UK Edition
Highlands restaurant says cost of Michelin star not worth the stress
An award winning Michelin star restaurant has said it is impossible for it to meet the guide’s exacting standards and still make a profit.
Boath House, which has held a Michelin star for the past 10 years, said the guide's expectations are simply "at odds with achievable profit margins".
It has now taken the decision to revert to a more informal style of dining, saying the cost of trying to produce Michelin star cooking is simply to high and too stressful.
Boath House’s owners, Don and Wendy Matheson, told The Telegraph they accept it may cost them their star, but say that as well as being less stressful and expensive to maintain it is what modern customers want.
The move follows a request by the celebrated French chef Sebastien Bras for his restaurant to be dropped from the guide.
M. Bras said he dreaded knowing Michelin testers could appear at any time and that the task of meeting their standards was putting him under “huge pressure”.
Now Mr and Mrs Matheson - who have run the Boath House, near Nairn, in the Scottish Highlands, for 20 years - say they are giving up the traditional six course fine dining experience associated with Michelin in favour of more a more relaxed cuisine.
Mrs Matheson said: “We’ve found our customers want something more informal, rather than a six course fine dining experience and that’s what we’re now doing. The Michelin guide will have to reassess us on that basis at some time and it may result in the loss of our stars.
“Then again they may like what we do and decide we should retain the star, which would of course be very nice.”
She said the economics of running a restaurant to Michelin standards had meant their establishment had run at a loss for years and they were only able to stay in business because of the revenue from Boath House’ guest rooms.
“With Michelin dining you might need one chef spending his entire day preparing a single dish. You need incredibly attentive service and certain types of ingredients,” she said. “All this is very expensive to maintain and puts an enormous stress on a small family-run business like ours.”
Under the continued guidance of its head chef Charles Lackley, the restaurant will now offer a simpler, three course menu, with a choice of three starters, three mains and three desserts, based largely on local ingredients such as Scottish venison, west coast seafood, organic cheeses and vegetables and wild mushrooms.
Boath House is also opening a cafe in its 22 acre gardens in the hope of boosting revenue.
“We’re diversifying and simplifying,” said Mrs Matheson, who moved from Berkshire to Scotland before buying and restoring Boath House 25 years ago. “Hopefully this will enable us to relax a bit. It’s very stressful trying to achieve a Michelin star.”
The current edition of the guide states that Boath House’s “well-balanced modern menus showcase the chef's skill and understanding”, adding: "Cooking is accomplished, with vivid presentation and interesting flavours - and much of the produce is from their garden or orchard. Sit at bespoke oak tables and take in the lake view."
Rebecca Burr, the editor of the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland, said: "It's obviously up to individual restaurants how they want to run their businesses, and there is absolutely no formula for winning or retaining a Michelin star.
"There has certainly been a trend towards more informal dining over the past 10 years or so, and in fact Michelin has been at the absolute forefront of recognising and celebrating that."
Sources added that restaurants awarded a Michelin star often find their turnover and income goes up.
