We continue in part ll by shedding some light on exactly who inspects the Restaurants, their training , and how they are expected to work.

It is clear the organisation takes its role very seriously, and no restaurant will receive an award unless it has been visited multiple times by several different inspectors to ensure consistency of results. There are many other good guides now competing but none can boast such a thorough process.

Inspectors
Michelin call their employees Inspectors rather than Judges, although a main part of their job is to offer a judgement, normally as part of a team decision.

The task is huge and time consuming. There are 45,000 establishments listed in the combined editions of the guide, all having been inspected at some point. Only 5% of these are restaurants awarded a Michelin Star. The large part of the guide includes good affordable food and accommodation.

Currently to handle all of the visits there are only 70 inspectors working across Europe, and 10 in the U.S.

6 Months training
To become an Inspector you must be a Michelin employee. To get the position you must have 5 to 10 years and demonstrable experience in Hotel or Restaurant positions. Most staff come from a Hotel graduate background. You will only make the grade to a full Inspector if you then can pass a 6 months technical training on Restaurant Selection and Attribution of Stars.

Only workaholics need apply
According to Michelin an Inspector will evaluate 240 meals per annum, travel to 130 overnight stays for Hotel evaluations, and pay 800 anonymous visits. He/She will then submit 1000 reports in the year. I have to say those numbers are staggering, either these guys are 24/7/365 workaholics or the quality of some of those visits must be questionable.

Far East means radical change
It is likely the guide maintains an unavoidable European bias. The recent San Francisco awards were based on outside European inspectors, rather than local experts.

The future for the guide is a possible expansion into the Far East market. For Michelin to maintain its reputation there will have to be some radical changes made to make sure the inspections and awards are locally and culturally relevant.

========================================

Published Michelin Guides
The guide is published in 5 languages; English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Below we list the available guides;

Country Guides;
Belgique & Luxembourg (Belgium and Luxembourg)
Deutschland (Germany)
Espana & Portugal (Spain & Portugal)
France
Great Britain & Ireland
Italia (Italy)
Nederland (Netherlands)
Osterreich (Austria)
Portugal
Suisse (Switzerland)

City Guides;
London
New York City
Paris
San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country
Main Cities of Europe

Back to part l