French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew (Vintage Departures)

France’s longest-serving three-star chef, Paul Bocuse, received his stars back in 1965, and he still has them today. Thirty-five years without putting a foot wrong in the kitchen. The man deserves a medal for stamina.

“Inspectors must, of course, be physically sound. They must have an exceptional sense of taste, and this must be educated enough to recognize if a chef has taken shortcuts. Or worse”—Arnaud’s expression became grave—“if he has been cheating.” He paused to let this horror sink in. “Disguised dishes,” he said. “Cod masquerading as another fish under

Even when I was in the advertising business during those palmy days when the industry motto was “Let’s have lunch!” and the road to success was strewn with menus, I was never able to come to terms with the working lunch. For me, work and lunch are two activities that were never meant to coexist and should never be forced to do so. Lunch is—or it sh

And so do some of the other veterans. Looking through the pages of the 2000 edition, you will find 116 establishments that were recommended in the original guide a hundred years ago. One of these monuments happens to be the Hotel d’Europe in Avignon, not far from us, and we thought it would be interesting to see how it was holding up under the weig

There are, of course, many other food guides besides the Michelin. Some are good, some are cobbled together by enthusiastic amateurs, and some are not much more than vehicles for liquor advertising. None of them can match the Michelin recipe of impartiality, scope, professional attention to detail, and accuracy.

In contrast, the Michelin inspector’s approach to a restaurant is the same as that of any normal customer. When he makes his reservation, his name doesn’t ring any bells in the kitchen. (Even France’s highly tuned network of gossip among chefs hasn’t yet managed to identify inspectors, for reasons we shall come to later.) When the inspector arrives

A few meters farther on is an outdoor seating area, with long couches facing the sea. On the day we were there, it had been almost completely taken over by men with not a second to waste away from the pursuit of money and the conduct of their businesses. Oblivious to the glories of nature spread out before them (some of whom were wearing very littl

The Michelin stars, stylized rosettes that are called “macaroons” by the pros of the industry, are the gold medals of kitchen Olympics. They are awarded, confirmed, or withdrawn every year. Winning a star can lift a young chef from obscurity overnight, giving him (or, less frequently, her) a reputation that extends to wherever the guide is sold and

I have no doubt there are good chefs working in spas throughout France, but the godfather of them all is Michel Guérard, one of the first modern celebrity cooks. He became a household name in France more than twenty years ago when he inventedcuisine minceur. This was based on the thought—revolutionary in those days, and not all that common even now