The auberge, which opened 18 years ago with a staff of two – Goujon and his wife – joins 25 other three-star establishments in the firmament of French gastronomy.

“To be a great chef, you must be a cook, a cook in spirit, a cook in the heart,” Goujon said in a telephone interview, calling his auberge a “country restaurant.”

Mr Goujon, 48 years old and 30 years on the job, said it was “an emotional moment” when Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret called Sunday evening to inform him of the honor.

“I shed a few little tears,” he said.

The Michelin Red Guide announced its annual ratings of France’s eating establishments Monday, a much-awaited event in a country where cuisine was raised to an art centuries ago – and where, despite inroads by fast food eateries, it remains an essential element of life.

One restaurant, La Maison de Marc Veyrat, on Lake Annecy in the Alpine foothills, lost its perch at the top – and all of its stars – with the departure a year ago of chef Marc Veyrat, always distinguishable by his large black hat.

In the Michelin Red Guide’s 2010 edition, 10 eating establishments in France gained two-star status, bringing the total in that category to 77.

At least one departure, chef Jean-Francois Piege of the Paris hotel Le Crillon’s restaurant, Les Ambassadeurs, took that luxury eatery off the two star list. The restaurant is currently closed. The Chateau les Crayeres in Reims suffered the same fate with the loss of chef Didier Elena, going from two stars to none.

Michelin, which uses anonymous tasters to see what’s cooking and score humble and luxury kitchens, punished three other two-star establishments, dropping them to one, including Helene Darroze on Paris’ Left Bank, whose chef of that name is one of the rare women to reach gastronomical renown.

In the one-star category, totaling 455 restaurants, Michelin added 47 new names.

Michelin’s 2010 French edition also awarded 555 restaurants – 105 new to the list – with what it calls a “Bib Gourmand,” a sign of good value for money.