Top Chefs Take Note: Michelin Says Cuts Needed

The coveted Michelin stars can make or break a restaurant. But so can an economic crisis.

An illustration of the 2009 edition of the Michelin Guide is seen on a backdrop for a press...

An illustration of the 2009 edition of the Michelin Guide is seen on a backdrop for a press conference in Paris, Monday, March. 2, 2009. The revered Michelin guide elevated just one restaurant to three-star status in its 100th edition released Monday: Le Bristol, down the street from the French president's Parisian palace. Michelin Guide stars, which can make or break careers and restaurants, are determined by anonymous inspectors who taste food, visit kitchens and check plates, cutlery, glasses and even bathrooms. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

(AP)

"It's not caviar every day," the Michelin guide's director said Monday as he urged France's great chefs to invent new ways of keeping customers.

Some of the world's best restaurants are losing business, particularly from corporate clients, and are having to offer cheaper menus, even at the top end, Jean-Luc Naret told The Associated Press.

The Michelin guide celebrated its 100th French edition Monday.

Naret said some restaurants will be forced to explore "new concepts," pointing to New York's upscale Jean Georges restaurant, which is offering 3-star lunchtime cuisine for $28.

"Those who are too expensive will be forced to reinvent themselves," he said.

However, crisis wasn't on the menu Monday for Le Bristol, where Michelin elevated chef Eric Frechon's restaurant to 3-star status — the only one to receive such an upgrade in this year's guide.

Frechon said his new status should help fill empty dining tables.

"In the past, we used to turn people away. Today we aren't doing that anymore and we're one or two tables short," he told The Associated Press from the kitchen where he spends most of his life, often from 7 a.m. to midnight.

"The third star is welcome because the seats we were missing will be filled tomorrow."

Le Bristol, which opened in 1925, lies just down the street from President Nicolas Sarkozy's Parisian palace.

Frechon, whom Sarkozy decorated with the French Legion of Honor last year, says the president sometimes dines there a couple of times a week, and his favorite dish is the euro80 ($101.15) starter of stuffed macaroni with black truffle, artichoke and duck foie gras.

A native of Normandy, in western France, Frechon describes his menu as traditional French cooking with a modern touch.

To celebrate, Michelin invited Frechon and about 400 guests, including other starred Michelin chefs, VIPs and artists, to the Musee d'Orsay on Monday evening for an exhibition of 100 alternative guide covers.