RON McKENNA

Another year. Another snub? Have those secretive inspectors from Le Michelin Guide got it in for Glasgow's chefs? Yet again Scotland's largest city fails to gain even a single teensy weensy Michelin star.

No new stars for Edinburgh either but with three starred restaurants already, the capital is almost groaning under the weight of them. Does anyone care? Restaurateurs all over Glasgow will be shrugging their shoulders and saying: "Bah, humbug, a star is not that important."

Hey. That's a black lie. Listen closely and you can hear the rending of garments and wails of suppressed pain coming from the larders of those who have failed to make the grade - the only grade that really counts in the food world.

To get a Michelin star is not just to add six inches to your height, to gain the love and respect of your colleagues, but it is also to pave all roads to your restaurant in gold. So why have the Michelin moles ignored Glasgow's many pretenders? Is it because the tables at Chardon D'or are too close? Is it because the food presentation at the Hotel Du Vin is too wacky? Or is it that the service at Abode is a tad too erratic?

Or could it simply be that food in all three doesn't make the grade? Who knows?

In its 108 years of existence the guide's publishers have never explained exactly what criteria they use to rate a restaurant. And they still rely on a century-old descriptive formula which says only two and three star restaurants are actually worth a detour.

Gordon Ramsay once famously claimed that Glasgow can't support a Michelin starred restaurant. Curiously, that was when he was closing his own failing establishment in the city.

But is it true? Unlikely. It's not about the money. Or the market. Michelin prices are already happily being paid in many restaurants in Glasgow.

Unfortunately it's the food that the inspectors have deemed is not of Michelin standard. But if there is hope, then it is contained in this year's single genuinely new Michelin star (the Ballachulish House Hotel having regained one lost last year) - awarded to the Champany Inn. The Champany Inn has been passed over many times in recent years, yet it has persisted with its simple menu of expensive but premium steaks. Proof, perhaps, that there is always next year.