The star system

These days the Michelin guide is seen as the mark of quality fine dining, especially restaurants with a European white-tablecloth flair. The guide started as a freebie handed out by the Michelin company as a way to encourage readers to drive more and thus wear out their tires/tyres. As the story goes, one of the Michelin brothers saw the guide being used to prop up furniture in a garage and decided no one would value the guide if they gave it away for free, so they started charging for the guide and dropped all advertisers. This actually helped boost the prestige of the guide, and it ended up becoming a mark of quality. In fact, the guides were reprinted to guide soldiers during the liberation of France, not to find the best places to eat, but because the road signs had been sabotaged and the guidebook had the best maps.

Another aspect of its prestige is the Michelin star system itself. Rather than rating a complex set of features, the system is based on how much gas and rubber a traveller would be willing to burn to visit the place.

• One star: Worth visiting if you’re passing through.
• Two stars: Worth a detour if you’re nearby.
• Three stars: A destination worth making a trip to experience.

This system makes a good measure that could be applied to other things, like friends. Do you pause to chat if they’re on your path? Are they worth a detour? Maybe a few friends are destinations worth a special trip.