Michelin Inspectors Will Judge 'Top Chef France' Semifinal

For the first time in the history of the Michelin Guide, a select team of the highly secretive inspectors, who keep their jobs a secret even from family and friends, will enter the realm of reality television as judges on tonight's semifinal episode of Top Chef France.

The inspectors will be filmed in the shadows so that their faces remain unseen, but their voices will be heard judging the dishes.

The unusual collaboration is an attempt to "rejuvenate the image of the guide," of which sales have dropped dramatically (from approximately 500,000 in the 1990s to about 90,000 a year), according to The Australian.

"Michelin is jumping with both feet into everything it has fought for the past 100 years — glitter and misplaced vanity," Pascal Remy, a formerly anonymous Michelin inspector, told The Australian. "Michelin used to preach discretion. Now it is permanent marketing."

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.