The Michelin Guide will hold its next star revelation ceremony in Cognac on 18th January 2021. For its first edition outside of Paris, the Michelin Guide has selected the internationally-renowned region of Cognac, benchmark of French excellence.
The Michelin Guide team will be inviting chefs, pâtissiers and representatives of the French culinary arts and crafts that make French gastronomy a destination in its own right. With the launch of its 2021 edition in Cognac, the Michelin Guide aims to showcase the richness of French regions and introduce guests to the hospitality and producers of Charente region. In addition to the ceremony dedicated to highlighting the new Michelin starred companies selected by inspectors, this getaway in the New-Aquitaine region in the middle of the distillation period, will be an opportunity to learn about the evolution of the world’s flagship spirit. Led by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC), the sector intends to make sustainable winegrowing a collective and sustainable approach, to participate in the development of more sustainable production and consumption methods.
For the past 120 years, Michelin Guide inspectors have been scouring the whole of France seeking out the finest restaurant talents. Since 2013, we have been organising a ceremony to honour the great houses, the young chefs, and the valiant individuals who have dedicated their career to this tough profession. On 18th January next year, the Michelin Guide team will visit Cognac with its guests to celebrate this region’s rich gastronomic heritage (truffle farming, cheese maturing, oyster farming, fish farming, etc.) and several wine designations that share the same vineyard as Cognac, such as Pineau des Charentes and PGI Charentais wines. The Michelin Guide feels that there is no place as fitting as Cognac, a rich and fertile region to honour the professionals working in the HORECA trade, particularly the sommeliers.
Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of Michelin Guides, said : “Every year, the Michelin Guide showcases the gastronomy of all the regions of France through its restaurant selection. In the Guide France 2020, we include 465 restaurants in Paris and 2970 restaurants in the provinces. Moving our Star ceremony from Paris to Cognac is further proof of the Guide’s commitment to the region, local producers and the quality food chain. The role of the Michelin Guide is to bring together culinary talents with the greatest number of gourmets. We also aim to highlight artisans and their regions, an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Chefs who anchor their cuisine in their immediate environment and its seasons.”
Jean-Hubert Lelièvre, the spokesman for the “Cognac project, host territory 2021”, says : “”Driven by the prestige of the Michelin Guide, we have been able to mobilise all the strength of Cognac and the Charentes region to highlight the richness and variety of the gastronomy of our beautiful region to France’s greatest chefs. This success is due to the natural addition of local players, proud of their terroir, who will welcome the annual international gastronomic event with great enthusiasm and authenticity, for the first time in Cognac in 2021. This relocation out of Paris (a first since the creation of the Guide) is the result of the marriage of two world-class references of French excellence, “Michelinand Cognac, which are the high points of French know-how. Our entire Cognac ecosystem is preparing for this beautiful event and all the players will be there in 2021 in Cognac, a terroir with a high added flavour!”
About Michelin Group
Michelin, the leading mobility company, is dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility, sustainably; designing and distributing the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its clients’ needs; providing digital services, maps and guides to help enrich trips and travels and make them unique experiences; and developing high-technology materials that serve a variety of industries. Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michelin is present in 170 countries, has more than 125,000 employees and operates 67 tire production facilities which together produced around 190 million tires in 2018.
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