Stars and clovers are truly “lucky charms” for today’s restaurateurs and chefs. Earning the classic Michelin star means a restaurant has joined the ranks of the culinary elite. Earning the new Michelin green clover means the restaurant also promotes sustainable dining—which is increasingly important and prestigious to millions of customers worldwide.
The Michelin green clover pictogram was created to “promote the chefs who have taken responsibility by preserving resources and embracing biodiversity, reducing food waste and reducing the consumption of non-renewable energy,” Michelin Guide announced recently.
Related: Why pizzerias need to make sustainability a priority in 2020
The green clover symbol, also called a “Sustainable Gastronomy Selection,” debuted in the Michelin 2020 guide for France last week. More than 50 French restaurants received the designation out of a total of 3,435 eateries featured in the guide.
“Faced with constantly evolving challenges, including production methods, sourcing and waste management, chefs are striving to improve their practices,” Gwendal Poullennec, international director of Michelin Guides, said in a statement. “Often, these initiatives combine the best of the knowledge of our predecessors with the creativity and innovation of chefs who are never short of ideas. The ambition of our approach is to amplify the scope of the good and ingenious practices of chefs by putting them in the spotlight. The ideas, methods and know-how developed by these chefs will thus help raise awareness of an entire sector to its customers and the general population.”
The new Michelin green clover symbol is available to chefs whose establishments have earned the Plate or Bib Gourmand distinction or 1, 2 or 3 stars. The symbol “complements these distinctions and celebrates their courage and ingenuity in the daily practice of their profession,” Michelin Guide said on its website.
Related: Pizza Hut ties sustainability and plant-based meats into one cool new delivery box
