Chef Li Qiang from Cai Yi Xuan in Beijing, which has one Michelin star. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chefs matter

Chefs are crucial to a restaurant, especially when it comes to assessment by Michelin inspectors, but they can also be a double-edged sword, as changing a head chef may jeopardize a star rating.

In the inaugural Michelin Guide Shanghai, published in 2016, Cantonese restaurant Tang Court in luxury hotel The Langham won three stars, becoming the only eatery on the mainland with such a rating at the time.

It retained the three stars in 2017, while in 2018 it only received two, which may have been due to the departure of head chef Tan Shiye. It was awarded one star last year and has retained this rating for this year.

Last year, Italian restaurant Mio at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing was awarded one star. Even though head chef Aniello Turco left before Spring Festival this year and the restaurant closed for a time due to the pandemic, it retained its rating.

Christian Poda, the hotel's general manager, said the head chef's position at Mio is still vacant and the kitchen team is being led temporarily by Italian sous chef Alessio Pirozzi.

"To receive any Michelin stars is a career-defining achievement; to retain them is another thing altogether," Poda said. "Our sous chef is quite young, but he has quickly widened his experience this year. We are all pleased that we have retained the star at a time when conditions have not been ideal."