French Workmen's Caf Accidentally Gets Michelin Star

Owner sees the funny side as Michelin mix up sees a French ‘greasy spoon’ scoop top food award.

Le Bouche à Oreilles brasserie in the town of Bourges, offers typical French food for workers; think moules frites and boeuf bourgignon for as little as €13 (£11). So it came as a shock to owner Véronique Jacquet, when a local radio station rang her to say her restaurant had been awarded one of the highest prizes in gastronomy, a Michelin star.

The mix up happened as Véronique’s Le Bouche à Oreille (meaning ‘word of mouth’), is on rue de la Chapelle in Bourges, while the namesake Michelin was meant to include is on a rue de la Chapelle in Boutervilliers, to the south of Paris.

A plate from Chef Aymeric Dreux’s Le Bouche à Oreille

The outside of Chef Aymeric Dreux’s Le Bouche à Oreille

Here the cooking is, as you’d expect, a little more up market, with ingredients such as lobster, truffles, veal kidneys, scallops and even calf’s brains coming from the kitchen. Thankfully Chef Aymeric Dreux saw the funny side, saying ‘it was a little boo-boo that caused no harm and was corrected. The whole thing made us laugh.’

The error was only in the online version of the guide, and has been corrected, printed versions are correct. ‘We apologised to the two establishments and we are sorry to have misled our clients,’ the guide’s Claire Dorland-Clauzel told Le Parisien.

About the author

Andrew Webb

Food & Drink Editor

Born in the Midlands and raised in the North West of England, Andrew came to London to attend St Martin's College of Art. After ten years working for the BBC and Channel 4, he set off on an eight month food tour of Britain, which led him to write his award-winning book, Food Britannia. He was previously the Editor of Lovefood.com and also produced and hosted delicious magazine's podcast. Responsible for the Culture Trip's food and drink content, he is interested in hearing about food events, product launches and potential interviews with chefs and food producers. He's also judged the British Pie Awards, reviewed restaurants, and spoken at food festivals, and so knows a good plate of food when he sees it. He can be found tweeting here @foodjournalist