Every industry has its pinnacle and in the world of cuisine it’s the much touted Michelin star – globally recognised and wildly elusive, restaurateurs have been known to move heaven and earth to earn a star of excellence. According to Alain Ducasse, one of the world’s most celebrated chefs ‘the key to success is desperately simple: to work more, better and faster than the others [and] to be detail-obsessed. Here lies the difference between good and exceptional.’ And he should know – heading up Ducasse Enterprises which currently operates 23 restaurants in seven countries, Mr Ducasse has earned a total of 19 Michelin stars. In February this year, South Africa could finally add this accolade to its culinary prowess when South African, Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, who owns and runs his own restaurant, Jan, in Nice, France, was awarded a Michelin Star.
Celebrated and coveted the world over, the Michelin Guide was originally the brainchild of tire manufacturers and brothers, André and Édouard Michelin. In 1900 there were only a few thousand cars in France and in an attempt to encourage people to buy cars (which would naturally also increase the demand for tires), they stumbled upon the novel idea of providing a guide for French motorists – where to go, what to see, how to repair and change a tire if something happened along the way, as well as a handy list of car mechanics and petrol stations. They printed 35,000 copies and gave them away free of charge.
In 1907 they published a similar guide to Belgium – between then and 1911 they introduced guides for Algeria, Tunisia, the Alps, the Rhine, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the British Isles. It was only in 1920 that the brothers started charging for their guide, and along with the fee came a few other changes: they began listing restaurants by specific categories, and they began to include hotels. After seeing how popular the restaurant section of the guide became, the Michelins recruited a team of inspectors who would anonymously visit and review restaurants. They began to award stars in 1926 – initially it was only one star, but in 1931, in an effort to further differentiate between the various levels of excellence, they introduced their three-star rating system: one star for ‘a very good restaurant in its category’; two stars ‘excellent cooking, worth a detour’; and three stars ‘exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey’.
Considered by many to be the only guide that counts, it’s publication each year creates huge anticipation; followed by euphoria for those that have gained a star; relief for those that have retained their status; and abject despair for those that have either lost a star or were passed over once more. While the South African meat wholesaler’s industry might not be quite that extreme, it does pride itself on delivering to very high standards and N1 – with their core values of quality, service and delivery – are no exception, so for the Michelin star equivalent in meat wholesalers, always remember N1 who move heaven and earth to ensure their customer satisfaction record remains their greatest success.
