Top French chef asks to be stripped of Michelin stars

One of France’s most acclaimed chefs has asked the Michelin food guide to strip him of the coveted three-star rating awarded to his restaurant in Laguiole, Central France.

Sebastien Bras, 46, asked for Le Suquet to be omitted from the 2018 edition of the guide, due to be published in February, saying its maximum rating put him under “huge pressure”.

In a Facebook post, Bras said he had made the decision because he wanted to “give a new meaning to life, and redefine what is essential”.

“Perhaps I am going to lose fame but I accept it, I assume it,” he continued.

Michelin said no chef had previously asked to have stars removed purely on a whim, although people had done so in the past due to “a change in [restaurant] concept or closing the business”.

Alain Senderens, a “pioneer of nouvelle cuisine”, had previously lost his Michelin stars after opting for simpler food, writes The Daily Telegraph. Bras, however, will still serve the same menu, including his three-course Balade option, which costs €227 (£200) per person.

Bras added that the 2003 suicide of Bernard Loiseau, a fellow three-star chef, was in the “corner of [his] mind”, and said he wished for lower pressure in his professional life in case he reached similar levels of stress.

Loiseau's suicide is “widely seen as linked to rumours that he would lose his third Michelin star”, writes The Local.