Preparations for lunch in the Louis XV Restaurant
02:00
Corcoran: Preparations are underway for the gastronomic equivalent of a grand operatic performance. In a nation that places food at the very core of the soul, this is a serious business -- the business of haute cuisine.
02:11
Waiter serving lunch Corcoran: Lunch is served in the Louis XV Restaurant, one of France's culinary high temples, that woos both patron and food critic alike. 02:30
Wells Wells: It has the potential for being just one the greatest meals you could ever have.
02:41
Corcoran: And one of the most expensive. Starting at around $700 a head. Then of course, there's the wine list.
02:48
Wells: We always want that special meal where we feel like a king and a queen, and there's no place better to do it than here.
03:00
Outside Louis XV restaurant Corcoran: As with any good opera, there are liberal lashings of high drama, and a star performer, played with understated intensity by super-chef Alain Ducasse.
03:17
The Louis XV is the flagship of this culinary titan, who blend of cooking and celebrity has made him a superstar in France and beyond, with restaurants now in Paris, Monaco, New York and Tokyo.
03:28
Ducasse Ducasse: I think my spirit is everywhere. The important thing is to provide quality every day, to satisfy customers who have lunch or dinner, and to give them the best product. Which in my restaurants I think we do. 03:46
Ducasse dining in restaurant Corcoran: Despite the luxuriant ambience, there is a slight chill in the air -- a feeling that the cult of personality now overshadows this vision of haute cuisine.
04:05
Wells: I don't know how much of what he's doing is for the glory of France and his love of great ingredients, or for the glory of Alain Ducasse.
04:17
Paris street bistros Corcoran: This nation that thrives on good eating also loves good gossip, and in the decidedly more down market bistros the talk is of a clash of the titans, a food fight between France's most famous chef and the world's most prestigious restaurant guide.
04:33
Corcoran: Well, this is the Michelin Guide, France's culinary bible. Each year it awards one, two or three stars to the nation's top restaurants. It's the publication with the power to make or break a restaurant. According to folklore, chefs have even been known to commit suicide after losing a star. And this year, a scandal of truly French proportions with the flagship restaurant of superstar chef Alain Ducasse demoted from three to two stars.
04:53
It was a decision widely interpreted as Michelin's backlash against the growing cult of the celebrity chefs, who, with TV shows, product endorsements and celebrity appearances, no longer have time to cook in the restaurants that bear their name.
05:20
Louis XV restaurant Corcoran: The Louis XV isn't actually in France, but in the tiny principality of Monaco, nestled in the French Riviera.
05:48
Barely the toss of a gaming chip away from the Monte Carlo Casino. Of course the culinary king gets equal billing on the awning. But there are no brass plaques displaying Michelin stars. That's considered far too crass. This is not the kind of restaurant that needs to impress passing street trade.
05:59
Corcoran: Behind every great dining room is, of course, a superb kitchen.
06:27
Choreographing the performance for today's lunch, the great man himself.
06:37
Alain Ducasse was the first chef in the 100 year history of Michelin to be awarded a total of six stars between his two restaurants. And despite his imperial veneer, you can tell that losing one hurts.
Ducasse Ducasse: I know chefs who are in their kitchens every day and its worse than my place. 07:01
Louis XV kitchen Corcoran: Monsieur Ducasse sees himself not as a hands-on chef, but as a visionary, an artist.
07:06
Ducasse Ducasse: It was like Enzo Ferrari did he actually put the wheel nuts on the car? The answer is no it was a team who manufactured a legendary car but it was under his direction, impulse and motivation that this car was made and for me today, its the same.
07:12
Corcoran: There's plenty of heat being generated in this kitchen, but even a chef with the power and prestige of Alain Ducasse dares not publicly attack Michelin.
07:35
Corcoran: For an insider's guide to haute cuisine politics you need to travel to rural Provence, to the home of an American in France.
07:57
Patricia Wells, one of Frances most powerful and respected food critics offers an explanation as to why Michelin abandoned its favourite son.
08:09
Wells: You know, I guess they just felt that it had not kept up its three star quality, you know, something had slipped. Either the service had slipped or the quality, the ingredients were not as good. I kind of find that hard to believe, because he's a clever man, and I can't see him slipping. So maybe, maybe it was a little mean spirited move on Michelin's part or a little, tsk, tsk, tsk, watch out -- we can, you know, we can trip you up.
08:19
Street cafés Corcoran: So what exactly is Michelin? The company's main business is making car tyres, but drivers get hungry, and a century ago the first guidebook appeared. Their anonymous inspectors now cruise France's culinary world -- watching, tasting, assessing.
