拥有三家餐厅，曾参加过《顶级厨师》比赛，当他看到自己所在的城市未入选时，他感到非常震惊。“怎么能把这个州第二大城市排除在外呢？”他说。“这感觉就像是被打了一记耳光。”In Florida, which received its first round of Michelin stars in 2022, a similar situation played out. That state's guide was funded with more than $1.5 million from state and city tourism budgets. according to an investigation by The Miami Herald.佛罗里达州在2022年首次入选米其林星级评选，在这里也出现了类似的情况。根据《迈阿密先驱报》的一项调查，该州编订指南的资金来自州和市的旅游预算，数额超过150万美元。As a result, only restaurants in the Miami, Tampa and Orlando areas were eligible for stars. I'm beyond disappointed -after the years I’ve put in carrying the torch for South Florida" said Timon Balloo, a chef who cooked in and around Miami for 35 years, creating the successful national chain Sugarcane Bar &Gill and downtown Miami’s popular Balloo before the pandemic forced him to move to Fort Lauderdale. He said that if he had known the move would make him ineligible for Michelin consideration. he would have fought harder to keep his footing in Miami.因此，只有迈阿密、坦帕和奥兰多的餐厅才有资格参加星级评选。“我失望至极--多年来我一直在南佛罗里达州传扬美食。”主厨丁蒙·巴洛说。他在迈阿密及其周边地区烹饪了35年，创立了全国知名连锁店甘蔗酒吧和烧烤以及迈阿密市中心颇受欢迎的巴洛餐厅，后来疫情迫使他搬到劳德代尔堡。他说，如果他知道搬离迈阿密会让他失去米其林入选资格，他会更努力地争取在迈阿密站稳脚跟。Amid decades of expansion, Michelin has maintained that its stars transcend geography taste and trends: that a one-star restaurant in Hangzhou can (and must) have the same value as a one-star restaurant in Hamburg or Honfleur or Hialeah.经过几十年的扩张，米其林坚称其星级超越了地理、口味和潮流，杭州的一星级餐厅可以(也必须)具有与汉堡、翁弗勒尔或海厄利亚的一星级餐厅相同的价值。The star system- one, worth a stop; two, worth a detour: three, worth a journey -was devised more than a century ago to guide businessmen as they motored around France on the company's tires. Michelin inspectors are full-time employees, and are sent around the world to perform evaluations,ensuring that no inspectors can privilege relationships or preferences in their own regions. The challenge for Michelin seems to be balancing the high standards that give the brand ts power with the imperative to expand into markets that may not have many restaurants that meet those standards.星级体系（一星表示值得停留，二星表示值得绕路前往，三星表示值得专程前往）是一个多世纪前设计出来的，最初是生意人们开着装有米其林轮胎的汽车在法国四处奔波时，为他们提供的美食指南。米其林测评员是公司的全职员工，他们被派往世界各地进行评估，从而确保没有测评员可以偏袒自己本地的熟人或自己爱吃的餐厅。米其林面临的挑战似乎是要平衡其高标准和拓展市场的当务之急，其高标准赋予了这个品牌影响力，但许多市场可能没有多少符合标准的餐厅。One way Michelin is trying to meet that challenge is adding new awards. Restaurants noted for their environmental sustainability can now get a green star. Those that offer good value can earn the Bib Gourmand.米其林迎接这一挑战的一个办法是增加新的奖项。以环境可持续性著称的餐厅现在可以获得绿色星星。价格实惠的餐厅可以获得必比登推介。 In 2017, Michelin introduced a new category for restaurants deemed good, but not good enough for a star: briefly called Michelin Plate, but now simply Recommended. Already the terms "Michelin-recommended" and "Michelin-recognized" have become a common plaudit for the more than 16.600 restaurants that appear in the guide at every level. Of those, only 3,400 have stars, and just 142 have three. In some ways, this expanding of the honors is a win-win.2017年，米其林推出了一个新类别，面向被认为不错但还不足以获得一颗星的餐厅：简称为米其林餐盘，但现在只被标为"推荐"。“米其林推荐”和“米其林认可”这两个词已经成为指南中出现的16 600多家各个档次餐厅的常见赞语。其中只有3400家餐厅获得了星星，获三颗星的只有142家。在某些方面，荣誉的扩大是双赢的。Unlike a James Beard award or a spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants is, Michelin stars are something any number of restaurants can win. and keep or winning. More restaurants in more places get to flash the Michelin credentials. and Michelin gets to expand its reach and become a more widely recognized arbiter of quality.与詹姆斯·比尔德奖或世界50家最佳餐厅排行榜不同，获得米其林星星的餐厅数量是没有限制的，而且可以无限增加。更多地方的更多餐厅可以夸耀自己的米其林资质，米其林也可以扩大自己的影响范围，成为更为广泛认可的质量仲裁者。But when thousands of vaguely recommended restaurants can ca themselves "Michelin" destinations. Michelin may risk diluting its brand. Chefs began to publicly push back against Michelin around the tum of the 21st century, rejecting what they saw as its focus on luxurious trappings like foie gras and caviar, crystal glassware and linen hand towels.但是，当米其林只是含糊其辞地推荐了成千上万家餐厅，而这些餐厅都可以自称是“米其林”餐厅时，米其林可能会有稀释其品牌的风险。大约在21世纪之初，厨师们开始公开抵制米其林，拒绝提供他们认为米其林看重的那些奢侈装饰，如鹅肝、鱼子酱、水晶玻璃器皿和亚麻手巾等。 In 1999. the celebrated British chef Marco Pierre White renounced his three stars, citing the pressure and monotony of maintaining them, and questioning the authority of inspectors. Next came the 2003 suicide of the French chef Bernard Loiseau, who believed that his restaurant was being demoted from three stars to two.1999年，著名的英国厨师马尔科·皮埃尔·怀特放弃了他的三颗星，理由是维护星级的压力太大且过于单调，并质疑了测评员的权威。紧接着是2003年法国厨师贝尔纳·卢瓦索自杀身亡，他认为自己的餐厅将从三星级降至二星级。Recent objections have focused on the elaborate, multicourse menus that draw Michelin stars. They have historically relied on long hours of low-paid (sometimes unpaid) labor, raising questions about the human cost of fine dining. Mr. Luck, the Colorado Springs chef said the mental health costs of the restaurant business are already too high. without worrying about Michelin stars. "We have to protect the next generations," he said, adding. "I worry that chasing the validation of these standards and these stars can be dangerous."最近的反对意见主要针对为了获得星星而产生的菜品繁复的菜单。制作这些菜品一直依赖长时间的低薪(有时是无偿的)劳动，这引发了人们对高档餐饮的人力成本的质疑。科罗拉多斯普林斯的主厨拉克说，就算不用为赢得米其林星星而担忧，餐饮业的心理健康成本也已经太高了。“我们必须保护下一代厨师，”他补充说，“我担心追逐这些标准的认证和这些星星可能会带来危险。”
