Creative Hot Spots: A Network Analysis of German Michelin-Starred Chefs

The Michelin Guide is a well-respected source of information for the culinary consumer, and the stars awarded to the chefs by Michelin are powerful signs of culinary achievements. This study focuses on the career paths of Michelin-starred chefs in Germany and aims at identifying the creative hot spots of the culinary domain. Through analysing the career trajectories of 262 chefs by means of social network analysis, it was found that the culinary network comprises a dense core, although some prolific chefs can be found at the periphery or even as isolates. Individual significance for the network - expressed as centrality - was found to be independent of the actor's star rating. Ties between chefs with different star ratings occur more often than between chefs with similar star ratings. The findings suggest that fewer ties are more beneficial for individual creative productivity and that knowledge transfers are more likely to happen between chefs with different levels of experience, skills and creative ability. Although creativity is still a personalized process, the acceptance and adaptation of the creative output is a social phenomenon, hence, this study underlined the suitability of social network analysis as a methodology for future studies of creative processes.