Gault Millau

Gault et Millau is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau in 1965.

Points system
Gault Millau rates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. 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 four toques. Gault Millau does not accept payment for listing restaurants.

Under its original authors and for many years after they left, 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 (or L'Auberge de l'Eridan) in Veyrier-du-Lac near Annecy and La Ferme de Mon Père ("My Father's Farm") 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 with 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 & Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Poland.

French Chef of the Year

 * 1989 Joël Robuchon (Chef of the Century)
 * 1994 Roger Souvereyns
 * 2001 Luigi Ciciriello
 * 2002 Nicolas Le Bec
 * 2003 Michel Troisgros
 * 2004 Jean-Paul Abadie
 * 2005 Arnaud Magnier
 * 2006 Thierry Marx
 * 2007 Anne-Sophie Pic
 * 2008 Jean-Luc Rabanel
 * 2009 Léa Linster
 * 2010 William Ledeuil
 * 2011 Édouard Loubet
 * 2012 Michel Portos
 * 2013 Philippe Labbé
 * 2014 Arnaud Lallement
 * 2015 Yannick Alleno
 * 2016 Alexandre Gauthier
 * 2017 Alexandre Couillon
 * 2018 Jean Sulpice

Chef of the Century
On its 20th anniversary in 1990 Paul Bocuse (restaurant « Paul Bocuse » in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon), Frédy Girardet (« Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville » in Crissier, Suisse), Joël Robuchon (restaurant « Jamin » in Paris) were crowned « Chef of the Century » by Gault&Millau.