No Stars

The Michelin Guide to Hong Kong has been thoroughly rubbished by now, but it’s not too late for one final dig. I won’t be long because, let’s face it, it really isn’t manly to get hung up on questions of food, and besides most arguments against the guide have been made on this popular, Chinese-language Hong Kong food site.
However, I do want to ask why so few people have taken proper issue with the guide’s shabby defense of its 12-person inspection team, only two of which were Chinese. Guide director Jean-Luc Naret has said, disingenuously, that this was OK because “You don’t have to be Chinese to understand Chinese food and you don’t have to be French to understand French food.” Well, that’s true if you’re talking about an ordinary comprehension of everyday cooking. Any fool can bite into a spring roll or croque-monsieur and give a thumbs-up. But we’re talking about an expert grasp of the intricacies of a country’s haute cuisine—in this case one with thousands of years of history—and that grasp is indisputably enhanced by a native or at least career-long familiarity with it, is it not? If you’re trying a national cuisine—or even street food—whose opinion do you want most? A local’s or that of another visitor?
Michelin’s refusal to acknowledge this very simple idea, and its stupid defense of that refusal, makes us all wonder why the guide’s opinions have been highly regarded for so long.