South Korean chef Eo Yun-gwon is the latest to take aim at the Michelin Guide, suing the food publication for including his restaurant Ristorante Eo in its pages.
As The Korea Herald reports, Eo took legal action against Michelin Travel Partner on 15 November after it refused to acquiesce to his requests to remove Ristorante Eo from its 2020 Michelin Guide Seoul. When the Seoul edition launched in 2017 Eo’s Italian restaurant was awarded one star. It made the cut again in 2018, before being downgraded to ‘The Plate’ ranking in 2019.
“It is insulting that my name and the restaurant’s name have been listed in an unwholesome book,” Eo told The Korea Herald. “Though being listed in the Michelin Guide may have a great promotional effect on the restaurant, I don’t want any help from an opaque, subjective company.”
Under Korean law, ‘insult’ is a suable offence — think defamation — and it’s what Eo is accusing the Guide of in court.
It’s the second time this year a chef has gone after the Guide. In September, French chef Marc Veyrat announced he was suing the Michelin Guide after his restaurant La Maison des Bois lost its third star earlier in the year. The offence? The reviewer allegedly identified the wrong ingredients in Veyrat’s souffle. The matter is set to be heard by a Paris court late this month. Stay tuned.
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