“I’ve even got a small sign on the front door,” he tells CNN. “I’m turning 75 this year. I don’t want to be taking exams and getting ranked.”
Veyrat’s 450-euros-($465) a-head new venture, Le Restaurant Marc Veyrat, opened recently in the chic French ski resort of Megève. It’s his first new venture since the chef went to war with Michelin in 2019 after the guidebook downgraded his La Maison des Bois from three to two stars.
Outraged at the time, he filed a suit against Michelin Guide, demanding they remove his restaurant’s listing, pay him a symbolic one euro and explain its reasons for the demotion. He lost and was made to pay court costs.
A Michelin inspector had previously said the decision was because Veyrat’s restaurant used Cheddar in its soufflé. Veyrat argued he used local cheeses including Reblochon and Beaufort, and that inspectors may have confused the color with the hint of saffron used in the recipe.
“They are incompetent,” Veyrat maintains to this day.
La Maison des Bois, located near the French Alpine village of La Croix Fry, has since been taken over by Veyrat’s daughter, who renamed it Le Hameau de mon Père (“my father’s hamlet”) in honor of her father. “I’m very proud of her,” he says, “it’s a really magical place.”
Veyrat says he opened his new venture in Megève because he missed working in a restaurant, even if he strives to avoid the Michelin-level scrutiny which inevitably falls on a chef of his status.
It’s “the joy of hosting people” that motivated him to start over, he tells CNN.
But while his Michelin-ban could discourage the guide, there’s no guarantee an inspector won’t show up anonymously to test the restaurant.
That means it could still appear in the next edition. After all, Michelin included South Korean restaurant Eo in their 2019 guide to Seoul despite the owner, chef Eo Yun-gwon, asking them not to.
Guests shelling out for an eight-course meal at Veyrat’s restaurant also get to meet the chef himself. Veyrat will be on hand in between preparing dishes like his fine lobster tartlet topped with a fragrant meadowsweet emulsion and wild flowers.
In fact, he says, many customers come to his Megève restaurant just to shake hands with the renowned cook. With his signature black wide-brimmed hat, he’s become a bit of a celebrity.
“I don’t mean it in an egotistical way, I’m just part of the architecture,” he laughs.