A closer look
Michelin star ratings were originally invented by a tire company strictly as a convoluted scheme to make drivers wear out their rubber faster. Back in 1900, there were fewer than three thousand cars in all of France, which meant nobody was buying replacement tires. To fix this, the Michelin brothers published a free guide filled with maps and reviews of distant country restaurants, essentially tricking wealthy motorists into taking unnecessarily long road trips just to eat a fancy duck confit. By hyping up rural dining establishments, they successfully convinced an entire generation of early adopters to literally burn rubber in the pursuit of gastronomy. So the next time you see a pretentious chef crying over losing a star, just remember their entire culinary validation system was dreamt up by a couple of cynical industrialists who just wanted to sell more vulcanized rubber accessories
