Dame Prue Leith on calling Michelin Guide to ask why she didn't have a star

Dame Prue Leith on calling Michelin Guide to ask why she didn't have a starJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleCatriona AitkenBBC WalesAdam Tatton-Reid/Hay FestivalDame Prue Leith was a guest at Hay Festival's My Life in Books seriesDame Prue Leith has recounted the time she called the editor of the Michelin Guide to demand an answer to why her restaurant hadn't received a star.Speaking at Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, the celebrity restauranter said her boldness then shocks her now, as she took part in a series called My Life in Books, where guests discuss the literature which has shaped them."I finally rang up the Michelin Guide because I was indignant, I knew we were good enough," said the outgoing Great British Bake Off judge."Now I think, how could I have done that?"Leith opened her first restaurant, Leith's, in Notting Hill, London, in 1969."My restaurant did eventually get a Michelin star but it took me 25 years," she told festival-goers."I rang them up and, to my surprise, they put me through to the editor."I said I wanted to know why we haven't got a star."The Michelin Guide recommends restaurants and hotels worldwide, with its iconic star rating signifying exceptional food quality.The editor suggested he and his inspector attend Leith's restaurant for lunch and "we can talk about it"."We sat down and it was fantastic," said Leith, explaining he had "a big book" with every visit they'd ever made logged, detailing every tiny observation.These included suggested subtle changes for the salad dressings, as well as the fact that, on one visit, the bread basket included seven kinds of bread, while on the next there were only three types, and just one the next."I was listening to this and thinking that was when we had a fantastic baker and then he left... and then the chef went on strike about making the bread," said Leith."They were ab...