A chef’s relationship with the Michelin guide is a complicated one. If my restaurant isn’t in the guide, I will nonchalantly explain that their standards are generally outdated and their entirely opinion overrated. But if it is in the guide, it will be the first thing I mention: “I work at this restaurant – you don’t know it? It’s in the Michelin guide”.

A chef gets paid to cook – that much is obvious. But to cook good food, we need to use our sense of taste and our (supposedly) refined palates. So not only do we get paid to cook, but we get paid to eat. Cheffing without eating isn’t an option.

Being a chef is a job. A way to earn a living. Yet few chefs would consider their profession as just that. Most chefs will tell you that cheffing is a way of life – an extension, if not the base of their personality. Cheffing is an identity. And we internalise this identity to such an extent that it can be hard to separate ourselves from our jobs.