Borja Marrero, chef with two Michelin stars: “I went a whole year without earning a single dollar. Working 16 hours a day”
Life inside Michelin-starred kitchens is a coveted achievement, and a grueling initiation few forget.
Working in a Michelin-star restaurant is seen as one of the most prestigious and sought-after milestones in the culinary world. The reputation of restaurants holding one, two or even three Michelin stars is tied to exceptional quality, creativity and an impeccable eye for detail. Yet earning a place on the team inside these culinary temples is anything but easy.
Even those who make it through speak of the demands on skill, attitude and both physical and mental endurance – demands that must be extraordinarily high from day one, especially under the conditions faced by anyone trying to break in, as chef Borja Marrero, of Muxgo, with two Michelin stars, explains.
“You work an unbelievable amount, not just a lot. Back then you worked even more than now, because no one spared you those sixteen hours. At El Bulli’s catering arm they actually paid you as an extra, as if you were someone else. The good thing about doing so many hours is that you made a ton of billable time. Even if the pay was low, since every event was fifteen hours, plus the day before, you’d rack up thirty hours in two days and in the end you walked away with...,” he says on the podcast Actitud Constante about his training period there.
“But after that, I finished school, and by Tuesday I was at Juan Mari Arzak’s place, a full year without earning a single dollar. Sixteen hours a day. No pay. Just an internship. Juan Mari taught me that this world is a philosophy of life. If you don’t understand it that way, you’re doomed to put a bullet in your head,” he adds.
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♬ sonido original - Actitud Constante Podcast
Origin of the Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guide was created in Clermont-Ferrand, in central France, by brothers André and Edouard Michelin, founders of the tire company that bears their name. They gave away the now-famous red-covered booklet with travel recommendations to encourage drivers to use their cars. But it became a paid product in 1920, after one brother noticed that some garages were using the volume to prop up vehicles.
Three years later, on top of road tips, garages and fuel stops, the Michelin Guide added the section “Recommended hotels and restaurants.” That addition sparked huge interest, prompting the brothers to recruit a team of mysterious diners – today’s “inspectors” – to visit and assess restaurants anonymously, which were later rated using the now-renowned star system.
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