“Cheddar-gate”

“Cheddar-gate” - A French court has rejected a lawsuit brought by star chef Marc Veyrat seeking to force the Michelin restaurant guide to hand over its reasons for stripping his restaurant of a third star just a year after he won it.

In its verdict, the court in Nanterre said Marc Veyrat had offered no "proof showing the existence of any damage" caused by the Michelin guide's demotion of his restaurant, Maison des Bois, in the Alps to a two-star rating in January 2019.

The shock demotion came just 12 months after Veyrat's remarkable comeback after years of personal struggles, with the furious showman chef accusing the Michelin inspectors of making a "mistake".

The case, which came to be called “Cheddar-gate” in France, was sparked when the celebrity chef discovered at the start of this year that he had lost one of his three stars – the maximum number of stars that can be awarded – when the 110th edition of the respected guide was published at the start of this year.