Gastronomy

Robuchon wins 24 Michelin stars, Chinese chef wins three

Article published on the 2008-12-02 Latest update 2008-12-02 17:11 TU

French celebrity chef Joël Robuchon was awarded his 24th Michelin star, as the prestigious restaurant guide published its first-ever edition on Hong Kong and Macao. Chan Yan-tak, who runs the Lung King Heen restaurant at Hong Kong's Four Seasons hotel, became the first Chinese chef to win three stars.

Robuchon, who runs 16 restaurants around the world, walked out of his three-star Paris restaurant in 1996, declaring that it was too much stress.

But he came back with a vengeance and is now the most highly-starred chef in the world, with 24. That puts him way ahead of his nearest rivals, fellow Frenchman Alain Ducasse who has 16, Britain's Gordon Ramsay with 12 and the US's Thomas Keller with seven.

Ths latest stars were awarded for restaurants in finance hub Hong Kong and gambling mecca Macao. Robuchon a Galera at Macao's Hôtel Lisboa and L'atélier de Joël Robuchon in Hong Kong were given the stellar acclamations.

The guide says that its inspectors, who operate under cover, have been following Chan Yan-tak's career for several years. They paid a total of 12 visits to his restaurant, Lung King Heen (View of the dragon) which serves Cantonese food.

Ducasse's Hong Kong restaurant, Spoon, won no stars.