Paul Bocuse – disappeared in 2018 – said he trembled at 80 as he trembled at 40, watching for the publication of the book which transforms chef’s hats into crowns. How would he have reacted this January 16, when learning that his restaurant L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, three-star since 1965, had just lost his third badge?
In January 2019, Marc Veyrat, revolted by the loss of his third star, went to war against the Michelin guide. After multiple skirmishes, the chef in the black hat, who instigated the Savoyard gastronomic revival in the 1980s, lost his first battle. On December 31, the Nanterre tribunal de grande instance dismissed his request to obtain evidence of the guide’s inspections and the skills of his inspectors. The Don Quixote from La Maison des Bois, in Manigod, in Haute-Savoie, does not want to stop there: “It’s not over, I’m a warrior. I will continue to fight. “
“You are one of our favorite houses,” assured Gilbert Garin, editor-in-chief of the Michelin France guide, while blaming us for an overly reduced juice, an overcooked fish … “, Marc Haeberlin, chef at the Auberge de Ill.
If the Veyrat case turned into a psychodrama, fueled by a downgrading deemed all the more cruel since it occurred a year after obtaining the third badge, we have less heard of the demotions suffered in 2019 by three other restaurants, however, just as symbolic as the chalet at the Col de la Croix Fry. Marc Haeberlin at L’Auberge de l’Ill, Illhaeusern, in the Haut-Rhin, Sébastien Bras, in Suquet, in Laguiole, in Aveyron, and Pascal Barbot in Astrance (Paris 16e) have experienced more discreetly the loss of what remains a Grail for so many cooks. A few weeks before the launch of the 2020 edition, scheduled for January 27, return to the wounds and resentments, acts of resilience and thirst for rebound of these ex-triple stars.
“After hearing the news, I received a call from Marc Veyrat who told me that he had lost a star. I replied: “You are kidding, I was the one who lost it.” Him: “You are wrong, it is me!” In short, it was not the year of the Mark … “ Immaculate jacket and long white apron, Marc Haeberlin smiles anecdote today, but this Sunday, January 20, 2019 looked like drama on the peaceful banks of the Ill, where his family established their first hostel, there are almost one hundred and fifty years.
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