I remember watching a video on how Michelin Stars started out as a travel guide brochure for the best restaurants in France as a sort of advertisement for Michelin branded tyres (look at all these restaurants you could go to with Michelin tyres!).
How did the Michelin stars become so sought after by top restaurants and chefs? Was the head of the Michelin tyre company also a renowned food connoisseur or something? What about other tyre companiee, why didn’t they do something similar? Are Michelin Stars still given by the tyre company, or has it been spun off into its own thing?
I feel like the real question is in this statement
Iirc it was printed as a guide with maps and stars marking the restaurants locations and given out with the tyres for free. I guess people back then had nothing better to do than road trip to restaurants. It was popular enough restaurants wanted to be in it which caused them to up their game so the reviewers would add them to the guide and it escalated to where it is now.