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Superstar chef Alain Ducasse has insisted that it is safer to eat in restaurants than cook for yourself under coronavirus lockdown.

“It’s better to eat in a restaurant that takes all the precautions than at home where you have to go to your little local supermarket where people are bumping into each other, touching the fruit and not everybody is wearing masks,” the French chef told Agence France-Presse.

Ducasse, whose restaurants have 17 Michelin stars — the most of any chef in the world — made his case to France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, on Friday.

He called for a “gradual and responsible” reopening of restaurants, saying the lockdown has been “catastrophic” for the industry.

“This can only last for a few more weeks,” he told AFP.