After months of speculation surrounding which restaurants would be included in the city’s inaugural Michelin Guide, Atlanta got its answers Tuesday night.
Some of the area’s best-known culinarians packed the Rialto Theatre for the Arts to hear co-hosts local radio personality Mara Davis and Michelin food and travel communication director Elisabeth Boucher-Anselin announce the names of the five restaurants that earned one star, along with other awards that included two Green Star recipients, 10 Bib Gourmands, 30 recommended restaurants, and a handful of special individual commendations.
An air of nervous excitement was palpable as invited chefs and restaurateurs stood in line outside, chatting with one another as they waited to pass through a red-carpeted tent and into the theatre.
Inside, guests nibbled on hors d’oeuvres made from recipes by a handful of local pop-up chefs as they waited for the ceremony to get underway. In a back corner, Deborah VanTrece of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours and Emily Ward of dual concept Southern Belle and Georgia Boy agreed that an invitation to the event was significant in itself, no matter the outcome of the awards. Both restaurants were among those named to the recommended category.
Longtime Georgia Restaurant Association president and CEO Karen Bremer, who will retire after this year, expressed satisfaction that the city was finally getting Michelin cred.
“Now the fun really begins,” said Boucher-Anselin, before commencing with the special awards, which “highlight the diversity of jobs in the industry” and the individuals and teams that excel in their roles.
Miller Union co-owners Steven Satterfield and Neal McCarthy were the first honorees to walk to the stage when their west Midtown establishment was honored for outstanding service.
A thunderous applause erupted when Little Bear chef-owner Jarrett Stieber was named recipient of the Young Chef award. The honor caught Steiber off-guard. “I’ve been cooking professionally for 20 years now,” quipped the mustachioed 34-year-old who was named a James Beard Rising Star semifinalist in 2016 for his pop-up concept Eat Me Speak Me. “Maybe this means we can fill up on Wednesday nights,” he said, referring to his 30-seat restaurant in Summerhill.
“I wasn’t expecting anything at all,” Stieber added. To which wife Hallie Stieber responded, “He’s too modest. He was like, ‘Oh no, I’m just invited. I’m just like a part of the people.”
After 30 restaurants were named to the recommended list, the stage could barely hold everyone as representatives from each establishment posed for a group photo with Davis, Boucher-Anselin and the puffy white Michelin Man mascot.
Starred restaurant awards were the last to be presented. A star means that the restaurant is “not only the best restaurant in your town but in your country and the world,” said Boucher-Anselin before naming Atlas, Bacchanalia, Hayakawa, Lazy Betty and Mujo as one-star Michelin restaurants.
A thoroughly pleased Mujo owner Fred Castellucci and chef J. Trent Harris anticipated that the star would make getting a reservation for their omakase-only experience as difficult a ticket as it was when it debuted as a brick-and-mortar in early 2022. Then, every seat filled up within 10 minutes of opening the monthly reservations, Castellucci said. The restaurant currently operates Wednesday through Saturday but neither Castellucci nor Harris are planning to add another day of service, even if there is enough demand to fill the dining room. “Ultimately, we want to make sure that our staff has a good life,” Harris said.
Two of the five one-star awards were given to Japanese concepts. But there was an awkward pause when no one from Hayakawa was present to accept the star. In addition, the air in the room seemed deflated when attendees realized no restaurant would be awarded two or three stars.
For comparison, the Florida Michelin Guide, which includes Miami, Tampa and Orlando, debuted last year with 14 one-star restaurants and one two-star restaurant. The Washington, D.C. guide included nine one-star restaurants and three two-star restaurants when it first published in 2016. Six years later, Washington, D.C., had two dozen starred restaurants, including the Inn at Little Washington, which earned the highest three-star rating.
Still, advocates for the guide say the results bode well for the city and its dining community. The 45 restaurants in the 2023 Atlanta Michelin Guide “(are) going to put Atlanta firmly on the culinary map,” said Andrew Wilson, chief marketing officer for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB). “I believe firmly that people are going to come here because of it.”
”We’re going to build from that,” he added. “The chefs that got the one star, some of them are already committed to pushing for two.”
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