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Having your restaurant included in the Michelin Star Guide is a great honor. Almost any chef or business owner wants to have a Michelin restaurant, but not all have what it takes to earn a Star and work with the high level of risk assessment for a restaurant involved.
A Michelin Star is awarded after the Michelin anonymous inspectors review a restaurant several times. The Michelin Star restaurants that are currently included in the Guide are inspected a few times before they get proposed for the award, and it goes beyond a SWOT analysis. The ones that already have a Star or maybe two or three, get inspected every once in a while too. This is to make sure that the quality stayed the same or even increased, after they earned their Star.
To learn more about how to earn a Michelin Star or how do you lose a Michelin Star, check out the articles we have on the topics. You can also dive deeper into the world of Michelin Star chefs and learn more from other Michelin Star restaurants in these articles.
Now, let’s talk about running your own Michelin Star restaurant. If you have just earned a Star or a few, you are probably wondering how this will affect your restaurant business. What we can say for sure is that being included in the Guide will spark people’s interest, and you may experience a customer influx. Here’s how to prepare for that!
Michelin Star Restaurants: What to Do Once You Get a Star
First and foremost - celebrate this great news! Michelin Stars are not easy to get, so it’s worth celebrating this great honor. However, once the celebration is over, you and your kitchen staff and everyone else have to prepare for some more hard work.
Key Takeaway: Running a Michelin restaurant can be a challenge. However, staying on top of inventory, curating a great wine list and beverage program, and preparing the space for customer influx.
1. Prepare the Space
Having a Star or maybe two or three will spark people’s interest, and you may get a lot more customers than before. That’s why you need to properly prepare the space you have. If there’s a possibility to add more tables, do that. However, make sure people will feel comfortable enjoying the Michelin Star dishes in a space that doesn’t feel too crowded.
Don’t feel obligated to seat more people. As a restaurant manager, you know the place well, and you may find a way to add a few more seats. Do it only if it won’t make it harder for the waiters to serve clients and clients won't bump into each other’s backs when they are getting up. Although a Michelin Star is not awarded for the design and layout of the restaurant, it can make or break the great customer experience.
2. Inventory Organization
Making sure the operations in the restaurant are as smooth as possible is a must. One way to ensure that the waiters and waitresses, as well as bartenders, will serve clients as quickly and efficiently as possible is by organizing the inventory well.
Invest time and effort into organizing the liquor storage. We know people will visit mostly for the unique and finger-licking-good dishes, but beverages are important too if you want to increase customer satisfaction. Organize bottles by types of alcohol, label the shelves, so everyone knows where certain liquors go, and stay away from storing other items in the beverage storage space.
To streamline the process even more, you should use bar inventory management software, such as BinWise. The platform will help you stay on top of the inventory-taking process, allowing you to do digital ordering and providing you with useful information on what types of beverages are consumed most within your establishment.
3. Consider Food and Beverage Pairings
Another secret to a well-organized beverage inventory is considering how different drinks will pair with the dishes you serve. From beer pairing and tea pairing options to great non-alcoholic beverages, you have a lot of thinking and work to do. You should also learn about beer expiration. Fortunately, there’s a lot of information in our blog posts regarding good food and beverage pairings!
An important category, however, is food and wine pairing which needs some extra thought and organization. The amazing thing about wine is that is one of the most preferred alcoholic beverages in general and there are numerous incredible pairings to do. If you want to step up the fine dining experience in your Michelin restaurant, it’s worth looking into improving your wine program.
BinWise can help you with that from ordering and keeping inventory of the wine, to building the perfect wine list! There are so many amazing wines to choose from, and you can have an iPad wine menu or a paper menu. The paper option is usually preferred for fine-dining restaurants and what’s great about using BinWise is that when the menu changes it will help you identify which pages need to be printed again. This saves not only time but also money on re-printing your entire wine menu!
4. Keep Adding Value
One of the important components that are evaluated by the Michelin inspectors is the value for money received through the dishes in the restaurant. One way to add value for the customers, however, is via beverages.
Curate the menu carefully and consider having a seasonal menu, too. Changing some beverages on the menu based on the seasons can boost client interest and is a recommended practice for any restaurant. Having a signature cocktail created specially for your restaurant is another option to consider.
Frequently Asked Questions about Running Michelin Star Restaurants
No matter what type of restaurant you run, you probably have many questions regarding how to run it once you get a Michelin Star. We hope we’ve answered many of them in the article so far. However, here’s some more great information that can be useful to you!
What’s a Great Service at a Restaurant?
Welcoming staff and environment, quality food and drinks, fast and friendly service, listening, and staying true to the restaurant’s concept are a recipe for great service. Whether your restaurant already has a Michelin Star or not, you should strive to offer all these things.
Even though the quality of service is not officially considered part of the grading process of the Michelin inspectors, it’s very important. Even if the food is outstanding, service that’s not at a high level can leave customers hugely disappointed, and they may not return to your restaurant.
Are There Any Disadvantages of Having a Michelin Star?
Yes, there are some disadvantages to running Michelin Star restaurants. When the restaurant gets a Star or Stars, people are curious to see what the hype is about. This can quickly lead to more customers, more work, and a lot more specific situations and issues to deal with. If not handled correctly, there’s a possibility of receiving more complaints than usual.
Because of that, once you receive a Star, you should come up with a game plan on how to serve better the larger number of customers you are about to get. In this article, you can find some helpful tips on how to prepare well.
Is the Chef or the Restaurant the One Receiving the Michelin Star?
There’s no such thing as a “Michelin Star chef” because the recognition is for the restaurant. Although the chef plays a huge role in receiving it, if they quit their job at a certain restaurant, the Star won’t leave with them.
Michelin Star restaurants keep the Star until the next round of evaluations. If they can’t keep up the quality and consistency that’s expected, they can lose the Star. But if the new chef manages to keep things running smoothly or even improve the quality of the food, the restaurant may earn even more Stars.