08:49
Wells: I used to have an interview with them every year and they would just, you know -- of course they wouldn't give you any information. You know, you ask questions and it's sort of like -- I remember once I said, you know, I kind of got to know them over a couple of years, and I said 'Oh, why don't we go to lunch together one day?' 'Ah, we couldn't do that.' I said, 'Well, why not?' He said, 'Well, we just couldn't be seen with you, a critic.' You know, it's like we were opposing and I just thought we were, we do the same thing, you know.
09:08
Corcoran: In fact Michelin can be more secretive than the French secret service. Emerging from the shadows near the Paris opera house is Jean-Frederic Douroux, the one Michelin man who is permitted to go public. Come in from the cold as it were.
09:34
He agrees to a meeting, but insists it can't be at a restaurant, so we rendezvous at a deserted café.
09:49
Douroux Douroux: This is a job that has to be done very seriously, and in a way, very secretly, because if the inspector arrives and says, 'Well I'm the Michelin inspector' well, that change the people's attitude or the service or something.
09:59
Corcoran: And how many inspectors do you have?
Douroux: That's part of the secret, I'm afraid. [laughs] We don't want to give too many information to our competition.
10:26
Corcoran: That Michelin takes itself so seriously is not surprising given the stakes. The inspectors assess a national restaurant industry worth the equivalent of $40 billion to the French economy.
10:43
Corcoran: Insiders say each star earned represents millions of dollars of investment. And to lose a star is to lose 30 percent of turnover.
11:02
Douroux Douroux: When we give a star, or a second star, or third star to a restaurant, it usually means more business for the restaurant. And in the other way, when we remove a star it's usually a little bit of business, you know, minus. So it's a big responsibility and we are perfectly aware of that.
11:15
Corcoran: Michelin never explains why a restaurant has been promoted or demoted. But such is the furore over Alain Ducasse that Monsieur Douroux feels compelled to offer the bare bones of review.
11:47
Douroux Corcoran: If you like, the star of Michelin restaurants, Alain Ducasse, who had a total of six stars, he lost a star this year. Why is that?
12:00
Douroux: Very simply because when our inspectors visited this restaurant last year, they didn't find the same quality, the same level of quality, that they had found before. And they simply made the statement that it was not worth the three stars any more.
Ducasse Ducasse: The decision is a human judgement , subject to human error. It cant be a mechanical decision it must rely on subjective judgement. I respect the decision, which wont change anything. It wont change our motivation as every day we aim for the highest level.
12:33
Douroux Douroux: It was not a punishment at all. I mean Mr. Ducasse runs his business hopefully very well. And this loss of a star in Monte Carlo was really linked to the cooking, to the dining experience and nothing else.
13:04
Corcoran: Three star Michelin kitchens seem to be propelled by their own unique form of quality control. It's all precision, tension, perfection.
13:33
Ducasse Ducasse: I dont really like that cream I dont; like it. It doesnt please me. Put less mousse on.
13:45
Corcoran: While judging restaurants is highly subjective, the financial realities are very tangible, and now pose a threat to very existence of haute cuisine. The food and wine may be exquisite, but overheads are enormous. Seating just 55 people, the Louis XV employs 20 chefs and 20 other staff.
14:01
Factor in changing lifestyles and the proliferation of low cost bistros, and the pressures to maintain standards and a profitable bank balance, are enormous.
14:23
Corcoran: Do they make money, these restaurants? I mean the overheads must be enormous.
14:36
Wells: I don't think any of the three stars make much money, which is why they have to do other things. And I'm -- again, as I said, I understand that. I guess one of my problems with Ducasse is like every two months he's got a new book coming out. Well he didn't write that book, you know. There's a little bit too much of him all the time.
Corcoran: And this is your bible?
14:58
Ducasse: One thousand photo, 500 recipes. 1,000 page. It's 12 pounds. Corcoran: It's your life's work.Ducasse: Yes. It's a beautiful book. It's for cooks, or for foodies, for foodies.
Corcoran: As it turns out, Alain Ducasse is a traditionalist. He's not a great fan of fusion cooking, that particularly unique blend of western, Asian and Mediterranean so popular in Australian restaurants.
15:38
Ducasse: Many time fusion is confusion. I like the origin of the flavour. I like to recognise the origin of the food.
15:52
Corcoran: Michelin mightn't like it, the critics may be divided, but there's definitely no confusion in Alain Ducasse's vision of haute cuisine. It's a case of cook and be damned, even if it means losing a star.
16:11
Ducasse Ducasse: Its not the first time Ive lived this experience. When I first went to Paris they took a star here, then I went to New York last year theyve taken a star off again so maybe Ill get it back again Im getting used to the experience.
16:28
Corcoran: For at the end of the day -- at mealtime, this is food as a celebration -- as a performance art. And the audience certainly isn't complaining.
