Inspecting restaurants for Michelin is not an occasional diversion for people with an educated palate who like to eat, but a full-time, long-term, salaried career. Inspectors have usually had eight to ten years of experience working in the hotel or restaurant business—“a basic education,” Arnaud called it—before joining Michelin. Then there is a

It is astonishing how many experts there seem to be nowadays whose mission in life is to lecture us about the perils of pleasure. Scarcely a week goes by without some ominous pronouncement about the price we must pay for our brief moments of indulgence. Even moderation, which used to be an acceptable excuse for the beef on your plate or the wine in

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.