Michelin starred chef ‘tired’ of the industry's endless rankings and lists

Chef Christian Puglisi has hit out against the industry on social media for its constant need to rank and list restaurants.

• Why does two Michelin starred chef Andre Chiang want to be excluded from Michelin?
• Why does Sebastian Bras wish to return his three Michelin stars?
• Why does Andrew Fairlie not want a third Michelin star? 

In an Instagram post the Michelin starred chef has labelled rankings and awards as being ‘ridiculous’.

“I have grown so tired of this constant need to sizing, ranking and listing every single thing in this industry," said the chef in the post.

Christian is part of the former Noma alumni and currently runs a string of restaurants in Copenhagen which includes the Michelin starred Relae, wine bar Manfreds, pizzeria Baest, and cafe Mirabelle. As well as its star in the Michelin Guide, Relae is also ranked at No. 39 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

In his Instagram rant the chef, who was voted the 69^th best chef in the world by an unnamed company, said he hoped ‘you really don’t give a flying f***!’ it.

Although the chef acknowledges what awards and rankings have done to help build his reputation and boost his restaurant empire, he feels the continuous ranking of restaurants has made the industry more competitive than it needs to be.

“It’s not sports, it’s not politics. It’s not about votes, it’s not about ratings. It’s about eating, living, cooking, and kicking ass.”

He continued: “Judge me or anyone else on a scale with thousands of other cooks that I might have a lot or absolutely nothing in common with.”

Since the post was published three days ago the chef has received mostly a positive response from fellow chefs who agree with him.

*We want to know your thoughts comment on this article or join the debate on Facebook and Twitter

 

Look at this! I have been voted (I think) to be the 69th best chef in the world! And I really hope that you really don’t give a flying fuck! Because guess what? You shouldn’t! I have grown so tired of this constant need to sizing, ranking and listing every single thing in this industry. It seems like a month can’t go by without some new list coming out that you need to relate to. 50 best restaurants, 100 best restaurants, 50 best pizza, Top 300 most influential under 30, best chef in the world, I won’t be surprised to soon finding the worldwide Top 100 ramen shop, the 50 best dressed chef of the year list (won by Quique Dacosta every year so maybe short lived..) the 100 best chefs on instagram and why not; The Best Chef Tattoo List in my feed or inbox. But now things are getting ridiculous - let me all just remind you if you forgot for a moment. It’s about food. Cooked in restaurants. - it’s not sports, it’s not politics. It’s not about votes, it’s not about ratings. It’s about eating, living, cooking and kicking ass. There is in my mind no sense in turning the great art of gastronomy and conviviality in a constant competition for acknowledgement, rankings and likes. It does not NEED to! Do you like what you are doing/eating/cooking? Does it need to be related to other experiences of that kind to have any value? No! Just enjoy the moment! Be present! It’s subjective! Sometimes you need to take the time to try and understand a bit of complexity rather than just simplifying every damn thing by ranking it. And yeeeees, I acknowledge that me and my business have been helped by many a ranking. At first my ego gets me excited, wow- top 100 chef in the world.???? But then I’m thinking; who the hell has the right to judge me or anyone else on a scale with thousands of other cooks that I might have a lot or absolutely nothing in common with...? As a person? As a chef? I have not entered an election as far as I know. People! - you can’t rate people!!! Some of these ideas need to live and die their short lives behind the doors of some marketing department of some blendermaking company. Enough now. #bestchef #rankmyrant

A post shared by Christian Francesco Puglisi (@chrifrapug) on Oct 29, 2017 at 3:34am PDT