At the end of January a car tyre company will publish the latest edition of a book that has the world of food on tenterhooks. Reputations will be made and broken; commercial fortunes will be in the balance; individual dreams will be realised and shattered; it can be, literally, a matter of life and death. William Sitwell, food editor and critic, who lives and breathes this obsessive, secretive world will be there to witness it all. Over the next month, he will be immersed in exploring, interrogating and trying to understand the highest echelon of restaurant cooking.

His authorship of this film is driven by a determination to find out what makes people sacrifice their sanity for the sake of a soufflé. He’s going to find out what drives chefs to absolute perfection and try to discover whether or not it’s worth it.

Tabloid shorthand tells us that “a Michelin starred chef” is at the top of a world that has now gone way beyond the origins of aristo cuisine. The British imagination – and wallet – has been captured by the idea of a night out on the town being spent sampling the succulent sauces created by these artists of food. The chefs who achieve the accolade of a Michelin star (let alone two or even three) are deemed to be gastronomic gods. The simple truth is that this mark of recognition can turn a chef into a celebrity and send till receipts through the roof. But it can also end careers – even end lives. But what drives the people who aspire to them? How are these judgements made? Who makes them? And is the whole business of Michelin-starred cooking past its sell-by date?