Tovic Salvador

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Maria Isabel Martinez

From listicles compiling <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2025/10/31/michelin-guide-launches-first-ever-ph-selection-108-restaurants-make-the-cut-0705">winners</a>, inside <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2025/10/31/how-a-former-nanny-s-dream-became-a-michelin-recognized-eatery-1535">scoops</a> on chefs and carinderia owners, to discussions on who should and shouldn’t have made the cut, our feeds have been consumed (both puns intended) by Michelin Guide Manila.Debates over which cities and restaurants were snubbed and which winners are overrated are still simmering. Two common threads run through the discourse. First, Filipino cuisine and cooking are world-class and are finally getting some long-overdue recognition, and second, that Michelin wasn’t able to come up with a perfect selection because taste is so subjective.But where, exactly, does one draw the line between expert critique and personal preference?<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763340373514278437154_1828107624055613_2021460601760925431_n.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Image credit: JH LozanoWhy taste is tricky </div>Food is one of the most – if not the most – subjective experiences humans can have. Our tastes in things like art or music are also subjective, since our history, culture, upbringing, and preferences can influence what we like. But our taste for these are shaped differently, because they don’t hinge on our survival.On the other hand, our (literal) taste in food is different, because everyone needs to eat. Our figurative palate is reshaped with every meal we have until we die; not just when we take time to ponder a new artwork or discover more music.If a dish is comforting, if we associate it with childhood, victory, friendships, or lovers, it changes our perception of the dish. If we associate a restaurant with loss, heartache, or other difficult times, we alter our relationship with it before we can even begin to consider the more “objective” attributes of a dish, like its texture, taste, or price.This layer of subjectivity isn’t hard to grasp. In hopes of remedying such obvious biases, The Michelin Guide deploys 80 anonymous inspectors, who visit a restaurant multiple times and discuss their experiences with their peers. Inspectors are given rubrics to follow, and they must review their choices each year. They’re even instructed to disregard things like décor, table settings, ambiance, and service.Michelin aims to create a more “objective” ranking by hiring these culinary experts and setting processes and reviews in place. But this rigorous system harbors another subtle and impactful bias.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763340478616unnamed.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Image credit: MichelinOn stars and bibs </div>Michelin is a French tire company founded in 1889. People often emphasize the “tire company” part of that sentence to assert that The Michelin Guide is not a final, definitive authority on food establishments, especially since the Guide was originally created to market tires to travelers.“French” is the overlooked but crucial part of Michelin’s identity. In more formal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278431920301213#:~:text=Haute%20cuisine%20was%20initially%20introduced,2000;%20Mennell%2C%201996).">debates</a>, discussions on the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338508205_Gastronomic_Paradigms_in_Contemporary_Western_Cuisine_From_French_Haute_Cuisine_to_Mass_Media_Gastronomy">subjectivity</a> of tastes almost always entail an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1878450X24000180">analysis</a> of French haute cuisine.Haute cuisine, or the French <a href="https://www.escoffieronline.com/what-is-haute-cuisine/">style</a> of cooking for fine dining, has been entrenched as the global <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338508205_Gastronomic_Paradigms_in_Contemporary_Western_Cuisine_From_French_Haute_Cuisine_to_Mass_Media_Gastronomy">benchmark</a> for good food. It became the foundation for restaurant operating systems and techniques. Haute cuisine practices created the brigade system, where a chain of command goes from head chef, to sous chef, and other positions down the line (think of the kitchen layout you see in the episodes of The Bear and Hell’s Kitchen). It also dictates how dishes are presented and how pantries and ingredients are organized.French haute cuisine defines itself as “refined” and “elevated,” with many of its practitioners regarding Asian or Latin American cooking as too simple. In many culinary programs and schools, non-Western cuisines are treated as secondary electives, while French and Italian food are considered major courses that must be mastered.Four of the five chefs with the <a href="https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/world-food-drink/which-chefs-have-earned-the-most-michelin-stars/">most</a> Michelin stars are French (Gordon Ramsay is the only exception, though he spent years training in haute cuisine in France.) Even when the list is expanded to the 10 chefs with the most Michelin stars, six are French; eight worked in French restaurants for several years before opening their own restaurants. All are trained in haute cuisine.Unsurprisingly, France is the country that <a href="https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/world-food-drink/top-10-countries-with-the-most-michelin-stars/">holds</a> the most Michelin stars, with 680 to its name.As a result, lesser-known cuisines are labeled as exotic and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51860725_Culinary_culture_and_globalization_An_analysis_of_British_and_German_Michelin-starred_restaurants#:~:text=373%20effective%20samples%20were%20subjected,shape%20soft%20power%20index%20building?">marginalized</a>. A roadside eatery or carinderia may be recognized, but this occurs as an exception, rather than the rule. Descriptors like “quaint” or “unique” and “novel” may be used, subtly reinforcing the dominance of Western tradition.<div>Under- or over-rated?</div>Michelin’s French roots add another layer of subjectivity to its rankings, which may also explain why many Filipinos wanted to see more provincial representation in Michelin’s selection, rather than dishes that many deemed conventional and basic.Remember the climax scene in the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille? If a dish strikes an emotional chord with the critic, it will be received well, even if it’s an off-menu dish cooked by an untrained palate. If he had judged the ratatouille by his traditional standards, the fictional critic Anton Ego would not have reviewed the dish so highly.Even inspectors can be swayed, though this is something they may never openly admit. Even if The Michelin Guide inspectors conduct their investigations to the best of their abilities and attempt to purge every personal bias, their training and exposure to a world where French haute cuisine is the dominant standard will also make for subjective selections.We, an audience that may not have as much culinary training and expertise, cannot claim our choices to be superior, either.Ultimately, no authority should hold the sole ability to dictate our tastes. Rankings like the Michelin Guide may help us discover and appreciate new restaurants and dishes, but our relationship with food will remain immensely personal. If a local favorite fails to gain any recognition, it’s not automatically a sign of poor quality. Rather than squabbling over stars or bickering over bibs, perhaps our time is better spent examining the intricacies of the Filipino taste, or exploring more unexpected eateries.  <div> </div>Read our coverage of The Michelin Guide Manila <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/food-travel/2025/10/31/how-a-former-nanny-s-dream-became-a-michelin-recognized-eatery-1535">here</a>.

Where, exactly, does one draw the line between expert critique and personal preference?

Where, exactly, does one draw the line between expert critique and personal preference?

Starry, starry map: Michelin Guides and the subjectivity of food

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Starry, starry map: Michelin Guides and the subjectivity of food

Isa Martinez

Published November 17, 2025 09:00 AM PHT

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Updated February 23, 2026 02:32 PM PHT

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