Michelin Guide history: How did a tire company become an elite restaurant rating guide?

If you scored a Valentine’s Day reservation at a swanky Michelin-starred restaurant this year, you might wonder why an elite restaurant rating guide has the same name as a company that makes tires.

If you scored a Valentine’s Day reservation at a swanky Michelin-starred restaurant this year, you might wonder why an elite restaurant rating guide has the same name as a company that makes tires. All-weather radials and fine dining have little in common, after all. But, to chefs and restaurant owners, recognition from the century-old Michelin tire brand is a lifelong dream. The roots of what evolved into an incredibly influential ranking system did not begin with the intent of leading diners to the highest quality restaurants. If anything, it was a sneaky publicity campaign now legendary for its success. In the later years of the 19th century, brothers André and Édouard Michelin had a business, and a problem. They had founded their tire company, based in the rural town of Clermont-Ferrand, about four hours south of Paris. At that time, there were fewer than 3,000 cars in their home country of France. Driving anywhere was no simple feat — there wasn’t an extensive network of roads and gasoline was hard to come by. They needed to give people a reason to drive more. Enter a pocket-sized red book known as the Michelin Guide. In the preface of the 1900 first edition of the guide, André explained the purpose of it was to provide “a driver all the necessary information for traveling in France — where to fill his tank, repair his car, as well as where to find a place to sleep and to eat.”