French chef Georges Blanc’s restaurant in Vonnas (Ain) has lost its third Michelin star, the director of the red guide, Gwendal Poullennec, told AFP on Thursday 20 March, ten days before the star award ceremony for 2025. This will take place on Monday 31 March at the Robert Schuman Convention Centre in Metz.
‘We weren’t expecting it,’ the 82-year-old chef, who has held the 3 stars since 1981, told AFP. ‘We’re going to be missing one star, so we’ll have to make do with the two stars. There’s no problem,’ he added.
‘I can assure you that the Michelin Guide teams will continue to follow this restaurant with the same benevolence, the same exacting standards, but always with the same desire to reflect in our rankings the evolution in the quality of the cuisine’, declared Gwendal Poullennec, while saluting “the longevity of the quality of the Maison Blanc”. It is in fact the world’s oldest continuously Michelin-starred establishment, with the first star acquired in 1929 by Élisa Blanc, the chef’s grandmother, known as Mère Blanc, and the second in 1932.
Georges Blanc joined the family business in 1964 alongside his mother, Paulette, before taking full control in 1968 at the age of 25. He was the first man in the Blanc family to take charge of the kitchen. He inherited a traditional inn, which he transformed into an elite and new cuisine, lighter with less butter and cream, from the early 1970s onwards. In 1981, he was awarded the prestigious third star. ‘I’ve lived longer with three stars than I have since I was born when the third star arrived’, said the chef, who now heads an empire of a dozen establishments and more than 300 employees.
A total of 23 starred establishments were downgraded this year: one three-star, one two-star (Le Puits Saint-Jacques by chef William Candelon, in the Gers) and 21 which lost their only star, including five due to a change of direction or ownership, according to the guide.
Twenty-one restaurants with one star also closed last year, as did the two-starred Maison Ruggieri in Paris.
SHOTLIST
– VS Georges Blanc restaurant
– UPSOUND (French) Chirstophe Doucin, valet parking : “We’re all a bit surprised, of course.”
– UPSOUND (French) journalist : “The work continues.”
– UPSOUND (French) Chirstophe Doucin, valet parking : “The work goes on! You can see the proof, it always has to be impeccable, that’s normal.”
– WS Michelin plaque from 2024
– VS Georges Blanc restaurant
– VOXPOP (French) man: “We ate there last night and the service is very good. I’d like to know why it lost a star.”
– VOXPOP (French) woman: “Surprised, yes, because I think these people put so much effort into their work.”
– VOXPOP (French) woman: “He’d had them for a few years, so it’s strange. I think he’s still maintaining the quality of the restaurant.”
– VOXPOP (French) man: “The world changes and it’s never permanent.”
– VS Shops around the restaurant
– SOUNDBITE (French) Alain Givord, Vonnas mayor: “There are 160 employees, so there is an economic impact. Georges Blanc in Vonnas is an integral part of the village’s economic and tourist life.”
– VS Georges Blanc restaurant