French chefs Gilles Tournadre and Alexandre Bourdas will return their Michelin stars, with the decision taken as a result of the quarantine period.

French chef Gilles Tournadre decided to return his restaurant Gill’s two Michelin stars at the end of the year, saying the coronavirus lockdown as a deciding factor. Tournadre told France Bleu Normandie, ” With my wife, we saw that we could live a bit like everyone else. We rediscovered ourselves and our home.” However, the chef, who won’t break away from the industry, will instead open a small, chic restaurant serving snacks befitting his new philosophy of less stressful cooking. “I think that in our profession, many chefs want to go back to this,” the French chef said.

Another French chef, Alexandre Bourdas, decided to focus on a more accessible and relaxed style of cooking by giving back the stars of the 2 Michelin-starred SaQuaNa. In a statement to Le Parisien, the celebrity chef said: “The world is changing. We are already beginning to question the need to take planes, etc. I want to be in tune with what I do, to offer the cuisine I love, the one I cook for my friends, on affordable terms for all. Besides, I didn’t want to venture into uncertain economic prospects. We’ve been lucky enough to get through this crisis without any problems, but we don’t know what the months and years will be.”