Chefs in Michelin spat

How much attention do you pay to the awards that are handed out periodically to restaurants and their chefs?

Perhaps not as much as the chefs themselves, if the culinary world's latest spat is anything to judge by.

Two of the country's best-known chefs - Anthony Worrall Thompson and Nico Ladenis - claim their peers are 'aggressive and paranoid' about winning Michelin stars.

Worrall Thompson said: 'People like Gordon Ramsay are so obsessed with competing with each other that a Michelin star has become the Holy Grail. I would rather see three Michelin tyres outside my restaurant than three Michelin stars.'

Ladenis, meanwhile, singled out Heston Blumenthal, who was awarded a third star last month for his restaurant The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.

Ladenis, who gained three stars cooking at Chez Nico in Central London in 1995, scoffed at Blumenthal's signature dish - egg and bacon ice-cream. He said: 'Someone who makes egg and bacon icecream is immediately hailed as a genius, when I don't think he is. If you vomit and then make ice-cream out of the vomit, is that original enough for a star?'

Derek Brown, who edits the Michelin guide, agreed competition was out of hand. He said: 'There has been a preoccupation with "I've got to cook well so I can get a star" rather than "I've got to cook well so I can please my customers".'

Blumenthal conceded he did try, not surprisingly, to live up to his three-star reputation. Ramsay refused to comment.