A bit of history
The MICHELIN Guide adventure began in 1900 with brothers André and Edouard Michelin, founders of the tire company that bears their name. At the time, the Guide included around 400 pages of practical, tourist, and advertising information. The Michelin company distributed it free of charge to motorists. Its intention was to help them to travel and to promote what we now call mobility.
In the 1923 guide, the heading “Recommended Hotels and Restaurants” appeared. For the first time, the Guide featured independent restaurants. Recognizing the growing interest in this section, the Michelin brothers assembled a team of mystery diners—now known as “inspectors”—to visit and evaluate restaurants anonymously.
In 1926, the guide began rating restaurant quality with stars, initially awarding only one. Five years later, Michelin introduced the one, two, and three-star hierarchy. In 1936, they published the specific criteria for awarding stars.
Today, the MICHELIN Guide stands as a global benchmark in gastronomy. Michelin has earned this reputation through its ongoing commitment to readers and its rigorous, independently applied selection process around the world.
MICHELIN Star
👉 Any restaurant, of any style and type of cuisine, is eligible for the Stars.
To select restaurants for recognition, MICHELIN deploys a team of anonymous inspectors—men and women—who visit each restaurant multiple times, on different days and at various times.
They must be sure that everything that comes out of the kitchen meets, time and time again, a high standard of quality.
All the inspectors travel the world to eat in the countries where the MICHELIN Guide is currently published. This ensures that they all apply the same criteria to judge by the same benchmarks: a MICHELIN Star must mean the same thing and have the same value wherever in the world the restaurant is located.
🚨Stars are not awarded to a specific chef, but to a restaurant as a whole: good cuisine is always the result of teamwork.
It is important to mention that the evaluation does not include the decoration or style of the restaurant, you can find Star restaurants in all styles, including some Asian street food places.
Criteria for the assignment of MICHELIN Stars
The MICHELIN Guide also awards 2 other prizes:
BIB Gourmand: This is the recognition of good value for money and highlights simple but skillful cuisine at an affordable price. In these restaurants, gourmets can enjoy very good cuisine at moderate prices. The Bib Gourmand restaurants are all in a price range between € and €, i.e. they are in the categories “Without skimping” or “Treat yourself”.
The Green Star: This is the most recent award. The MICHELIN Guide France introduced it in 2020, and now the Guide includes it in all the countries it covers. Michelin awards it to restaurants that serve as role models for sustainable gastronomy.
Highlighting Your Incentive Program
One of the key elements of a successful incentive program is delivering a memorable “wow” factor that resonates long after the event. Incorporating MICHELIN-starred dining experiences is a powerful way to achieve this. We highly recommend exploring the MICHELIN Guide for the destination city and selecting one or more of its acclaimed restaurants to include in your program. These culinary experiences not only delight the senses but also elevate the perceived value of your event—turning a corporate dinner into a signature moment.
The official MICHELIN Guide website offers curated recommendations for restaurants and hotels, helping planners design high-impact travel experiences that leave a lasting impression. For incentive travel, few things match the prestige and refinement of world-class gastronomy.
