Honor Badge

Ducasse-Led Chef Group Creates New ‘Quality Restaurant’ Seal of Approval

Michelin, sure, but is it Alain-approved?
Michelin, sure, but is it Alain-approved? Photo: Hans Gissinger

A cadre of fifteen heavy-hitter chefs — Joël Robuchon, Guy Savoy, and Alain Ducasse among them — announced that they’re mad as hell with the French government’s apparent reluctance to help nurture the country’s rich culinary culture, and as a result of not taking it anymore, they’ll start awarding a brand-new “quality restaurant” designation to chefs who are doing it the right way. “We cannot wait for things to get worse,” said Ducasse, in a statement that also expressed dissatisfaction with catty critic-types bashing old-school rillettes, lardons, and the French restaurant scene in general. “We cannot continue to let media in the English-speaking world say ‘France is not what it was’ in terms of cuisine,” he said. Oh snap.

Under the new system, only those restaurants that are transparent about ingredient-sourcing and merit a 75 percent or better “client satisfaction” rating on a new ratings website will be eligible to hang the special chef-approved plaque near their front door. The chef, who’s become quite the culinary statesman during the last year, says that the French government has been “doing nothing” to help traditional chefs and cooks differentiate themselves from those who work with processed foods and precooked ingredients.

Top chefs launch label to save French restaurant standards [AFP/Google]
Earlier: Alain Ducasse to Host Intense Chef Summit in Monte Carlo

Ducasse-Led Chef Group Creates New ‘Quality Restaurant’ Seal of