This year’s at Michelin Guide 2024, two new Trois Étoiles, eight new Deux Étoiles and a new generation of restaurateurs earning their first Étoile at the age of less than 40.
The new 3-star Michelin restaurants
Fabien Ferré (Hôtel du Castellet – Var), 35 anos: a Fabien Ferré (Hôtel du Castellet – Var), 35 years old: the big surprise of the year
At just 35 years old, Fabien Ferré has joined the select group of 3 Michelin stars, a club of only 30 people in France at the moment. Fabien Ferré worked for ten years alongside Christophe Bacquié at the Hôtel du Castellet, and has also put his CV to good use here and there (with Troisgros and Jean-Michel Carrette in Burgundy), but it has to be said: it’s a real surprise to see him as the star of this 2024 guide. His gastronomic restaurant opened in April 2023.
The truth is that chef Ferré’s vegetable and seafood dishes (with menus ranging from 120 to 180 euros) won over the inspectors, especially the crayfish dish with rhubarb and his “coraillé” velouté with strawberry vinegar. The desserts, made by its chef pâtissiers Loïc Colliau and François Lucianocom, also caught the eye and are highlighted in the restaurant’s review in the Red Guide.
Going from 0 to 3 stars is extremely rare in just one year of operation. Nobody in France has done it before, Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon did it in three years, Arnaud Donckele at Cheval Blanc Paris did it in one year, but he had already received 3 stars under his own name in 2013 at his Saint-Tropez-based restaurant, Donckele was also 35 at the time.
Only a few chefs have a better age record: Alain Ducasse in 1990 (33) and the Pourcel brothers in 1998 (33). And, abroad, Fabrizio Mellino (Quattro Passi restaurant in Italy), who was 32 when he was awarded the title in November 2023.
Statistics show that the average age of a new 3-star chef is 43.4 years.
Gwendal Poullennec told Pomélo by phone that “it’s 3 stars for a new establishment with a different style of cooking. But we have to pay tribute to Christophe Bacquié, because it’s a really successful transition. He also points out that the 3-star level was already there very quickly, with the inspectors among the first to sit in.”
Jérôme Banctel (Le Gabriel, La Réserve Paris hotel), an award-winning obsession
As he told Le Monde just a month ago: “I think a lot about the third star. Maybe Michelin doesn’t think I deserve it, or maybe I missed the window of opportunity.”
And that window opened in 2024 for Jérôme Banctel, 52, chef at the La Réserve hotel in Paris since it opened in 2015, who earned his well-deserved third Michelin star in this year’s edition of the guide.
This discreet and elegant character had two very different mentors: the extravagant and creative Alain Senderens at Lucas Carton, author of a famous lobster with vanilla, and Bernard Pacaud at L’Ambroisie, now considered a temple of France with a capital F. The signature dish of this Breton: an artichoke (from Brittany) preserved in lemon, a technique discovered during a trip to Turkey that “concentrates its flavor while maintaining an incredible softness,” notes Le Monde.
In its press release, the Michelin guide highlights one dish in particular: a lobster cooked on a binchotan (a Japanese grill that gently cooks food) with almond praline, peach and verbena. This triumph is also, to some extent, that of Banctel’s lieutenant colonel, Linh Nguyen, with whom he has worked for over 15 years. Someone else must be grinning from ear to ear: Michel Reybier (54th richest man in France), owner of La Réserve and a series of luxury hotels in Europe. To eat at Le Gabriel, expect to pay €98 for lunch (one of the busiest in the city, reservations run out in minutes) and €278 to €348 for dinner.
It’s worth remembering that Paris has had a 3rd star since 2020 (with the Kei restaurant).
The new 2-star Michelin restaurants
Maison Ruggieri (Paris), by Martino Ruggieri, former lieutenant of Yannick Alléno.
The menus are expensive (200 and 300 euros), but the level is there, with “remarkable sauces” and “sometimes daring combinations”, notes the Michelin guide.
The Orangerie at the George V Hotel, Paris, by Alan Taudon. Alan Taudon spent a long time in the shadow of chef Christian Le Squer, with 3 Michelin stars, before being put in charge of L’Orangerie, a restaurant that opened a few years ago, and being able to express his own creativity, which was rewarded soon after.
This makes the George V the hotel with the most Michelin stars in the world, with 3 + 2 + 1 stars, totaling 6 stars (between restaurant, brasserie and bar). In Paris and France, only Yannick Alléno’s Pavillon Ledoyen rivals it, but Ledoyen is not a hotel.
The Jules Verne (Paris) by Frédéric Anton (3 stars with the Pré Catelan in Paris) and his on-site lieutenant, Kevin Garcia. It reopened in 2019, with Anton taking over from Alain Ducasse. This is the first time that the Eiffel Tower establishment has been awarded 2 MIchelin stars.
Maison Benoît Vidal, Sylvestre Wahid’s restaurant (Les Grandes Alpes 1850 hotel), Christophe Bacquié’s Le Mas des Eydins and Christophe Cussac’s Les Ambassadeurs (68) also received two stars. These are heights that these chefs had already experienced, as they had already received stars in other establishments.
The new Michelin 1-star restaurants – Young chefs and young restaurants
In addition to the youth of the new 3-star chefs, the director of the Michelin Guide, Gwendal Poullennec, highlighted the freshness of the 1-star list. This freshness comes in two stages: of the 52 restaurants that have been awarded or received 1 star again, 23 opened their doors in 2023. What’s more, more than 30 of these 52 restaurants are run by restaurateurs under the age of 40.
