Not to discount the efforts of this chef, but is it not possible that the organization called Michelin has done this in an attempt to stay relevant with the growing East-Asia market? It kind of reads like a touch-your-heart story that will increase brand-presence of Michelin and the validity of their ratings of food. Who knows though...
the food is not just rated on taste and the decor (or lack of it in this case) is not a significant factor afaik. From my extensive research[1] the reviewer takes into account: 1. taste 2. presentation 3. use of local ingredients 4. use of fresh quality ingredients [1]every episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK.
[0] Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772925/)