In the lovable 2015 American film, Bradley Cooper plays a chef, a truly terrible kid of the London culinary scene who wins everything and loses everything, intoxicated by success and alienated from the relentless competition.

We watch him self-destruct, wallow in drugs, drunkenness and narcissism, alienate the people who care about him, become unbearable and arrogant. But do these things actually happen, one might ask. It may not be as dramatic as this well-crafted screenplay describes, but in the field of gastronomy, especially at such a high level, with stars and awards, there is competition, and unbearable pressure, and intrigue, and bad behavior that goes all the way to the top. point of bullying in the workplace. There are even suicides.

When Bernard Loizeau, one of the most successful French chefs, decided to commit suicide in 2003, most immediately thought that his suicide was connected with the information that had reached his ears, according to which he would lose one of three Michelin stars in the next edition of the famous guide. At the height of his career, French-Swiss Benoît Violier, a three-star Michelin star, committed suicide a few years later. While no reasons were given, many of his colleagues cited the suffocating workload.

All this has been openly discussed in recent years in the catering industry and concerns not only chefs and restaurant owners, but also those who decide who wins and who loses the star. As part of general mental health awareness, Michelin Guide staff are now visiting chefs who will see one less star in the new edition of the guide. They are talked to, explained to them what was wrong and why they made such a decision, give them the necessary time to process the “losing”. Correct move. We don’t have to play with health issues, even for all the stars in the world.