The community of French food-lovers is mourning one of its most famous chefs. Even the Chinese media have echoed the shocking news that popular French chef Bernard Loiseau took his own life on February 24.

　　We say popular deliberately:①3000 people attended the funeral of this chef known to everyone in France. Loiseau belonged to that small corps of chefs (Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse, Guy Savoy et al.) who have emerged as TV stars. Several television programs dedicated to French cuisine are hosted by famous chefs who each week share some of their "secret recipes" with the public.

　　Why so much sadness and gratitude? Top chefs are considered artists and receive the admiration due to artists. This applies not only to eminent chefs like Loiseau and Bocuse. It's quite common in France to see the chef of a restaurant strolling through the dining room and being thanked by gourmets for the pleasure he has afforded them. And this tradition has found its way to Beijing: a few days ago, one of us was eating in a French restaurant here and saw the chef being warmly saluted by customers, obviously delighted with their meal.

　　During our years in China, we have noted the similari-ties between the Chinese and French appreciation of good food, but we have never observed a Chinese chef receiving public congratulations even in the classiest Chinese restau-rants. Why not? We are certain that Chinese chefs would be as gratified as their French counterparts to be recognized for their splendid work, for their skills, forshavingsdone their utmost to give gustatory pleasure.

　　Obviously, the best way to build a local reputation is by word of mouth. It is, however, not enough to wait for the local reputation of a cook to swell to national or even inter-national proportions. France has publications that sys-tematically scrutinize and grade restaurants - thousands of restaurants. The best known and most respected are the GuideMichelin and GuideGaultMillau. The appearance of their annual editions is awaited eagerly by gourmets and dreaded by chefs.

　　For customers these books are a valuable and trusted reference. Some cookery enthusiasts will make a special trip of several hundred kilometres or even fly in from abroad to have a meal in the restaurants awarded the top mark of three stars in the GuideMichelin. For chefs an additional star can be the path to wealth and the spotlights.

　　But beyond purely business considerations, the star issue is often a question of public face. It's an event for a chef to earn a better GaultMillau grade or an extra Michelin star, especially the third star, which means that one is ranked among the gastronomic Olympians. Earning stars is also a matter of self-fulfillment for people as passionate about food as France's great chefs; their entire creative lives are focused on "lacuisine". The flip side of the coin is that the loss of a Michelin star or a point or two in the GuideGaultMillau can be felt as a defeat comparable only to the mortification of a movie star or director whose latest film is roundly panned by the critics.

　　Bernard Loiseau was undeniably among the top French chefs, perhaps the most media-savvy②but also very attentive to criticism. Aged 52 at the time of his death, he was known above all for his culinary prowess at the Cite d'Or, his celebrated restaurant in the heart of France. Taking over the restaurant in 1975, he reached the pinnacle of his career when he was awarded a mark of 19.5/20 by GaultMillau in 1990 and 3 stars by Michelin the following year; in 1991 he also figured on the front page of TheNewYorkTimes. Thereafter his business steadily expanded, making him by 1998 the only chef in the world to be listed on the stock exchange.

　　Loiseau had recently lost two points in GaultMillau and been criticized in the media. His relatives mention "a general fatigue, lassitude and fragility". He used to say about himself that he was an "anxiety sufferer" and that he attached importance to the opinions of all his critics. We French may never know the role of stars and grades in Loiseau's untimely end, but we will certainly remember this great artist.