World-renowned chefs have plunged their knives into the Michelin restaurant guide, known by many as the bible of gastronomy. The 108-year-old “red book” is accused of being out of touch and too commercialised.

The attack, in next month’s Waitrose Food Illustrated, is led by Marco Pierre White, who became the youngest chef to win three Michelin stars. He gave them up nine years ago when he quit day-to-day cooking.

He is now concerned about the varying standards between Michelin restaurants in 17 cities throughout the world. Their ratings were too commercial and inconsistent, he claimed. He tells the magazine: “I’ve dined in Michelin-starred places in New York and I’m confused. There are at least fifty restaurants in England as good as the two-star restaurants over there, rather than the paltry ten that currently hold that number.”

Chefs are no longer interested in the straitlaced cooking styles admired by Michelin inspectors and instead have concentrated on serving unpretentious hearty meals.

Yves Camdeborde, who runs the Parisian bistro Le Comptoir, said: “What we represent is popular culture, not cuisine de snob. But despite our high standards and 12-month waiting list, we’re of no interest to Michelin. It’s an informal bistro specialising in great regional cooking and yet again it scarcely rates a flicker on Michelin’s scale. Who is the winner? One thing’s for sure: it’s not Michelin’s readers.”

Toshiya Kadowaki, owner of Azabu Kadowaki, turned down the chance to appear in Michelin’s Tokyo guide, which was published for the first time last November. He can serve only 21 in his restaurant and did not wish to attract tourists.

He said: “Imagine if I went to Paris and started pronouncing upon the food served in French restaurants. The French either wouldn’t take me seriously or they wouldn’t be very happy. Well I don’t think Michelin should do the same here in Japan. Who are they to judge my food and decide if I am worthy of one, two or three stars — or no stars at all?”

William Sitwell, editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated, said that he had heard a lot of dissatisfaction from chefs about the Michelin guide. “They all told me the guide was championing food that people no longer wished to eat. It seems to me that too many chefs are slaving in the kitchen to please Michelin and get stars, when people are looking for less poncey and more normal food.”

He denied it was “sour grapes” from chefs and suggested that Michelin was no longer relevant to them.

He was also unsure whether diners needed the Michelin judgments any more. “We’ve moved on from these preachings and I think more and more people go by word of mouth when choosing where to eat. People use the internet and sites such as trustedplaces.com, which gather communities of like-minded people.”

Jean-Luc Naret, director of Michelin guides, said: “Let the readers be the judges — if they are buying we are happy. Chefs are, broadly speaking, supportive of our judgments even though they may not always be happy with them. He also told the Evening Standard: “Quite a few of these chefs have never received the distinction of being in the guide, so perhaps there is a little bitterness there. Others are not interested in Michelin stars. Anyway, what they say is not true. In England we were the first guide to recognise that pubs as well as restaurants serve very good food.”

Michelin sells more than a million guides a year. The first guide, by André Michelin, on French restaurants, appeared in 1900. His aim was to help motorists — who drove cars that used his tyres — to choose the best places to stop for lunch or dinner.

The red book’s top British restaurants

Three stars
Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
Waterside Inn, Bray
Gordon Ramsay, London

Two stars
Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Perthshire, Scotland
Midsummer House, Cambridge
Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon
Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Le Manoir au Quat’ Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
Capital, London
Gavroche, London
Petrus, London
Pied à Terre, London
The Square, London
Vineyard, Stockcross, Berkshire

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