Gault et Millau is a French

restaurant guide A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

. It was founded by two restaurant critics,

Henri Gault Henri Gault (, 4 November 1929 - 9 July 2000) was a French food journalist. He was co-founder of the Gault Millau guides with Christian Millau, and invented the phrase "nouvelle cuisine", though later he claimed to regret it.The Guardian '' ...

and

Christian Millau Christian Dubois-Millot, pen name Christian Millau (, 30 December 1928 – 5 August 2017), was a French food critic and author. Born in Paris, he began his career as a journalist in the "interior policy" department of ''Le Monde'' newspaper. In 1 ...

in 1965.

Points system

Gault Millau rates on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given below 10 points are rarely listed. The points are awarded based on the quality of the food, with comments about service, price or the atmosphere of the restaurant given separately. Based on this rating, high-ranking restaurants may display one to four

toque A toque ( or ) is a type of hat with a narrow brim or no brim at all. Toques were popular from the 13th to the 16th century in Europe, especially France. The mode was revived in the 1930s. Now it is primarily known as the traditional headgear ...

s. Gault Millau does not accept payment for listing restaurants. Under its original authors and for many years after they left, Gault Millau never awarded a score of 20 points, under the argument that perfection is beyond the limitations of a normal human being. In 2004, two restaurants, both of chef Marc Veyrat, the Maison de Marc Veyrat (or L'Auberge de l'Eridan) in Veyrier-du-Lac near Annecy and La Ferme de Mon Père ("My Father's Farm") in

Megève Megève (; frp, Megéva) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French ...

, received this score. In 2010 and 2011, Sergio Herman's Oud Sluis received 20/20. To some, this reflects a fall of standards in the guide after it changed from employing a permanent editorial and tasting staff to using local agents.

Differences with Michelin

There has been discussion about which guide is more important, the

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

or the Gault Millau. In the 1970s the Michelin's continued conservative support of traditional

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...

was challenged by the support of

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...

by the Gault-Millau. Michelin is more popular and therefore more influential, while Gault Millau has been considered more food-focused due to the main system being based purely on the quality of the food. Gault Millau has guides for various other countries, including

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, Switzerland,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

French Chef of the Year

* 1989

Joël Robuchon Joël Robuchon (, 7 April 1945 – 6 August 2018) was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's best worker) in cuisine in 1976. ...

(Chef of the Century) * 1994

Roger Souvereyns Roger Souvereyns (December 2, 1938) is a Belgian Michelin-starred chef and former restaurant owner. He received two Michelin stars in the period from 1985 to 1993 for his cooking skills in Scholteshof. Career Roger Souvereyns started his career ...

* 2001

Luigi Ciciriello is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

* 2002

Nicolas Le Bec Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

* 2003

Michel Troisgros Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

* 2004

Jean-Paul Abadie Jean-Paul Abadie (born 18 February 1958) is a French chef. He was named "Chef of the Year" in 2004 by Gault et Millau and has two stars at the Guide Michelin since 2002. Training and career Jean-Paul Abadie was born in Lannemezan in the depa ...

* 2005

Arnaud Magnier Arnaud may refer to: People * Arnaud (given name) or Arnauld (formerly Arnoul), the French form of the German given name Arnold * Arnaud (surname) or Arnauld (formerly Arnoul), the French form of the name Arnold * Arnauld family, a noble French f ...

* 2006

Thierry Marx Thierry Marx (born 19 September 1959) is a French chef, specialised in molecular gastronomy. Biography Thierry Marx was born and raised in Paris in the area of Ménilmontant. His grandfather, Marcel Marx, was a Polish Jewish refugee and communi ...

* 2007

Anne-Sophie Pic Anne-Sophie Pic (, born 12 July 1969) is a French chef best known for regaining three Michelin stars for her restaurant, Maison Pic, in southeast France. She is the fourth female chef to win three Michelin stars, and was named the Best Female C ...

* 2008 Jean-Luc Rabanel * 2009

Léa Linster Léa Linster (born 27 April 1955) is a Luxembourg chef, and a gold medal winner of the 1989 Bocuse d'Or, the first and to date only woman to accomplish this.Curtis, Stephanie. ''Food Arts'' (May, 2006)Women who wear toques/ref>World Gourmet Summi ...

* 2010

William Ledeuil William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language English is a West Germa ...

* 2011

Édouard Loubet Édouard Loubet (born 25 September 1970 in Val-Thorens, Savoy) is a French master chef with 2 stars in the Michelin Guide. He obtained the grade of 18/20 from the Gault et Millau book, which elected him chef of the year in 2011. Biography Loube ...

* 2012 Michel Portos * 2013 Philippe Labbé * 2014 Arnaud Lallement * 2015 Yannick Alleno * 2016 Alexandre Gauthier * 2017 Alexandre Couillon'Alexandre Couillon, Cuisinier de l'Année 2017', fr.gaultmillau.com
/ref> * 2018 Jean Sulpice

References

External links

The Gault Millau website for France

The Gault Millau website for Belgium & Luxembourg

The Gault Millau for Slovenia

The Gault Millau for Italy

The Gault Millau for Austria
{{Authority control Restaurant guides 1965 establishments in France

Points system

Differences with Michelin

French Chef of the Year

See also

References

External links