"A greasy-spoon cook would also experience a period of adjustment if dropped onto the line of a Michelin-starred restaurant."
I've worked both. The greasy spoon cook would fare better thrown into Michelin-star service vs the Michelin star cook going into general food service. General food service is ROUGH. In a Michelin starred joint (let's take Curtis Stone's 'Maude' for example) things are prepared quietly, quickly yet slowly enough to allow for precision in presentation. You often have quite a bit of time between courses, so you can collect yourself and prepare for the next course for your guests. Courses generally don't exist in general food service, and you aren't getting any real self-collection time unless you're on your break, as short as that may be.
I've worked both. The greasy spoon cook would fare better thrown into Michelin-star service vs the Michelin star cook going into general food service. General food service is ROUGH. In a Michelin starred joint (let's take Curtis Stone's 'Maude' for example) things are prepared quietly, quickly yet slowly enough to allow for precision in presentation. You often have quite a bit of time between courses, so you can collect yourself and prepare for the next course for your guests. Courses generally don't exist in general food service, and you aren't getting any real self-collection time unless you're on your break, as short as that may be.