Burger King Just Got Closer To Earning A Michelin Star
While Burger King may have always played second-fiddle to McDonald's in sales throughout their decades' long rivalry (via Investopedia), when it comes to audacious marketing stunts, lately they've not only surpassed but, quite frankly, lapped Mickey D's several times already. While BK has had its share of "whoopsies" like the moldy Whopper campaign and the whole farting cows debacle, you can't deny that they're unafraid to court publicity no matter what it takes. Burger King may be even bolder overseas than in the U.S., literally embracing their archrival in Finland and dishing up the world's sweetest Whopper in Taiwan.
In Belgium, however, Burger King reached new heights of audacity when it came to promoting a sandwich called the Master Angus burger. They actually had the nerve to launch a Change.org petition demanding that this burger be awarded a Michelin star! Their rationale, according to an open letter penned (well, pixeled) by BK Belgium CEO Kevin Derycke: "How many places does your little red book have that serve exceptional dishes that are on the table in five minutes, and where you don't have to book three months ahead?" (via Bandt). Well, as it turns out, sometimes squeaky wheels really do get some grease, since Business Insider reports that Michelin actually sent out a team of reviewers.
How Michelin evaluated Belgium's BK burger
Business Insider says two reviewers visited Burger King restaurants in Belgium and Luxembourg and ordered full meals including the Master Angus. They remained anonymous, as all good food reviewers must, to make sure that they got the same burgers as everybody else. As they ate, they evaluated the meals on the same criteria they apply to all of the restaurants they review: product quality, mastery of cooking technique, personality of the chef as revealed in their cuisine, harmony of flavors, and consistency between visits (implying that they must have eaten this same meal multiple times).
As to the results... well, we don't yet know, since the Michelin Guide won't be announcing their verdict until November 1. Still, we can speculate, can't we? While it seems like BK will likely lose a few points on that "chef personality" thing (since who'd want an edgy Belgian teenage burger flipper adding a special spin to their meal?), they'll more than make up for it in consistency. So it's just possible they do stand a chance, since star-winning pastry chef Daniel Kleinhandler thinks "the biggest reason why people don't get Michelin stars is inconsistency."
Well, BK's got that aspect down — just ask First Fast Food Fan Donald Trump, who says, "You're better off going [to a fast-food restaurant] than someplace that you maybe have no idea where the food is coming from. It's a certain standard" (via Newsweek). So who knows? But we wish BK all the luck.