Gault Millau


Gault et Millau, formerly Le Nouveau Guide Gault-Millau is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau, in 1969 and sold to the magazine Le Point in 1983.

Points system

Gault-Millau rates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, the French school grading system. From 14-20 corresponds to American A. Restaurants given below 10 points are rarely listed. The points are awarded based on the quality of the food, with comments about service, price or the atmosphere of the restaurant given separately. Based on this rating, high-ranking restaurants may display one to five toques. Gault Millau does not accept payment for listing restaurants.
Under its original authors and for many years after they left in the 1990s, Gault-Millau never awarded a score of 20 points, under the argument that perfection is beyond the limitations of a normal human being. In 2004, two restaurants, both of chef Marc Veyrat, the Maison de Marc Veyrat in Veyrier-du-Lac near Annecy and La Ferme de Mon Père in Megève, received this score. In 2010 and 2011, Sergio Herman's Oud Sluis also received a score of 20/20. To some, this reflects a fall of standards in the guide after it changed from employing a permanent editorial and tasting staff to using local agents.

Differences from Michelin

There has been discussion about which guide is more important, the Michelin Guide or the Gault-Millau. In the 1970s the Michelin's continued conservative support of traditional haute cuisine was challenged by the support of nouvelle cuisine by the Gault-Millau. Michelin is more popular and therefore more influential, while Gault Millau has been considered more food-focused due to the main system being based purely on the quality of the food. Gault Millau has guides for various other countries, including Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Poland.
Roughly speaking, Michelin * restaurants have an average Gault-Millau score of 15.5; ** restaurants have an average of 17.5; and *** restaurants have an average score of 18.75. The majority of Gault-Millau scored restaurants have no Michelin stars. Michelin and Gault-Millau scores don't always agree: * restaurants can score as low as 12 and as high as 18 on the Gault-Millau rating.

French Chef of the Year

On the guide's 20th anniversary in 1990, Paul Bocuse, Frédy Girardet, and Joël Robuchon were crowned "Chefs of the Century" by Gault-Millau.