Hello,

I was looking around and I saw this quote on myswitzerland:

"Switzerland is the country with the most Michelin stars per capita."

I have never heard of this way of quantifying a population.

This unique perspective gave me a chuckle.

May be it means a lot of people are driving cars with Michelin tyres

Totally right. You need good tyres in Winter, and Michelin tyres are really good

Michelin stars have nothing to do with tyres. It's a kind of an award for restaurants, just like Gault Millau points. If you are curious but refrain from visiting such a restaurant due to the high costs, try finding one outside the expensive hotspots like Zurich or Lucerne: Go to Winterthur, St. Gall or somewhere in the countryside...

Sarccy bugger

I thought Michelin stars were what you got after seeing the bill for the tyres and passing out

I thought it was like the American Idol but named Michelin Stars here.

Actually, Michelin stars have "everything" to do with the tires as it is a measure of "how far out of your way" you'd drive (the stars are listed in a travel guide put out by Michelin to encourage road trips) just to eat specifically at a particular restaurant.

Michelin really is more limited to being a "worthwhile" rating system here in Europe, as one may imagine, a French company isn't overly interested in reviewing road trip stops across other continents. Although there are some restaurants in the US with Michelin star ratings, they are fairly limited to places in major cities like New York and San Francisco where folks from Europe are "most likely" to travel frequently.

Road trippers and frequent travelers in the US may be more familiar with seeing AAA "diamonds" with relation to restaurants, hotels and such for the same purpose.

Just in case anyone is curious, here is an explanation about a variety of similar restaurant review guides. Some apparently are definitely "foodie" reviews of just restaurants, others (such as the AAA guide) are more general toward road trip stops.

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The Joys of Opticianry

...stop it Wolli, we know it's you.

Well, sort of . . .

I'm familiar with the 'worth a detour' etc., but that's just marketing tradition. It's not like the further away a restaurant is the better it as to be to get a certain number of stars . . . And anyway, it's not like Michelin know where you're setting off from, is it?

There are actually more extensive criteria used by Michelin's inspectors and the awards panel then merely considering if it's worth wearing down your tires.

You think Zürich is a restaurant hot spot?

There aren't as many Michelin stars here as one might expect.

That's incorrect. The Dolder Restaurant recently received its second star.

OK, I was referring to the 2010 guide, maybe they get an entry in the 2011 guide.

EDIT: Just checked the 2011 guide

Michelin(e) stars .... in: "Meet the [silly] Fockers".