Effortless in her Parisian chic with her trademark red lipstick and this season’s espadrilles, Gaelle sits down on the other side of the editorial fence to face some questions about the Michelin Guide’s operations.
Q: Can you tell us where you came from and what you do as the Vice-President of the MICHELIN Guides Southeast Asia?
Gaelle: Before Thailand, I was working for the Michelin Group in France and I moved from Paris to Bangkok in 2017 to launch the first edition of the MICHELIN Guide Thailand.
Along with the guide, I am also here to start Michelin Experiences which includes events, marketing, communications and sales for the guide and activations surrounding gastronomy in Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Q: In Thailand people know Michelin for their tyres… how is this connected to a restaurant guide?
Gaelle: The MICHELIN Guide has been part of the Michelin Group since the beginning. In the 1900s, it was the vision of the Michelin brothers to have a guide to accompany drivers in their travels.
First the guide was a map to know where gas stations were, where you can sleep and where to go if you have a problem with your car. After a while the MICHELIN Guide evolved from a very practical and handy guide to gastronomy as people also wanted to know where they can eat.
For more information on the MICHELIN Guide’s history click here.
Q: What’s the vision and purpose of the MICHELIN Guide in Thailand?
Gaelle: The purpose of the MICHELIN Guide in Thailand, as in all other countries that has a MICHELIN Guide, is to promote the local culinary scene along with the dynamism of the food and beverage industry.
By releasing the guide every year we hope to make Thailand a gastronomic destination for tourists and – as a consequence – improve or fuel evolution of local talents as well as produce and farming. We aim to contribute to the whole eco-system around food, beverages and hospitality.
Q: Not everyone can afford Michelin starred restaurants, do you think the guide is elitist?
Gaelle: No... The guide reviews all types of restaurants. Most people think MICHELIN Guide is only about stars and fine-dining because of the publicity around the stars, but the guide is more than that. Michelin stars only represent about 20% of the selection in most countries.
What we try to do with the MICHELIN Guide is to propose a range of experiences that any kind of consumer can afford. In Thailand there are all types of cuisines and restaurants ranging from fine-dining to street-food and you see this represented in the guide.
Of course the Michelin Stars are very important for the us and chefs because of the publicity and its history in the industry as a sign of excellence. But there’s also Bib Gourmand and Michelin Plates.
Bib Gourmand is the distinction related to ‘value for money’ meaning for less than 1,000 Baht you can have a 4-course meal. For Michelin Plate, it means the restaurant is still offering a very high quality of food but it’s not at the price point of a Bib Gourmand or the standard of Michelin stars.
Click here to see the Michelin Guides restaurant selection distinctions.
Q: How many inspectors work on your team?
Gaelle: The inspection team does not report to me… they are totally independent. They report to the International Director of the MICHELIN Guide, Gwendal Poullennec. We are two separate organisations. We all work for the same brand and the same group but we are totally separate entities. I find out about the star selection the same day as everyone else does.
Gaelle: No, I am not involved in the awarding of the restaurants or even the selection of restaurants in the Guide. This is a separate team, very independent. The people who select the restaurants are Michelin Inspectors. Michelin Inspectors work with total independence and I do not have any relationship with them when it comes to inspections of restaurants or selections.
Learn about Michelin Inspectors here.
Q: Can a restaurant pay you to get a star or give you money to promote itself?
Gaelle: No… one of the specificities of the MICHELIN Guide is that it is free! When the inspection team decides to selects a restaurant it’s totally free and based on their inspection criteria which is 100% independent from any commercial operations.
Read more about the Michelin Guide Inspectors’ selection criteria here.
Q: Being the Vice-President of the MICHELIN Guide, do you get any perks like free meals?
Gaelle: Unfortunately no... This is one of the values of the independence of the guide and Michelin is very strong on ethics. I can be part of events and eat of course, but I am there as a guest or everyday consumer and not as a Michelin Inspector.
Q: MICHELIN Guide has a lot of sponsors, do sponsors have any influence on the selection of restaurants in the guide?
Gaelle: No, as I said before, the selection is very independent. We have a portfolio of partners who leverage the gastronomic association with Michelin, but they are not involved in the selection at all.
Our partners are more involved in the activation of the different food events and communications activities that we run to promote Thailand as a gastronomic destination both locally and overseas.
Q: What benefits do the sponsors get?
Gaelle: The visibility generated by the selection on an annual basis as well as curated events. Each year when we reveal the stars we have very strong media amplification not only in Thailand, but in the rest of the world. This is very good for the sponsors, as they benefit from all the marketing, communications and events activations that we do including our digital and social media platforms.
People travel a lot more than before so by being present in a country or a city we open dining experiences to people from all over the world.
Q: What do you think the legacy of the MICHELIN Guide is in Thailand?
Gaelle: It’s too early to talk about legacies, as we haven’t been operating here for long enough. What I can say is that hopefully with us launching the guide, we’ve encouraged a generation of local talents who will contribute to evolving the overall standard of Thailand’s culinary scene in the future.
For consumers, I hope that by reviewing and publishing our selection, we’ve encourage people to seek better or more innovative food experiences that may have been something that they didn’t do before.
Q: What are your 3 top Thai dishes?
Gaelle: My favorite is Moo Krob (crispy pork), I love it. Then congee with ginger and my recent discovery of crab omelet from Jai Fai, but unfortunately with the queues I cannot go as much as I want.
Q: What do you say in Thai when you like a good meal?
Gaelle: Aroi!
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