Michelin gave no restaurant three stars, and named only one with two stars: L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, in Miami’s Design District, an outpost of a global restaurant chain founded by French chef who had been dead for four years. “It was utter shock.”Amid decades of expansion, Michelin has maintained that its stars transcend geography, taste and trends; that a one-star restaurant in Hangzhou can (and must) have the same value as a one-star restaurant in Hamburg or Honfleur or Hialeah. Today, “when someone is flying from Germany to San Diego to eat at your restaurant, the stakes are much higher,” said William Bradley, the chef-owner of Addison, Southern California’s only three-star Michelin restaurant. Michelin inspectors are full-time employees, and are sent around the world to perform evaluations, ensuring that no inspectors can privilege relationships or preferences in their own regions. Mr. Poullenec said that Michelin’s culinary and editorial judgments far outweigh financial considerations.

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Persons: L’Atelier, Robuchon, “, ”, Niven Patel, William Bradley, Poullenec Organizations: Michelin, Design Locations: Miami, French, Hangzhou, Hamburg, Hialeah, France, Germany, San Diego, Addison , Southern