Who Hates the Michelin Guide This Year?

On the surface, it seems like an easy question to answer: The restaurants that didn’t receive stars, along with the ones that had stars taken away, would be at the top of the Michelin hate list. Underneath, however, something profound is going on. It’s a moment of generational culinary change. In the restaurant world, change sometimes resembles the movement of tectonic plates—they drift slowly, but the impact on collision is violent and far-reaching.

When the Michelin Guide first started rating restaurants in 1926, 46 establishments were awarded single stars. The three-tiered system was introduced in 1931: one star (a very good restaurant in its category), two stars (worth a detour) and three stars (worth a special journey). Seven restaurants were awarded the ultimate accolade of three stars that year. Three were in Paris (La Tour d’Argent, Lapérouse, and Le Café de Paris) and four in the provinces (La Mère Brazier in Lyon, La Côte d’Or in Saulieu, L’Auberge du Père Bise in Talloires, and La Pyramide in Vienne).

For the next four decades, no three-star restaurants were recognized outside the boundaries of France, until Belgium snagged one in 1972. Classic haute cuisine, first defined by Escoffier, was the model by which every kitchen was measured. The situation is very different today. Michelin rates restaurants throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. There are more Michelin stars in Tokyo than in Paris, although France still leads Japan by total stars.

The expansion has raised questions about ethical standards. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Visit California paid Michelin $600,000 in 2019 to expand beyond the Bay Area to the rest of the state. Thailand pays more than $880,000 to sponsor the Guide each year, and Michelin ventured into Korea after the Korean Tourism Board coughed up $1.8 million for a multi-year deal. There’s no evidence that sponsorships have led to any favoritism in awarding stars—in fact, there are instances where the opposite appears to be true.

The Miami Herald initially reported that Visit Florida, the state’s tourism and marketing agency, struck a $1.5 million deal in 2021 for the Guide to come to the state. The Herald stated that organizations representing three metro areas (Visit Orlando, Visit Tampa and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) chipped in to create “a significant investment for all parties.” Despite that, no restaurants in Tampa received stars in the initial 2022 Guide.

Ethical considerations aside, there has been a marked difference in the types of restaurants awarded stars. For most of the post-WWII period, right up into the 1980s, the definition of a luxurious meal was codified for those who could afford it: a fancy, formal dining room, flocked wallpaper, tuxedoed waiters, dishes going up in flames, and a menu composed of French classics. Today’s concept often consists of a group of family or friends sharing food and wine in a relaxed, casual setting. Those tectonic plates are shifting, and people are eating differently; even well-heeled diners don’t want to sit through a four or five-hour meal anymore.

While Michelin’s global expansion may have been a factor in the types of restaurants that earn stars, the current social climate has also played a large role. Today’s starred restaurant is likely to be ethnic, Asian or fusion, and the palaces of classic French cuisine have been the biggest casualties. While most of the starred restaurants in Paris are still French in spirit (if not in menu), more and more Japanese and experimental establishments are creeping in at the one-star level. When the starred restaurants for New York, Chicago and D.C. were announced in December, the lists painted a very different picture.

One of the few remaining classic French restaurants in the Windy City, Carrie Nahabedian’s Brindille, lost its sole Michelin star. The New York results are even more interesting. Of the five three-star restaurants in Manhattan, one is Japanese (Masa), one is Korean (Jungsik), and one now features a 100% plant-based menu (Eleven Madison Park). Not one of the 13 two-stars offers a French menu (although Jean-Georges and Gabriel Kreuther could be defined as “Continental”), and only seven of the 54 one-star restaurants are French. By the way, Tampa finally received some stars in 2024 (one Italian, one Mediterranean, two Japanese, and one contemporary).

To be fair, there’s a school of thought among some chefs that Michelin stars are the kiss of death: they raise consumer expectations to an impossible level, and they also make it very difficult to turn a profit. You might assume that restaurants charging $500-1000 per person are printing money, but the opposite is true, given the expense of maintaining their staff, wine cellar and ambiance. Some three-star chefs have actually opened bistros in an attempt to make some cash.

Those challenges might explain the attitude of some chefs who have lost stars. The 2024 shocker in Manhattan was Restaurant Daniel, which received three stars when the New York City guide was launched in 2005, then demoted to two stars a decade later. The most recent Guide reduced Daniel to one star. In an interview with thedailymeal.com, Boulud appeared to be unflappable, maintaining that the ongoing loyalty of his customers was more important than Michelin stars. He has a point with regard to his American clients, although traveling European gourmets tend to follow Michelin’s advice.

Some of us may feel disappointment or outrage when our favorite restaurant is ignored or demoted by Michelin, and there are some diners who yearn for the tuxedoed majesty of the French captains of yesteryear. Public faces aside, we can assume there are restaurateurs who aren’t quite as calm about where things are heading. A classically trained French chef is not about to open a Japanese or Korean restaurant to survive, so there’s not much to do except hang on and keep the flags flying. Food is like fashion, and the pendulum will eventually swing back, but there’s bound to be some indigestion in the meantime. Remember, it’s not personal: It’s just business.