Copper & Heat Radio

Zero Stars: Why is a Tire Company Rating Food?

Episode Summary

If you were to rate the Michelin Guide, how many stars would you give it?

Episode Notes

When Katy was working in the Bay Area in her early 20s, she would have given the Michelin Guide 3 stars, because those were the restaurants she felt like she had to work to learn about the most innovative and interesting food. How has that changed?

In this last episode of our fourth season, Katy and Rachel dig into the history, the data, and the money behind the Michelin Guide in the U.S. with help from Krishnendu Ray (professor at NYU) and Beth Forrest (professor at the CIA). By the end of the research, Katy and Rachel had very different ratings for the Guide than what their 24-year-old selves would have given it. What about you?

Guests:

Beth Forrest

Her faculty bio and books

Krishnendu Ray

His book  | His faculty bio

Articles mentioned and other resources:

• Florida’s Tourism Board Will Pay Michelin $150,000 to Rate the State’s Restaurants
• Why California Paid Michelin Guide $600,000 to Cover Los Angeles Again
• The Inspection Process
• Michelin Scatters Stars on New York (2005)
• The Fed-Up Chef
• The Untold Truth Of The Michelin Guide
• The High Price of a Michelin Guide: South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand have spent millions to get their own Red guides
• The History of the Michelin Guide
• How Restaurants Get MIchelin Stars: A Brief History of the Michelin Guide
• The Secret Life of an Anonymous Michelin Restaurant Inspector
• Confessions of a Michelin Inspector