The mysterious inspectors from the Michelin Guide, the world’s oldest and the most recognized reference to dining out run by French tire-making group Michelin, are now in Seoul in search for the next gourmet restaurant worth the trip.

The disguised evaluators, known to be a French national and a Korean American, are paying visits to well-known food establishments around Seoul, appraising on taste, service, price, atmosphere and more to ponder upon if the restaurant is excellent enough for the Michelin Guide’s star, a rating on a scale from one to three based on overall food and service quality.

According to industry sources on Wednesday, Michelin has already kicked off the work of mapping out a Michelin restaurant guide for Seoul with the publishing date set for the end of this year. The French company has carried out the evaluation since it opened an office in Seoul late last year, restaurant industry sources said.

Their presence has already raised a stir in the local restaurant community, and a landscape change could take place once the ‘Michelin Red Guide Seoul’ comes out. The Korean dine-out market that has been led by star chefs and posh restaurants in hotels will be on a new test ground under Michelin scoreboard. They will require more than their established fame among food and gourmet aficionados to become worthy of a star from the 116-year-old strict judge on dining choices.

“Koreans have weakness for internationally-credited names. They will flock to star-awarded restaurants,” predicted an unnamed industry expert.

The strong candidates for restaurants earning the honors in Korea are high-end Korean restaurant ‘La Yeon’ at Hotel Shilla in Seoul and ‘Jungsikdang,’ another fancy Korean diner in Seoul run by Chef Yim Jung-sik who already received two stars from Michelin for the Jungsikdang’s branch in New York, the United States. The French restaurant ‘LAB XXIV’ by celebrity chef Edward Kwon and another top-notch French eatery ‘Pierre Gagnaire à Séoul’ at Hotel Lotte in Seoul headed by Chef Pierre Gagnaire who earned three Michelin stars in France are also included in the list for possible recommendations by the French dining guide.

By Jeon Ji-hyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]