Critics fume as Paul Bocuse’s restaurant loses three-star rating
The Michelin Guide has done the unthinkable and taken a star from famed French chef Paul Bocuse’s restaurant.
L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, known simply as Paul Bocuse, has lost its three-star Michelin rating after 55 years, with the Michelin Guide saying the food quality was "no longer at the level of three stars". It will now have two.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Michelin Guide's head Gwendal Poullenec said “there was a lot of emotion” but "a variation in the level of the cuisine” was behind the decision.
Bocuse died aged 91 in 2018, but his family said they were "upset" by the decision.
"Although upset by the inspectors' judgment, there is one thing that we never want to lose, it is the soul of Mr Paul," the restaurant and Bocuse's family said in a statement.
"From Collonges and from the bottom of our hearts, we will continue to bring the Sacred Fire to life with audacity, enthusiasm, excellence and a certain form of freedom."
Speaking on radio station FranceInfo, food critic Périco Légasse called it "an absurd and unfair decision" and that the Michelin institution “is dead”.
Sheridan Randall, 20th January 2020
