JŽr™me Brochot cooks at Le France, his one-star Michelin restaurant in Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Brochot is giving up his Michelin star, saying that he can no longer pay for the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices. (Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)

A shuttered factory in the fading former mining town of Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Montceau may not have a spectacular cathedral or a Romanesque abbey, but it did have a one-star Michelin restaurant Ñ until now. Its chef is renouncing the honor, saying he can no longer afford the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices. (Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)

JŽr™me Brochot cooks at Le France, his one-star Michelin restaurant in Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Brochot is giving uphis Michelin star, saying that he can no longer pay for the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices.(Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)

The chef JŽr™me Brochot, right, speaks with a guest at Le France, his one-star Michelin restaurant in Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Brochot is giving up his Michelin star, saying that he can no longer pay for the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices. (Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)

FRANCE RESTAURANT SURVIVAL 5

Two women talk outside a shuttered confectionary, one of many closed shops in the fading former mining town of Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Montceau may not have a spectacular cathedral or a Romanesque abbey, but it did have a one-star Michelin restaurant Ñ until now. (Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)

JŽr™me Brochot at Le France, his one-star Michelin restaurant in Montceau-les-Mines, France, Dec. 15, 2017. Brochot is giving up his Michelin star, saying that he no longer pay for the personnel, produce and precision that go into charging one-star prices.(Dmitry Kostyukov/The New York Times)