Michelin Guide Goes Mobile

Change is inevitable, and the world-renowned institution, the Michelin guide, is – after more than a century in print – embracing the internet age. Information about the world’s finest restaurants and cuisine will be direct to smart mobile devices so that gourmets, foodies and other like minded folk on the go can have all the information they need in the palms of their hands.

On October 13 Michelin guide director Jean-Luc Naret unveiled an alliance with mobile content provider Ubi Ubi – a company that, in its own words, seeks to “partner with prestige brands to coalesce and serve the world’s most discerning mobile communities with upscale lifestyle products inspired by stealth elegance and adventurous technologies.” News of this alliance was given in hand with the release of the latest Michelin guide to San Francisco.

“It is catering to the needs of the person on the go,” Ubi Ubi president Mario Giacalone told the AFP news service. “It is a generation that grew up with the Internet and is tech-savvy and mobile. Sometimes a book gets dated or people don’t have it with them, but people always carry their mobile devices and we can keep the content fresh.”

And in a move that may make other restaurant goers cringe, Ubi’s Michelin platform will eventually allow mobile device using diners to post written messages to the Michelin guide during meals at restaurants. “Michelin guide is establishing a connection with the community and at the same time maintaining its tradition and standards,” Giacalone said. “The technology allows you to marry both.”

Mobile Michelin guides are online at www.ubiubi.mobi with the latest reviews of restaurants in the US cities of New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles available. Plans to include other cities are underway.

President of Michelin Guides, Jean-Luc Naret, says that while Michelin guides are adapting to digital delivery methods, he is certain people will continue to want printed guides they can get their hands on. To back up this opinion he notes that a Tokyo guide launched for the first time last year sold 120,000 copies in the first 24 hours it was available in the mobile gadget-loving country and that sales topped 300,000 copies by the end of five weeks.

“The books will continue to be available but we are looking at mobile and development on the Internet” Naret said. “There is a new generation going to the Internet instead of buying books.”

Another sign of changing times is that links to popular restaurant-reviewing bloggers have been added to the michelinguide.com website, and guide-using diners are being offered the chance to win prizes if they share eatery experiences at the Michelin guide website. Feedback from users is shared with Michelin’s trained teams of inspectors, who are to bear the comments in mind when determining whether restaurants are worthy of coveted stars awarded as symbols of outstanding culinary experiences.

“With so much being put out on the Internet by people you don’t know it becomes a question of who to trust,” commented Naret. “We listen to what people are saying, and then we go and see for ourselves.”

Michelin’s move into the mobile internet age comes in the run-up months to its planned gastronomical gala in Paris to mark the 100th annual edition of the guide, which was first printed in 1900 for motorists planning road trips.

“It is the 100th edition because we missed a few during the war,” Naret said light-heartedly. “Paris will be the gastronomic capital of the world for a week. All the top chefs from around the world will be cooking in restaurants in France.”