[Ristorante Eo]
SEOUL -- An influential guidebook published by French tire maker Michelin causes joy or despair among prominent restaurants in each country when the season for assessing excellent restaurants comes. This year, it stirred up a self-conceited South Korean star chef specializing in Italian food.
Eo Yun-kwon, who runs Ristorante Eo, an Italian contemporary restaurant in Seoul, raised doubts over the fairness of assessment by Michelin and challenged it to host an open cooking demonstration broadcast live on television to compete with any designated chefs.
Michelin Guide is the oldest hotel and restaurant reference guide in the world which selects top restaurants based on its own standards and awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence. Chefs react sensitively to Michelin's selection which can dramatically affect their business.
"I hope Michelin will prove its fairness through a cooking demonstration televised live," Eo said in a post uploaded onto his Facebook soon after Michelin Guide Seoul 2019 was released Thursday to list 191 dining places including 26 restaurants with stars.
Eo's restaurant, which earned a Michelin star last year, lost his honor in this year's edition. He insisted Michelin should open its assessment standards. "As a chef who has pursued a career for more than 20 years to earn a Michelin star, I sincerely make a request to Michelin," he said.
He said he is ready to compete with any chef selected by Michelin for open assessment or to participate in a team contest for course meals. Michelin has not responded to Eo's request.
Michelin states on its website that the inspection of restaurants has been carried out by culinary-educated Michelin Group employees with various cultural backgrounds. Inspectors maintain the independence of their opinion by dining anonymously, pay for meals and rate their experience according to publicly acknowledged assessment criteria, it said.
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