16:57
Credits: FRENCH FOODIESReporter: Mark CorcoranCamera: Gregory HeapSound: Kate GrahamEditor: Garth ThomasProducer: Wayne Bodkin 17:16
02:00
Corcoran: Preparations are underway for the gastronomic equivalent of a grand operatic performance. In a nation that places food at the very core of the soul, this is a serious business -- the business of haute cuisine.
02:11
Waiter serving lunch Corcoran: Lunch is served in the Louis XV Restaurant, one of France's culinary high temples, that woos both patron and food critic alike. 02:30
Wells Wells: It has the potential for being just one the greatest meals you could ever have.
02:41
Corcoran: And one of the most expensive. Starting at around $700 a head. Then of course, there's the wine list.
02:48
Wells: We always want that special meal where we feel like a king and a queen, and there's no place better to do it than here.
03:00
Outside Louis XV restaurant Corcoran: As with any good opera, there are liberal lashings of high drama, and a star performer, played with understated intensity by super-chef Alain Ducasse.
03:17
The Louis XV is the flagship of this culinary titan, who blend of cooking and celebrity has made him a superstar in France and beyond, with restaurants now in Paris, Monaco, New York and Tokyo.
03:28
Ducasse Ducasse: I think my spirit is everywhere. The important thing is to provide quality every day, to satisfy customers who have lunch or dinner, and to give them the best product. Which in my restaurants I think we do. 03:46
Ducasse dining in restaurant Corcoran: Despite the luxuriant ambience, there is a slight chill in the air -- a feeling that the cult of personality now overshadows this vision of haute cuisine.
04:05
Wells: I don't know how much of what he's doing is for the glory of France and his love of great ingredients, or for the glory of Alain Ducasse.
04:17
Paris street bistros Corcoran: This nation that thrives on good eating also loves good gossip, and in the decidedly more down market bistros the talk is of a clash of the titans, a food fight between France's most famous chef and the world's most prestigious restaurant guide.
04:33
Corcoran: Well, this is the Michelin Guide, France's culinary bible. Each year it awards one, two or three stars to the nation's top restaurants. It's the publication with the power to make or break a restaurant. According to folklore, chefs have even been known to commit suicide after losing a star. And this year, a scandal of truly French proportions with the flagship restaurant of superstar chef Alain Ducasse demoted from three to two stars.
04:53
It was a decision widely interpreted as Michelin's backlash against the growing cult of the celebrity chefs, who, with TV shows, product endorsements and celebrity appearances, no longer have time to cook in the restaurants that bear their name.
05:20
Louis XV restaurant Corcoran: The Louis XV isn't actually in France, but in the tiny principality of Monaco, nestled in the French Riviera.
05:48
Barely the toss of a gaming chip away from the Monte Carlo Casino. Of course the culinary king gets equal billing on the awning. But there are no brass plaques displaying Michelin stars. That's considered far too crass. This is not the kind of restaurant that needs to impress passing street trade.
05:59
Corcoran: Behind every great dining room is, of course, a superb kitchen.
06:27
Choreographing the performance for today's lunch, the great man himself.
06:37
Alain Ducasse was the first chef in the 100 year history of Michelin to be awarded a total of six stars between his two restaurants. And despite his imperial veneer, you can tell that losing one hurts.
Ducasse Ducasse: I know chefs who are in their kitchens every day and its worse than my place. 07:01
Louis XV kitchen Corcoran: Monsieur Ducasse sees himself not as a hands-on chef, but as a visionary, an artist.
07:06
Ducasse Ducasse: It was like Enzo Ferrari did he actually put the wheel nuts on the car? The answer is no it was a team who manufactured a legendary car but it was under his direction, impulse and motivation that this car was made and for me today, its the same.
07:12
Corcoran: There's plenty of heat being generated in this kitchen, but even a chef with the power and prestige of Alain Ducasse dares not publicly attack Michelin.
07:35
Corcoran: For an insider's guide to haute cuisine politics you need to travel to rural Provence, to the home of an American in France.
07:57
Patricia Wells, one of Frances most powerful and respected food critics offers an explanation as to why Michelin abandoned its favourite son.
08:09
Wells: You know, I guess they just felt that it had not kept up its three star quality, you know, something had slipped. Either the service had slipped or the quality, the ingredients were not as good. I kind of find that hard to believe, because he's a clever man, and I can't see him slipping. So maybe, maybe it was a little mean spirited move on Michelin's part or a little, tsk, tsk, tsk, watch out -- we can, you know, we can trip you up.
08:19
Street cafés Corcoran: So what exactly is Michelin? The company's main business is making car tyres, but drivers get hungry, and a century ago the first guidebook appeared. Their anonymous inspectors now cruise France's culinary world -- watching, tasting, assessing.
