Top French chef bans Michelin Guide inspectors from his new restaurant

In this file photo dated Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, three-star chef Marc Veyrat holds a Michelin Guide in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file) (Michel Euler/The Associated Press)

Five years ago he took the prestigious Michelin Guide to court and lost over an unfavorable review of a controversial soufflé. Now French chef Marc Veyrat has launched a fresh salvo against the fine-dining bible, banning its inspectors from his new restaurant.

“I’ve even got a small sign on the front door,” he tells CNN. “I’m turning 75 this year. I don’t want to be taking exams and getting ranked.”

Veyrat’s 450-euros-(US$465) a-head new venture, Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat, opened recently in the chic French ski resort of Megève. It’s his first new venture since the chef went to war with Michelin in 2019 after the guidebook downgraded his La Maison des Bois from three to two stars.

Outraged at the time, he filed a suit against Michelin Guide, demanding they remove his restaurant’s listing, pay him a symbolic one euro and explain its reasons for the demotion. He lost and was made to pay court costs.

A Michelin inspector had previously said the decision was because Veyrat’s restaurant used Cheddar in its soufflé. Veyrat argued he used local cheeses including Reblochon and Beaufort, and that inspectors may have confused the color with the hint of saffron used in the recipe.

“They are incompetent,” Veyrat maintains to this day.

La Maison des Bois, located near the French Alpine village of La Croix Fry, has since been taken over by Veyrat’s daughter, who renamed it Le Hameau de mon Père (“my father’s hamlet”) in honor of her father. “I’m very proud of her,” he says, “it’s a really magical place.”

Veyrat says he opened his new venture in Megève because he missed working in a restaurant, even if he strives to avoid the Michelin-level scrutiny which inevitably falls on a chef of his status.

It’s “the joy of hosting people” that motivated him to start over, he tells CNN.

But while his Michelin-ban could discourage the guide, there’s no guarantee an inspector won’t show up anonymously to test the restaurant.

That means it could still appear in the next edition. After all, Michelin included South Korean restaurant Eo in their 2019 guide to Seoul despite the owner, chef Eo Yun-gwon, asking them not to.

Guests shelling out for an eight-course meal at Veyrat’s restaurant also get to meet the chef himself. Veyrat will be on hand in between preparing dishes like his fine lobster tartlet topped with a fragrant meadowsweet emulsion and wild flowers.

In fact, he says, many customers come to his Megève restaurant just to shake hands with the renowned cook. With his signature black wide-brimmed hat, he’s become a bit of a celebrity.

“I don’t mean it in an egotistical way, I’m just part of the architecture,” he laughs.

‘The price of freedom’

Despite the price, Veyrat says he doesn’t make a dime from his new endeavour. He just wants to break even, and pay his staff a decent salary. He says he makes plenty from the many other restaurants he owns, and his falling out with Michelin has had no impact on his business.

Veyrat isn’t the only person to have spoken out against the guidebook. A number of chefs have spoken of the intense pressure felt in the months leading up to its release, and many have expressed their desire to be left out of the guidebook altogether.

In 2017, Chef Sébastien Bras asked for his restaurant in central France to be withdrawn from the guide. “Life is too beautiful and too short,” he said, calling the decision the price of his freedom. To his surprise, his restaurant was put back into the guidebook two years later with two stars.

Chef Frédéric Ménager meanwhile says he refuses to let his restaurant La Ferme de la Ruchotte be judged by Michelin. He says he’s received phone calls from the guide, but that “the only stars that count are the ones in the eyes of guests when they leave the table, mesmerized by their gastronomic experience.”

Michelin still holds importance in France; it included 639 of the country’s restaurants in its 2024 guidebook.

CNN has reached out to the Michelin Guide for comment.

New horizons

Even with his Michelin years apparently behind him, Veyrat says he hasn’t lost momentum — something he credits in part to his wife Christine, who runs the new restaurant alongside him. “She’s quite a woman. She never stops.” he tells CNN. “She gives me a boost.”

Veyrat is in charge of Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, offering guests what he calls “high-definition cuisine” based around local aromatic herbs.

He wouldn’t confirm if a soufflé will feature on the menu.

Christine cooks on Sundays with her own menu that’s only 220 euros (about $227) a head. Nicknamed the “beloved witch,” she revisits ancient traditions by cooking all her meals over an open hearth, said to add a richness of flavor to her creations.

The restaurant only opened this season, but Veyrat says it’s already a huge success.

He says he also wants to write a book and is currently working on a campaign against junk food.

“I don’t have time to grow old,” he exclaims.

Camille Knight, CNN