Incredible restaurant forced to give up its Michelin star and slash its prices

By Adam Toms, Maria Ortega, Foreign Content Specialist

Jean-Charles Darroze is executive chief and director of Maison Claude Darroze (Image: Getty)

A European restaurant has cut its prices by 30% and relinquished its prestigious Michelin Star because it had become unaffordable to the local clientele. Maison Claude Darroze in Langon, France, is a family restaurant that has been run by four generations since 1895. Now, its current owner Claude Darroze has decided to slash the amount of cash customers need to pay, which he says has been hard for his employees to accept. "We had become inaccessible to a large part of the local clientele," he said.

The venue says on its website that it is "rooted in the transmission of gestures, respect for the product and local sourcing", and "combines tradition and modernity to offer a gourmet and accessible experience, where each dish celebrates the authenticity and generosity of local cuisine", infobae reports. "These are people I want to be close to," Mr Darroze added. "I grew up here."

The venue has been run by four generations of the same family since 1895 (Image: Getty)

The restauranteur added that he is a resident of Langon, and has been surrounded by the same people all his life.

He aldo said: "We're continuing to work with the same products, the same rigor.

"We simply want to offer a freer, more instinctive cuisine."

Mr Darroze added: "I grew up here, these people, I know them, I love them. And it hurt me to see that they no longer dared to push our door."

But, as Entrevue.fr reports, not all establishments that lose their Michelin star do so of their own free will.

The restaurant has cut its prices by 30% (Image: Getty)

This is the case for Christophe Dupouy, in Mont-de-Marsan, whose restaurant "Les Clefs d'Argent" had held a star for sixteen years.

The Landes chef learned the news around ten days before the official announcement.

Rather than wait for confirmation from the Guide, he chose to inform his customers directly, in a moving letter published on social media.

"It's not the star that matters," he wrote, "it's what we experience together, night after night."