Industry Insiders: Jean-Luc Naret, Michelin’s Star Maker

Jean-Luc Naret, director of the world-famous Michelin Guides, released the fifth edition of the New York Michelin guide Monday, and yesterday, the books hit stands around the city. As with any upper echelon foodie-endeavor, this one was met with some criticism from food-lovers with differing opinions. Nonetheless, to talk about the long road before the list is finalized and printed, we sat down with Naret to get the backstory of the Michelin Guides and what it takes to secure a much-coveted three stars.

What characterizes a three-star restaurant?
There are little “je ne sais quoi” that you’ll remember all your life. When you’ve been to a three-star restaurant, it’s something very emotional. Of course, it has to be beautiful in every aspect, but really we’re talking about the food; the stars are on the plate. What makes the difference between a two-star and a three-star is what you would say about any play you’ve been to or any movie you’ve seen, and the one that you actually still own. Most important is consistency. You can have a chef that is really great and doing a fantastic dish, but everything has to be worth three stars. From the appetizer to the end of your meal, it has to be an experience in itself. Many people try to achieve that, but very few actually arrive to it.

Any bias towards French restaurants?
The Michelin guide is not a French guide reviewing French restaurants. The Michelin guide is an international guide. We do Spanish in Spain, French in France, American in America, and Japanese in Japan. We’re not here to try to identify the French restaurants in other countries, but to reveal the talents of the chefs wherever they are, whatever cuisine they’re doing. You don’t have to be French to get three stars—you just have to develop an exceptional cuisine, not one day in a year, but every single day you make it.

How often do inspectors visit restaurants?
They’ll go to a restaurant not only once, but many times in a year. They’ll visit restaurants on the week that they open, but not only the week that they open. We go to these restaurants all throughout the year to make sure that we evaluate these restaurants many times. It takes about two hours for an inspector, after his lunch or his dinner, to do his report. It’s a long process because it has to be very detailed.

How are inspectors chosen?
To be an inspector, you have to have a real passion for food and an eye for detail. When we first said we were coming to New York, we received 3,500 applications. Everyone wants to be one! Even big names that are not being named. It’s not a part-time job. It’s not going out to a new restaurant with your fiancé at night and being reimbursed for that dinner with a little report. You have to grade everything you do, and you have to really start working for it full-time.

Do you average out the ratings that each inspector gives?
At the end of the year, we have the Stars meeting where all of the inspectors that have been working on the city are there in the room, and we have the agent chief as well, and then I chair the meeting. So we have all the names of the restaurants, all the reports and inspectors. There’s always some debate going on. We say, fine, if we don’t agree on the inspector’s report, let’s send out another inspector. It’s really a passionate job.

How have the guides themselves, specifically in New York, evolved over the last five years?
First we have to understand that the guide created in New York was really created for New York. Meaning, when I took over the company six years ago, we knew we were very strong in Europe, we had a really great response to our to our city guides, but I was really surprised we’d never crossed that boundary. When we decided to cross it, instead of looking at the United States as one country, we decided to take it a different way. We created a city guide for New York, and it’s been such a success. A few years ago we implemented a program here, The Inspectors Favorite, which is a very good value for money. It’s really all the little deals that the inspectors would love for you to discover. We’ve also incorporated a few tables this year where you can actually eat very well for under $25. I really think that year after year, it becomes more and more for New Yorkers like the Paris guide becomes more for Parisians as well. In each country we really try to become adopted by the country, and really emerge in the city. 

What about old favorites in New York that you always go back to?
Every time I go to New York and I need to go to lunch, I always try to go to Jean Georges. I think it’s the best value for the money in the entire world. You could have a dinner there or a lunch for $20 with three courses and three stars. My team doesn’t ask me to go to restaurants too often, but when I do, I love going to the Parker Meridien.

What’s your favorite thing about New York?
You can come to New York and discover a new restaurant every time you’re here. Our job is to reveal the restaurant that has been around for a long time or has never been in the spotlight for whatever reason, and we really do believe that we need to recognize the restaurants to our readers. And if you’re listening to the restaurants here, they all perceive the Michelin guide as being a very important tool in the market for them because, first of all, it brings business to them. It brings different clientele. Restaurants recognize us as being the only benchmark in order to measure themselves. Not just around New York, but around the world. Because they know that a two star restaurant in New York is as good as a two star restaurant in Paris. They know that when they achieve that, they know that they are part of the top restaurants in the world.

Which city has the most three star restaurants?
Today, it’s Tokyo. One single reason is, of course, there are a lot of very talented chefs in Tokyo, but there are also 160,000 restaurants in Tokyo. So the number of restaurants is huge, but at the same time you also have to pay tribute to the Japanese chefs. Japanese chefs tend to specialize themselves in one type of cuisine. If they do sushi they really only do sushi. When you go to a Japanese restaurant outside of Japan, it’s a bit of a mix of everything, some are more specialized than the other, but it really doesn’t reflect what the Japanese cuisine has to offer. It gives more of a broad extension of the cuisine. We have 9 three-stars today in Tokyo, which is the city with the most stars. In Paris we have 10.

How do chefs react when they hear that they’ve received three stars?
It’s my job is to call them and tell them that they have a star, but sometimes I have to call them because they’re losing a star. That’s difficult. Calling to tell them that they have three stars is an incredible pleasure. It’s really an incredible moment of emotion. I mean, I remember when we called Thomas Keller, who was the first American to receive three stars. He was in Paris at the time. I called him, and I told him that he received three stars, and he said “I never thought that Michelin would come to New York and that I would be able to get three stars, and it’s an honor. I’ll try to stay in this league for a long time.” And then he stopped someone and said, “Can you take a picture of me right now?”

Do stars get taken away often?
Yes. The stars are not in stone. They can break easily. But chefs know they can get stars back as well. It’s just saying that based on the experience of this year, you’re not one of the top restaurants in the world.