How to cook a Michelin star

Last Tuesday's Michelin gala lit up the Spanish territory with the new stars that the French guide distributes every year. Most of the communities were given prestige with this recognition, which is not only limited to pointing out a cuisine of excellence, but also serves to promote local gastronomy and with it the economic development of the environment, sometimes becoming catalysts for culinary tourism. Considering the impact of a Michelin star, many would like to have the recipe on hand to be able to cook them in their province or town. And that is precisely what the Applied Economics & Management research group of the University of Seville has done in its study Towards a sky full of Michelin stars: determine which variables condition the obtaining of this award in a given territory.

"Every restaurant is not a potential winner, in the same way that every person, no matter how much positive thinking tells us, is not a potential sports star. This is not like the lottery where the more tickets you have, the more chances you have of winning. It is certain specific ecosystems that generate great restaurants, in terms of the culinary elite," explains Professor of Economics José Ignacio Castillo, co-author of the report with Dr. Álvaro Zarzoso. And in those specific ecosystems to which Castillo alludes there are several factors that, according to the econometric methodology used, contribute to the appearance of Michelin stars: international tourism, the luxury sector that operates as a virtuous circle – the three Michelin stars are usually established in luxury hotels, but many restaurants with that rating also attract the opening of this type of accommodation. the proximity of Designation of Origin products; or the preponderance of research and development in the area.

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The study focuses exclusively on Spain and the pre-covid period from 2000 to 2019. "A stage of Michelinization of the Spanish hospitality sector," says Castillo. The professor points out how in those two decades it went from 92 restaurants with this recognition in 2000, to 207 in 2019, a growth of 125% that extended to 43 of the 52 Spanish provinces, while at the beginning of the century only 23 provinces hosted a restaurant with this award.

The researchers have taken into consideration geographical and socioeconomic variables such as the weight of both domestic and foreign tourism, based on the premise that Michelin stars attract tourists and that tourists, in themselves, are also potential customers of this type of restaurant. The per capita incomeof the territories where there are establishments with this award is also another factor that has been analysed to determine whether there is a relationship between three-star restaurants and the income level of the population. The relationship with the primary sector (the variety of agricultural, livestock and fishery products), the industrial sector and the construction sector has also been studied, based on the hypothesis that the more weight these sectors had, the greater the demand could be generated for the services of these restaurants. Finally, the criteria of the Michelin Guide inspectors have been taken into account to award the stars: the choice and quality of the ingredients; culinary techniques and creativity; the regularity and consistency and the experience it offers to diners.

After cooking all these variables, adding the algorithmic methodology ―which takes into account tourist destinations (sun and beach, cultural and business), the number of restaurants with one, two and three Michelin stars, national and foreign tourists, the number of restaurants per inhabitant, cooking schools, Designations of Origin, etc. of entities related to R+D and even temperature―, it was concluded that the appearance and maintenance of these restaurants is influenced by the potential volume of international customers, rather than locals. "However, there is no significant relationship with domestic tourists or with the income level of the local population," says Castillo. "Which explains why in Cáceres or Cadiz, with low income levels, but with a large influx of tourism, there are two and three Michelin star restaurants," he adds.

This implies that it is not necessary to be in a rich territory to have an excellent cuisine, although, yes, the studio does abound in the synergy of luxury. "There is a two-way relationship: a five-star hotel ends up being an optimal location for a three-star Michelin hotel, such as the hotel designed by Frank Ghery for the Marqués de Riscal winery, but at the same time these restaurants attract luxury hotels, such as Atrio in Cáceres," he points out.

Another conclusion that emerges is that "quality is above quantity". The fact that there are hospitality schools, or that there are many catering establishments per inhabitant or that the primary sector has a specific weight in the economy, does not guarantee the appearance of a starred restaurant. "The proximity of Designations of Origin per square meter or a high level of research in the area is more important." In the same way, the economic importance of industry or construction may have a greater impact than the agri-food sector, paradoxically. "A lot of agriculture doesn't contribute to Michelin stars, but large companies are going to need high-quality services for events or to close an important deal. It is not trivial that when the real estate bubble burst, many luxury restaurants also closed," says Castillo.

Hospitality schools are not a determining factor either, because many of the students then settle in their places of origin, but what the study has shown is that the Michelin-starred restaurants themselves are the best breeding ground for forging new chefs who end up getting theirs. "This underlies the debate that originated at the time about whether those who worked in these restaurants were paid little and exploited, or if they were really receiving exceptional and unique training, equal to or better than in hospitality schools," Castillo recalls.

And this is another of the study's conclusions, within its axis that the relationship between Michelin-starred restaurants and territories feed off each other. In addition to serving to train in excellence, its chefs are the best ambassadors to leverage a territory as a tourist destination. The study gives as an example the prominence given to chefs José Andrés and Paco Roncero at the dinner at the Prado Museum during the NATO summit in Madrid last year.

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