Top chef Paul Foster on 5 things he learned from winning - and losing - a Michelin Star
The chef-owner of Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon was given one of hospitality's biggest prizes in 2018. In 2024, it was taken away.
The Michelin Guide, which publishes its 125th-anniversary edition this week, has undergone a curious evolution. What started out as a French motoring journal, which included maps, instructions for repairing and replacing tyres, and restaurant recommendations as supplementary rather than core content, has weirdly since become the world’s handbook for where to eat.
In 1926, Michelin introduced anonymously written restaurant reviews and its now iconic star rating system, featuring alongside its nods to establishments worth visiting. Today, the guide reviews not just in France but globally. Simply appearing in the guide, let alone receiving and maintaining a Michelin star, has become the pursuit of countless chefs – sometimes even to their detriment.
Paul Foster (“and my team”, he adds) was awarded a Michelin Star in 2018 at the restaurant Salt. In 2024, it was rescinded. While Foster does not deny a feeling of disappointment, he warns that it isn’t healthy to think about anything in terms of absolutes.
Here, Foster shares five positive lessons he learned from earning, and losing, one of the hospitality industry’s biggest prizes…
1. Winning an award is an achievement. Not winning one isn’t failure.
“At Salt, we didn’t set out with the explicit intention of earning a Michelin star. We were driven by an ambition to create a great business, which served great food, and that customers would enjoy visiting.
“Of course, when we did win one, it was an incredible achievement. Michelin is a hugely respected voice within the hospitality industry, and it was an honour to be featured alongside some of the best restaurants in the world.
“It felt like a vote of confidence in our cooking and the way we had chosen to do things. Because we had not tried to be anything other than ourselves, the achievement felt organic. It was natural.
“But as much of an honour as winning a star is, it’s important to remember that there are many great restaurants which fly under the radar, that will never win one. Equally, there are many great actors who will never win an Oscar.”
2. In hospitality the two most important judges are yourself and your customers.
“Losing the star didn’t suddenly make me question our cooking, our service, our suppliers or anything we were doing. We got a star in 2018 and for six years, we kept it by doing the exact same things.
“I did not become a bad chef overnight. We did not become a bad restaurant overnight. Clearly, Michelin had its own reasons for taking the star away and I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t disappointed. But the feedback from customers remained good. There were still bums on seats, even after the star was taken away. I remain incredibly proud of my team and have huge faith in their abilities. I know the food still tastes good.
“I don’t think there’s any point in me overthinking why we lost the star, but I can’t imagine it was because we don’t have fancy tablecloths.
“I guess, in my soul-searching, I had to remind myself of why I became a chef in the first place. It wasn’t for a plaque on the wall. It was so I could bring people together, through food, create amazing dishes, and give people a good time. Are people enjoying being in my restaurant? That’s what matters to me.”
3. The Michelin Guide has evolved – and that’s a good thing.
“The modern Michelin Guide, to its credit, has changed a lot from when it started. There are probably a few misconceptions still knocking about, that it’s the preserve of haute cuisine, mainly French restaurants, with stiff waiters and small portions. But that just isn’t the case.
“Now, Michelin has diversified, and the guide is really about just identifying great food, regardless of whether it’s French, Italian, Indian, English or anything else. I think the fact that Salt won a star, without leaning into any of those old cliches, is a sign that the hospitality industry has become more inclusive.
“What that’s taught me is that, in any industry, if you’re good at something, and people are enjoying what you’re doing, you’re going to be really hard to ignore.”
4. Don’t focus too much on losing something; be happy that you had it.
“Just because we lost a star can’t take away the fact we won one. I think of it a bit like a football team winning the FA Cup. If a team wins the FA Cup one season and then doesn’t win it again the following season, are the fans suddenly going to just forget about the season before? No, it’s going to live on in the memory.
“I do want to win another Michelin Star in the future in the same way that I’m sure a football team wants to win a trophy every season, but teams, and people, don’t just give up because they don’t win every year.”
5. Work to live; don’t live to work.
“Chefs, in general, I think can have a tendency to be very obsessive. A lot of us are perfectionists. We can’t help it. We’ll torture ourselves over small details, wondering how we can make a dish slightly better. But it’s important to have limits, to know when to switch off.
“Holding yourself to impossibly high standards will hurt you, your team, and others around you. I take a great deal of pride in my work, but I have never wanted to become a slave to my business. The ambition has always been to create a business that I could stay on top of and be involved with but also create a team that I trust enough to run it when I’m not around.
“I’m lucky enough to make a living out of something I enjoy, and I want to keep it that way. I don’t see the merit in making work all about one obsessive goal, never knowing when to stop, and then not being able to fully enjoy my time with my family or my friends.”
Image credits: Salt/Paul Foster.