Michelin France - beware the Ides of March

Say what you will about the Michelin guide, it's still the one that matters to most chefs. Ask any of them. And among the many guides Michelin now publishes -the Tokyo guide being the newest addition this year- the France guide is still the one most anticipated. It's become a spectator sport in the weeks and even months leading to the publication date, with critics and insider bloggers leaking the results - some real, most imagined - earlier and earlier to beat each other to the punch.

Don't look at me. I'm so busy doing autres choses this year that I have no intel to offer. Instead, I have the intel on the intels for you, so you know whom to take seriously.

First off, you should go check out Adrian's blog - he's already got a few juicy bits up, including one that would be considered the most shocking demotion in decades if turned out to be true. I'm not going to spoil it for you here - it's Adrian who dug it up so it would be rude of me to steal his thunder. Go read it on his blog.

If you read French you definitely should check out Simon Says, a blog by François Simon, perhaps the most powerful critic in France. He's been at this game for years, and if anyone has got the real intel it's him. He's got a shocking one up already too, which, on the flip side of Adrian's coin, if turned out to be true would be one of the most astonishing promotions in years. While you're there, check out his hidden-camera video blogs he's got there too. They are quite amusing.

By the by, is it just me or do you find Michelin habitually publishing the France guide on (or around) the Ides of March something of a cruel joke? Hilarious, mind you, if a little cruel, or perhaps because of it.