Caitlin Quinn
THROW away the tortilla and cast aside the patatas bravas, the best curry outside of India’s in town.
The first Indian chef to hold a Michelin star is opening a restaurant in Madrid, following on from his success in London’s upmarket Mayfair district.
Atul Kochhar has expressed excitement over the opening and revealed his plans to combine typical Indian recipes with traditional Spanish ingredients, including local produce, seafood and pork.
Michelin stars are awarded to restaurants, not for chefs. Common mistake. If this chef leaves this restaurant, his stars do not follow him.
It’s horses for courses. Basically one would visit a certain restaurant due to the chef not for it’s decor.
Generally, a 5-star chef (the title of which doesn’t actually exist), comes from the (Michelin Tour Guide rated) 5-star hotel or restaurant where they may have been employed…as a chef. The hotel or restaurant gets the 5-stars…not the chef, but by default, if you were the chef where, AND WHEN, the restaurant received it’s 5-Star rating, then, I suppose you could be considered a “5-Star chef”.
Wrong, you can never be a “5 star chef” (Michelin doesn’t even have 5 stars btw). Only a restaurant can be awarded Michelin stars. You can thus refer to a chef as “a chef who worked at a Michelin starred restaurant”, but not “a 5-star chef”.