The spy who lunched me

Published on Thursday 22 May 2008 22:11

HE CANNOT be photographed from the front in case his identity is revealed, and he makes dinner reservations under an assumed name.

It sounds like something from the pages of a spy novel, but this mystery man is far more influential than a government agent. He is editor of the Michelin Guide in Britain and Ireland, leading a team of inspectors who can make or break the country's leading restaurants and define the culinary trends experienced by the millions of us who eat out every year. His group of experts wield the power of the Michelin star, the awarding of which can turn hard-working chefs into celebrities and whose removal can send the reputation of famous names into a tailspin.

But does Michelin deserve its reputation as the ultimate arbiter of fine dining, or is the 108-year-old guide trading on its French heritage? Some of the world's leading chefs have criticised the gastronomy bible, saying it is out of touch. The anti-Michelin movement is led by Marco Pierre White, who was the youngest chef to gain three Michelin stars, in the late 1980s, which he then renounced in 1999. He accuses the guide's editors of geographical inconsistencies and of putting a commercial desire for world domination above the original philosophy of its founder, Andr Michelin, which was to guarantee French diners a good meal on the road.

Michelin's Derek Bulmer has agreed to discuss the guides while on his latest undercover visit to Scotland. We meet in Edinburgh's La Garrigue, a popular choice for its rustic Languedoc cuisine. "I'm not here on an official visit," he stresses, sitting at the back of the restaurant facing the rear wall. Later he will travel to Perthshire and Inverness. Where will he be staying? "I can't tell you that," he grins.

La Garrigue is not among the 11 hotels and restaurants in Scotland to have been awarded one or two Michelin stars in 2008. So what does a restaurant need to gain a coveted star?

"There are all kinds of myths," says Bulmer. "One is that you must have a sommelier, another is that you can only cook French food. It is all nonsense. To get a star you must reach a very high standard of cooking. The food is what we're interested in, nothing else. We give stars to pubs if the food is good enough."

That principle is unchanged since 1900, when Andr Michelin published the first edition of a guide to France to help drivers maintain their cars, find decent lodging and eat well while touring. It included addresses of fuel distributors, garages, tyre stockists and lavatories. The French edition remains the most thorough, but Michelin has since expanded well beyond its French heartland and is now into its second year in New York, with plans for a set of city-based guides including Tokyo. "The places are different, but what we do is the same across the world," says Bulmer.

Donald Reid, who reviews restaurants for The List magazine, says: "(Michelin] remains the benchmark for fine cooking and is still very highly regarded. They cover enough places to get a real perspective on what makes the very best."

Yet Michelin is not without its detractors. Franck Dangereux, chef-patron of The Foodbarn restaurant in Cape Town, who has worked in some of France's top restaurants, says what worked well for France does not suit other countries: "In my experience, the public goes to places that Michelin generally treats with contempt – places where charm rules over formality and the heart rules rather than the anonymous critic.''

In Scotland, eyebrows were raised when the 2008 guide left Glasgow without a Michelin-starred restaurant. "I do get a hard time when I go on the radio in Glasgow," admits Bulmer.

"Although our stars get the most attention, it's important to remember there are over 100 Scottish restaurants in the guide, and dozens of hotels. We give a separate rating, using the knife-and-fork symbol to indicate places with a nice ambience and good food but which would not necessarily get a star."

So how do Michelin inspectors go about their business? "We would visit about 220 establishments over the course of a year, with nine weeks out on the road and one week back in the office. Most days involve lunch, dinner and visits to other places in between. Inspectors can cover anywhere in Britain, Ireland or other European countries. It can mean being away from home a lot."

Do they ever get sick of eating out? "You have to really enjoy it," he smiles. It is a job that would suit the bon viveur. But measured and fastidious Bulmer is a far cry from the likes of AA Gill and Michael Winner. He may live the life of an Ian Fleming character, but is unlikely to be mistaken for James Bond.

"We always go unannounced. If there is a well-known restaurateur opening a new place, we are on the phone trying to get a table just like anyone else." Has he ever been rumbled? "Once or twice. But what can the establishment do by that stage? They can't get a new chef or change the menu. And if you were getting much better service than everyone else in the room it would be obvious."

Then there is the onerous task of having to eat excellent food all day. "You do get to spot the fashionable items. All of a sudden you can't go anywhere without seeing beetroot or ox cheek on the menu."

So how do you go about joining the ranks of Michelin's inspectors? "There are hardly any under 30, and we usually require between five and ten years of experience in the industry." Bulmer has an HND in hotel catering and worked in management in one of London's four-star hotels. But, he insists: "I can cook. I was an assistant manager at one hotel, which meant turning your hand to almost anything."

Although the approach to the guides has changed little over the decades, tastes in food and the quality of what is on offer in Britain's restaurants have changed enormously. "When you think back to the 1970s, (menus] would have hundreds of items, because almost every dish was frozen. You could get steak cooked ten different ways. Now the trend is for simple cooking of fresh ingredients. Britain has seen a lot of changes. But we're now seeing the same changes in countries like Hungary and Poland, where the rather heavy cuisine – hearty but a bit lacking in finesse – is giving way to a more European-wide cooking style."

Does he mean that French cuisine has taken over the rest of Europe? "Not really. If anything, Spanish chefs are leading the way at the moment. The cluster of restaurants in San Sebastian, for example, are setting the agenda in many ways."

He is diplomatic when asked about the scientific cuisine adopted by England's Heston Blumenthal and Catalonia's Ferran Adri, whose El Bulli menu has brought us pine-cone mousse and parmesan snow: "It is not a matter of whether I like it; it is whether I can appreciate it and whether it reaches the right standards of cooking."

Is Scotland well served by its hotels and restaurants? "Scotland is definitely punching above its weight. But the trend for gastropubs hasn't crossed the border. England is full of country pubs where the food is worth travelling for, whereas that isn't so common in Scotland, perhaps because customers appreciate the value of a traditional bar."

When Jean-Michel Gauffre, owner and head chef at La Garrigue, appears at the end of the meal, there are handshakes all round. Does Gauffre rate the Michelin guides? "It is still the dream of most chefs to get the star from Michelin and the guide is excellent. But I think it would be wrong to be disappointed if you didn't have (it]. There is no point in trying to beat Mercedes if you are making a 2CV. My ambition was to get two AA rosettes and that I have achieved."

So did Bulmer enjoy his lunch? "I don't want to comment. It wouldn't be fair."