08:49
Wells: I used to have an interview with them every year and they would just, you know -- of course they wouldn't give you any information. You know, you ask questions and it's sort of like -- I remember once I said, you know, I kind of got to know them over a couple of years, and I said 'Oh, why don't we go to lunch together one day?' 'Ah, we couldn't do that.' I said, 'Well, why not?' He said, 'Well, we just couldn't be seen with you, a critic.' You know, it's like we were opposing and I just thought we were, we do the same thing, you know.
09:08
Corcoran: In fact Michelin can be more secretive than the French secret service. Emerging from the shadows near the Paris opera house is Jean-Frederic Douroux, the one Michelin man who is permitted to go public. Come in from the cold as it were.
09:34
He agrees to a meeting, but insists it can't be at a restaurant, so we rendezvous at a deserted café.
09:49
Douroux Douroux: This is a job that has to be done very seriously, and in a way, very secretly, because if the inspector arrives and says, 'Well I'm the Michelin inspector' well, that change the people's attitude or the service or something.
09:59
Corcoran: And how many inspectors do you have?
Douroux: That's part of the secret, I'm afraid. [laughs] We don't want to give too many information to our competition.
10:26
Corcoran: That Michelin takes itself so seriously is not surprising given the stakes. The inspectors assess a national restaurant industry worth the equivalent of $40 billion to the French economy.
10:43
Corcoran: Insiders say each star earned represents millions of dollars of investment. And to lose a star is to lose 30 percent of turnover.
11:02
Douroux Douroux: When we give a star, or a second star, or third star to a restaurant, it usually means more business for the restaurant. And in the other way, when we remove a star it's usually a little bit of business, you know, minus. So it's a big responsibility and we are perfectly aware of that.
11:15
Corcoran: Michelin never explains why a restaurant has been promoted or demoted. But such is the furore over Alain Ducasse that Monsieur Douroux feels compelled to offer the bare bones of review.
11:47
Douroux Corcoran: If you like, the star of Michelin restaurants, Alain Ducasse, who had a total of six stars, he lost a star this year. Why is that?
12:00
Douroux: Very simply because when our inspectors visited this restaurant last year, they didn't find the same quality, the same level of quality, that they had found before. And they simply made the statement that it was not worth the three stars any more.
Ducasse Ducasse: The decision is a human judgement , subject to human error. It cant be a mechanical decision it must rely on subjective judgement. I respect the decision, which wont change anything. It wont change our motivation as every day we aim for the highest level.
12:33
Douroux Douroux: It was not a punishment at all. I mean Mr. Ducasse runs his business hopefully very well. And this loss of a star in Monte Carlo was really linked to the cooking, to the dining experience and nothing else.
13:04
Corcoran: Three star Michelin kitchens seem to be propelled by their own unique form of quality control. It's all precision, tension, perfection.
13:33
Ducasse Ducasse: I dont really like that cream I dont; like it. It doesnt please me. Put less mousse on.
13:45
Corcoran: While judging restaurants is highly subjective, the financial realities are very tangible, and now pose a threat to very existence of haute cuisine. The food and wine may be exquisite, but overheads are enormous. Seating just 55 people, the Louis XV employs 20 chefs and 20 other staff.
14:01
Factor in changing lifestyles and the proliferation of low cost bistros, and the pressures to maintain standards and a profitable bank balance, are enormous.
14:23
Corcoran: Do they make money, these restaurants? I mean the overheads must be enormous.
14:36
Wells: I don't think any of the three stars make much money, which is why they have to do other things. And I'm -- again, as I said, I understand that. I guess one of my problems with Ducasse is like every two months he's got a new book coming out. Well he didn't write that book, you know. There's a little bit too much of him all the time.
Corcoran: And this is your bible?
14:58
Ducasse: One thousand photo, 500 recipes. 1,000 page. It's 12 pounds. Corcoran: It's your life's work.Ducasse: Yes. It's a beautiful book. It's for cooks, or for foodies, for foodies.
Corcoran: As it turns out, Alain Ducasse is a traditionalist. He's not a great fan of fusion cooking, that particularly unique blend of western, Asian and Mediterranean so popular in Australian restaurants.
15:38
Ducasse: Many time fusion is confusion. I like the origin of the flavour. I like to recognise the origin of the food.
15:52
Corcoran: Michelin mightn't like it, the critics may be divided, but there's definitely no confusion in Alain Ducasse's vision of haute cuisine. It's a case of cook and be damned, even if it means losing a star.
16:11
Ducasse Ducasse: Its not the first time Ive lived this experience. When I first went to Paris they took a star here, then I went to New York last year theyve taken a star off again so maybe Ill get it back again Im getting used to the experience.
16:28
Corcoran: For at the end of the day -- at mealtime, this is food as a celebration -- as a performance art. And the audience certainly isn't complaining.
16:57
Credits: FRENCH FOODIESReporter: Mark CorcoranCamera: Gregory HeapSound: Kate GrahamEditor: Garth ThomasProducer: Wayne Bodkin 17:16