‘Guide Jaune’ is coming!
Gault & Millau, known by many as Guide Jaune (Yellow Guide), is coming to Türkiye in cooperation with Sözen Organization by Gökmen Sözen. Being one of the two most prestigious gastronomy guides in the world, together with the famed Michelin Guide, its arrival will contribute to gastronomy tourism in the country and promote Turkish cuisine to be better known in the culinary circles in the world. The guide’s CEO Patrick Hayoun was in Istanbul for the launch event. Sözen says they’ve been preparing to have Gault Millau in the country for many years, actually, they started working five years prior to Michelin which made its debut in 2022. Sözen and Hayoun announced that they will start fieldwork in 2023, scouring the country not only in Istanbul like the Michelin did but also including the whole Marmara region, the Aegean and the Mediterranean, stretching all the way to the South East. The results will be published in 2024.
1-20 points, 4 Toques
The Gault & Millau Guide, which has a respected place in the world food and beverage sector, is considered as the most accurate rating system that scores restaurants from 1 to 20 points. Based on the grading system of French education, this rating provides a more precise quality assessment compared to star-giving or other ranking systems such as the 50 Best lists. However, it can be said that G&M has a double system, though they do not give stars, they give toques, the tall white hat worn by chefs, as if crowning the chef with an honorary degree. The toque rating goes as follows: High-ranking restaurants that attain a score of more than 13 points are also entitled to display small toques; 13 to 14 points represent very good cuisine, and the restaurant is awarded one toque; 15 to 16 points and two toques are awarded for excellent quality and creativity; 17 to 18 points are given three toques which is synonymous with exceptional preparation and the ultimate in creativity, and finally between 18.5 to 20 points, four toques are awarded to a restaurant that serves “world-beating” cuisine. This double ranking system compensates for the notorious lack of the 20 points given, at least a restaurant of exceptional quality can get 4 toques, even if short of the elusive 20 points. Under its founders Henri Gault and Christian Millau, and long after they left the guide, 20 points were never awarded, based on the argument that perfection is beyond the limitations of a human being, and only God is entitled to such perfection. However, in the years to come, this unwritten rule was relaxed, and two chefs, namely French chef Marc Veyrat and Dutch chef Sergio Herman succeeded to break the rule, not once but, both twice. Veyrat got 20 points in 2004 for his two venues, Maison de Marc Veyrat in Veyrier-du-Lac near Annecy, and La Ferme de Mon Père in Megève, and Herman succeeding scored 20 with his now-defunct restaurant Oud Sluis in the Netherlands in two successive years in 2010 and 2011.
Nailing the term Nouvelle Cuisine
Going back to the start of the guide, it all started with a newspaper food column in the early 1960s. Henri Gault, a recognized journalist, started to pen a weekly column for the Paris-Presse newspaper on weekend getaways. It was a sudden success, and Christian Millau, the editor in chief got particularly interested in these weekend escapades, eventually becoming a gastronomic companion of the writer.
Their verdicts carried a bold tone, their choices were iconoclastic, and rule-breaking to the extent that they brought a new perspective to cuisine. Seeing their success, Christian Bourgois, the literary director at Julliard, came up with a totally new guide concept and started an independent national magazine, the Nouveau Guide, which eventually was recognized as the Guide Jaune (Yellow Guide), or Le Guide Gault et Millau, the first guide for France appearing in 1972. Soon after, the two journalists nailed the term “Nouvelle Cuisine” with an article published in 1973, defining the 10 commandments of a totally new approach to cuisine, opposing the “Cuisine Classique” or “Haute Cuisine” that ruled French gastronomy. Their approach to challenging the traditional system also led the way for young talented chefs to emerge with new ideas and shine through with their creative plates.
Turkish edition with 16 local inspectors
In recent years, Gault & Millau adopted a policy of expanding its borders, just like Michelin did in the past years. Türkiye is the 17th country to be included in the expansion of the guide. In its Turkish edition, there will also be 16 anonymous local inspectors who will visit and evaluate the restaurants, all experienced in the food and beverage industry.
Sözen said at the launching reception that the restaurants in Türkiye will be evaluated not only by the French experts, but by Turkish professionals who know Turkish cuisine and the food world well and that these16 local inspectors were being trained by G&M’s French experts for full 3 days in Istanbul, and these training will be repeated when necessary. A list of 500 restaurants has already been compiled across the country, and only 300 of them will be included in the guide. In general, places with less than 10 points are not included in the list. The people who will rate the restaurants will remain anonymous and will pay for the food they eat.
These tastings will last throughout 2023 and will be completed in October, with the list expected to be announced in 2024. The results will be published on the website and in a printed guide in both Turkish and English. Sözen emphasizes that they will especially try to give visibility to young creative chefs, but their target is solely chef’s restaurants, they will also cover venues that offer traditional Turkish cuisine with traditional cooks in command, but of course the ones with authentic tastes executed with high skills, good service, and impeccable quality of ingredients.
Hopefully, the Turkish cuisine and hospitality scene will be elevated with the introduction of such globally acclaimed rating systems in Türkiye, and its cuisine better understood, known and sustained.