Why did Michelin decide it was the right time to announce its presence in Malaysia?

During the last few years, we have been monitoring the local food scene in Malaysia. Inspectors felt the culinary scene was reaching a good level of maturity before the pandemic. 

In cities where the guide is not yet present, inspectors scout and regularly visit restaurants, ensuring to highlight culinary scenes that are moving forward. Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, decided it was the right time to cover Kuala Lumpur and Penang. 

Since then, the inspection team has been browsing and testing restaurants, trying to get a feel of the scene and understand local behaviour. We think the maturity of the scene is now high and consistent.

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How long has the inspection team been in Malaysia? 

Including the pandemic, years! The idea was to make sure no stone was left unturned. We visited well-known restaurants and searched for hidden gems. It takes time to settle the first selection, which will then be re-evaluated every year with new restaurants added.

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How do you think the presence of the Michelin Guide will impact the local food scene? 

In other destinations that have the presence of the Michelin Guide, the community of chefs has become one. They gather every year around an event, seeing one another, and discovering places they may never have been. There is also a healthy emulation in the industry at different levels. 

The Michelin Guide puts the spotlight on the best and most interesting eateries, attracting talent. When there’s a staff shortage, it also affects how people choose where they want to work. 

More recently, sustainable gastronomy is one of the key highlights. Chefs and teams have moved forward, rethinking cooking techniques, and avoiding waste while putting seasonality at the forefront. We decided to create a dedicated award for sustainability, the Green Star, which will celebrate its third birthday in January 2023. This is for the pioneers who make sustainability the gastronomy of tomorrow.

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How do you ensure that local nuances and palates are accounted for in each city? 

We have a very diverse, international team of inspectors with Asian, South American, North American, and European backgrounds, representing the whole world. Everyone has their own sensitivities and food they grew up with. We push experts to be able to feel the taste of proper sushi, bœuf bourguignon, vongole, and so on. This is important as we are trying to set an international benchmark. 

A star is worth the same in every place in the world due to the fact there is only one international inspection team. This team is comprised of Michelin employees who were previously from the industry, whether chefs or sommeliers, and who go through two years of training beforehand. It is never a single person decision to award a star; rather, it's a shared decision. 

In Malaysia, for the same dish, you can have 40 different recipes, maybe even more. That is the beauty of things. We aim to tell consumers where is a good place to eat and what to eat there, rather than trying to establish a standard. What we recommend may be traditional, traditional with a modern twist, or totally futurist.

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