Analysis: Winning a Michelin star or stars can be a life changing experience, but you're only as good as your last meal
The Michelin Guide roadshow pulls into Dublin next week for its annual Awards event. The launch of the 2026 Guide to Great Britain and Ireland is happening on Irish shores for the first time since its inception in 1974.
As a food historian, chef, and culinary educator in TU Dublin, I have been researching, observing and following the highs and lows of the Michelin Guide for nearly 30 years. It is curious that the professionalisation of culinary education in DIT Cathal Brugha Street in 1986 was influenced by the opening of the Mater Private and Blackrock Clinic, where patients were promised five-star food. Will Michelin ever award a star to a hospital?
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Dublin to host Michelin Guide announcement ceremony next week
A Michelin star is like the Oscars of the fine-dining world, and winning a star or stars can be life changing experiences. But just like the Oscars, you're only as good as your last performance or meal, and past awards are no guarantee of future or long-term stability or success. Some award-winning restaurants can maintain a steady and profitable longevity, but highly respected restaurants can equally quickly unravel and go out of business if they lose key employees or the public's trust.
Head chefs and maîtres d’hôtel have been known to sometimes lure their whole team and loyal customers with them to a new venture. Three former Michelin two-starred Irish restaurants (Thornton's, The Greenhouse, and Aimsir) are no longer trading, albeit for very different reasons. Four pre-Covid newly awarded Irish Bib-Gourmand restaurants never reopened following the pandemic hiatus.
The Michelin Guide rating system was first introduced in France in 1926 as a single star, with the second and third stars introduced in 1933. According to the Guide, one star signifies "a very good restaurant", two stars signify "excellent cooking that is worth a detour" and three stars mean "exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey". A Bib Gourmand is awarded to restaurants serving "exceptionally good food at moderate prices".
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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, interview with Patrick Guilbaud about running a two-star Michelin restaurant
The Republic of Ireland currently has 21 restaurants with stars, five of which hold two stars. The two-star restaurants are Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, and Liath in Dublin; and Dede (Balitmore) and Terre (Castlemartyr) both in Cork. A further 22 restaurants hold Bib Gourmands, with Northern Ireland having two one-Michelin starred restaurants (Ox, Muddler's Club) and eight Bib Gourmands. There are several other establishments holding their breath hoping to join the illustrious list come next week or to be upgraded to one-star, two-star, or possibly make history by becoming the first three-star restaurant on the island of Ireland. A history of the Michelin Guide in Ireland is available here.
Late last year, Apple TV+ released an eight-part documentary series Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars which follow elite chefs as they try to win, retain or upgrade to the ultimate award of three stars. Some achieve their dreams, while others, such as Tony Parkin who was chef/patron in House in Ardmore., use the reflexivity of the documentary to weigh up what matters in life and step back from the unrelenting pressure. He moved back to England to be closer to his daughter but is planning the opening of a new restaurant DAISE in the coming weeks.
The good stuff
There is no denying that the award of a Michelin star can be transformative on several levels. Businesses will experience a sudden spike and growth in reservations, which if handled correctly can lead to increased profit. The professional status of the chef and the loyal team is bolstered by the award, and much like completing a marathon or a PhD, it seems to be a reward for all the effort, commitment and postponed gratification required for achieving such milestones. This can be considered a personal achievement, thus supplying the intrinsic satisfaction and motivation required to maintain the commitment that operating a fine-dining restaurant necessitates.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, interview with Curtis Duffy, one of an elite group of chefs who have been awarded three Michelin stars and is the subject of the Netflix documentary, For Grace.
Having a star will attract focused hardworking staff who wish to learn from working in a Michelin restaurant. When running smoothly, such establishments form a tight family. You spend more time with your colleagues than at home. With often two services a day, you get to experience a sense of 'flow’ when things are going well. There are endorphin-inducing highs from a good service; a well-oiled kitchen in full flow is like watching an orchestra, or a ballet – a work of art.
Winning a Michelin star introduces you to a close-knit community of like-minded driven individuals. Many starred chefs may do guest appearances in each other’s kitchens or offer stagiaire opportunities to each other’s key staff. Although there are discrepancies between how the stars have been distributed in different countries, there appears to be a sense of Michelin being generally fair, since restaurants are independently and anonymously judged. Even Emily Roux, of the Roux culinary dynasty, had to wait several years for her London restaurant Caractère to finally be awarded a star.
The bad stuff
The enormous pressure of trying to win a star can lead to unreasonable demands on both owners and staff. The pressure to maintain the star can also be great, since losing a star can be problematic. The tight sense of family can be unhealthy, if the family is dysfunctional. Not all Michelin businesses stay open. The industry is notoriously run on very tight margins and has to deal with high levels of staff turnover and difficulty recruiting.
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From Chef Table podcast, interview with chef Oliver Dunne about Michelin stars and other matters
In 2014, Irish chef and restaurateur Oliver Dunne famously handed back his star for Malahide restaurant Bon Appetit so as to allow him to pursue a more casual operation that would be more profitable. The late Alain Senderens also handed back his three-stars in 2005 to run a more casual restaurant in Paris.
In direct opposition to the highs that chefs can feel from a good service, a bad service can be a living hell. Many chefs cannot watch Disney’s restaurant drama series The Bear because doing so would lead to post-traumatic stress disorder from their own times in kitchens. Some Michelin restaurants appear to have a high proportion of staff working for free or very little as stagiaires in what appears to be a ponzi scheme, where only the owners or shareholders at the top of the pyramid benefit. Customers and critics who worry about the sustainability of the ingredients used to create the meal should also be cognizant of the unsustainability of having staff work for free in the same kitchens.
The ugly side
Thankfully, one of the truly ugly aspects of fine dining kitchen culture appears to be in the past, yet still needs to be kept in check. This is the toxic masculinity and machismo which can lead to bullying, sexual assault, physical violence, drug addiction, alcoholism, relationship breakup and even death.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, the hospitality crisis: what's happening to Irish restaurants?
An American study found that male-dominated kitchens can be hyper-masculine to counteract the perceived femininity associated with cooking. Some kitchens are run like army brigades, with certain chefs believing that they need to break individuals down before building them up into some ideal form. The military discipline in some kitchens is very professional, but in others it veers on abuse, often overseen by a bully. Some famous chefs were vicious and many of their victims went on to perpetuate the abuse.
The pressure of maintaining Michelin stars is famously believed to have led to the death by suicide of Bernard Loiseau in France in 2003. In 2018, French chef Sébastien Bras asked for his three-stars to be removed from the Michelin Guide due to the anxiety and immense pressure he was experiencing from unexpected inspections.
Michelin only makes up the smallest percentage of the wider hospitality industry
The fine-dining industry is no different to many other industries (Hollywood, journalism, law etc.) where examples of good, bad and downright ugly have been well documented. At its height, there is a rush of adrenaline in professional kitchens that no salary could match. It allows for creativity, drawing in individuals from disparate backgrounds with a shared goal of chasing their Michelin star dream.
But Michelin only makes up the smallest percentage of the wider hospitality industry. Some of my TU Dubin graduates who had led Michelin starred restaurants are now running hospital kitchens, bringing hospitality back to the hospitals, captivating a captive audience. Perhaps the first Michelin-starred hospital restaurant is not far away after all?
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