Few women chefs
No female chef has been awarded 3 or 2 stars. However, there are female chefs with 1 star: Eugénie Béziat at the Ritz Paris, Manon Fleury (Datil in Paris), Émilie Roussey (in a duo with her partner) at the Moulin de Cambelong (Aveyron) and Florencia Montes (in a duo with her partner) at Onice (Nice).
Foreign chefs laureates
Chef Francesco Di Marzio (Italy) at Maison Rosella, the gastronomic restaurant of the Château de Germigney (Jura). Trained in Michelin-starred restaurants around the world (Greenhouse in London, Amber in Hong Kong), his work had already been recognized by Michelin when he worked for Anne-Sophie Pic in Singapore (La Dame de Pic at the Raffles Hotel).
Chef Yuichiro Akiyoshi (Japan) for the Chakaiseki Akiyoshi restaurant (Paris), with a €160 lunch menu and €240 the rest of the time.
Chef Shinichi Sato (Japan) for Blanc restaurant (Paris), with menus ranging from 260 to 360 euros. Sato had already won two stars for his previous restaurant, Passage 53, also in Paris.
Chef Nick Honeyman (New Zealand) for Le Petit Léon (Dordogne), with menus between 70 and 100 euros. Honeyman trained at L’Astrance and L’Arpège.
Chefs Florencia Montes (Argentina) and Lorenzo Ragni (Italy) for the restaurant Onice (Nice), with menus priced between 90 and 120 euros. Both met at Mirazur in Menton and she has worked at Septime (Paris), Eleven Madison Park (New York) and Faviken (Sweden), while he has sharpened his knives at Enrico Crippa (Italy) and Ledbury (London).
The youngest Michelin-starred chef
Yoann Delorme, 26, from Le Chamarlenc restaurant in Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire). He previously worked at La Mirande in Avignon, as well as with Pierre Gagnaire when the Grande Maison in Bordeaux was open. His restaurant offers very attractive prices: €29 and €35 for lunch, €52 and €64 for dinner.
Paris does not disappoint
12 one-star restaurants, 3 two-star restaurants and 1 three-star restaurant: it’s a full house for the capital. Some will see this as a sign of the Olympic Games, but the Michelin guide leaves that aside: no quotas or political gestures, according to the red guide.
The winning restaurants in Paris are: Espadon, Nhome, Le Tout-Paris, Sushi Yoshinaga, Datil, Hémicycle, Galanga, Maison Dubois, Onor, Géosmine, Chakaiseiki Akiyoshi and Blanc.
A star brasserie
Le Tout-Paris, the brasserie at the Cheval Blanc hotel in Paris, has been awarded a star. Chef Arnaud Donckele, with 3 stars, supervises the table, but it’s his lieutenant William Béquin who leads the brigade. This is the second brasserie starred in the guide, after 114 Faubourg, located in Bristol.
Here too, the advertised “bistronomic cuisine” comes at a price: 165 euros for starter, main course and dessert.
Extra Stars, Michelin Guide 2024
2024 is a happy vintage for some chefs and restaurateurs, who will be adding another star to their collections and dolmas: this is the case for Mathias Dandine, owner of La Magdeleine (a Michelin star in the Bouches-du-Rhône region), who is seeing his Bastide Bourrelly (near Aix-en-Provence) receive a star this year.
A star has also been awarded to the Hémicycle restaurant in Paris, which should delight serial restaurateur Stéphane Manigold, whose collection already includes Substance (1 star), Contraste (1 star), Granite (1 star) and Maison Rostang (2 stars).
As for Arnaud Donckele, in addition to his 3 stars for the best restaurants at the Cheval Blanc hotels in Paris and Saint-Tropez, he has added two stars to his list, again with Cheval Blanc (brasserie Le Tout Paris and La Terrasse in Saint-Tropez).
Shy start for the Ritz
The chef at the Ritz, Eugénie Béziat, already had a Michelin star before her arrival at the Parisian palace, but given her history (there were 2 stars not so long ago, at the time of Nicolas Sale), her prestige and the prices she charges (menus of 290 and 380 euros), we expected more.
Other winners, Michelin Guide 2024
Pastry Chef of the Year, Michelin Guide 2024
Aurora Storari (Hémicycle restaurant* in Paris), Patrick Mesiano (Aux Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac** at the Hôtel Métropole in Monaco), Benoit Goulard (Chez Mont Blanc Restaurant & Goûter* in Savoie), François Luciano (La Table du Castellet*** in Var Castellet), Max Martin (Le Pré Catelan*** in Paris), Pascal Hainigue (Auberge de l’Ill*** in Haut-Rhin), Julieta Canavate (Ceto restaurant* at The Maybourne Riviera hotel in the Alpes-Maritimes) and Pierre-Jean Quinonero (Le Cap* at the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in the Alpes-Maritimes).
Service of the year, Michelin Guide 2024
Sandrine Deley Favario (Auberge de Montmin** in Haute-Savoie) and Serge Schaal (La Fourchette des Ducs** in Bas-Rhin)
Sommeliers of the Year, Michelin Guide 2024
Xavier Tuizat (L’Ecrin* at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris) and Magali Delalex (Table de L’Ours* in Val d’Isère).
Young Chef of the Year, Michelin Guide 2024
Théo Fernandez, chef at Auberge de la Forge* in Lavalette, near Toulouse
Yannick Alléno receives the Michelin Mentor Chef award
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