The Michelin restaurant guide for the first time on Tuesday allowed a chef to withdraw his stars after a French chef argued that the "huge pressure" of running a Michelin restaurant was too much to handle.

Sebastien Bras' Le Suquet restaurant in the rural town of Laguiole has three stars – the highest rating Michelin offers and widely considered one of the highest honors for cuisine. Gaining or losing a star can drastically alter a restaurant's – and its head chef's – fortunes.

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Bras, 46, told French news agency AFP that he did not wish to be overwhelmed by the anxiety of a possible inspector's visitor any longer.

"You're inspected two or three times a year, you never know when. Every meal that goes out could be inspected," Bras said.

"That means that every day one of the 500 meals that leaves the kitchen could be judged. Maybe I will be less famous but I accept that."

Loss of star reportedly behind chef suicide

Bras also alluded to fellow French chef Bernard Loiseau, who committed suicide in 2003 after newspapers published stories that Michelin was considering downgrading his restaurant.

The statement from Bras follows two other French chefs who closed their restaurants due to the immense pressure of three Michelin stars. Pioneer Alain Senderens closed his Art Nouveau Paris eatery in 2005, saying he wanted to make "beautiful cuisine without all the tra-la-la and chichi."

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Three years later, Olivier Roellinger closed his three-star restaurant in Brittany, saying he needed a more peaceful life.

Bras took over Le Suquet from his father 10 years ago, and has retained the three stars ever since.

He first asked Michelin to revoke his stars in September. "I want to be liberated from the pressure," Bras was quoted by the New York Times as saying.

es/dm (AFP, dpa)