Restaurants in Tainan and Kaohsiung are to be in next year’s Michelin Guide alongside those in Taipei and Taichung, Michelin Taiwan said yesterday, adding that seven restaurants in Taipei and Taichung have been added to the list of one-star restaurants.
The guide began evaluating restaurants in Taipei in 2018. It added Taichung to its annual review in last year’s guide.
“The selections in the Michelin Guide show the vibrancy of local culinary scenes, with a lot of new additions and concepts,” Michelin Guides international director Gwendal Poullennec told an online news conference.
Photo: Screen grab from Michelin Taiwan livestream
“For the fifth year, it is absolutely relevant to expand the coverage of Michelin Guide by adding two food lovers’ cities,” Poullennec said. “Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung are really food lovers’ destinations, and they all add to this diversity of Taiwanese culinary scenes.”
Poullennec said that Michelin’s inspectors adapted their evaluation techniques amid the COVID-19 pandemic, given that establishments stopped serving dine-in customers.
The changes to inspectors’ protocols ensured that they adhered to Michelin’s core values and methodology, and fairly assessed each restaurants and delivered the best selection possible, he said.
The Michelin Guide gave star ratings to 34 restaurants in Taiwan, 29 in Taipei and five in Taichung.
In Taipei, La Palais of the Palais de Chine Hotel was awarded three Michelin stars for a fourth year, the only three-star restaurant in Taiwan.
La Palais manager Jennifer Ou (歐宛臻) won this year’s Michelin Service Award.
L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon received two stars — joining six other two-star restaurants in Taipei — after having been awarded one star for the previous three years.
Chef Florence Dalia, who has helmed the kitchen since 2019, is the first female head chef in the group’s Asian bases, the guide said.
Five restaurants in Taipei were added to the list of one-star restaurants.
The guide said that De Nuit has “layered textures and flavors in every dish, while respecting the French traditions and the seasonality of ingredients.”
Fujin Tree Taiwan Cuisine & Champagne (Songshan) pairs Taiwanese cuisine with French champagne in the hopes of creating a unique culinary experience, the guide said.
T+T, an abbreviation for “Tapas Tasting,” provides a creative take on Spanish tapas, it added.
Mipon of Grand Mayfull Hotel specializes in refined home-style Taiwanese cooking that boasts intricate details and modern twists, while Mudan serves dishes made with seasonal ingredients from Taiwan and Japan, it said.
Mipon and Mudan were promoted to a one-star rating with a Michelin Plate distinction, the guide said.
In Taichung, TL Studio maintained its distinction as the only restaurant in the city with two Michelin stars.
Oretachi No Nikuya, which received a one-star rating in the previous guide, was marked as a new one-star restaurant after relocating in March, it said.
It was recognized for its continued high standards in offering prized Hida beef cuts and rare breeds, along with a secret menu for regulars, the guide said.
Sur, which was a Michelin Plate restaurant in the previous guide, was promoted to a one-star restaurant for “elevating everyday Taiwanese ingredients to haute cuisine through the use of modern techniques and a secret menu for those-in-the-know,” it said.
Sur chef Ed Lin (林佾華) won the guide’s Young Chef Award.
One-star restaurant Mountain and Sea House’s “farm-to-table” approach in handling food and Yangming Spring’s vegetarian culinary practice made them Michelin Green Star winners, the guide said.
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