India shone bright at the 2023 Michelin Awards for Dubai, held at the glittering new Royal Atlantis hotel, with Tresind Studio winning two stars this year.
The prestigious guide, seen as the Oscars of the food industry, was launched in France in the early 1900s and is now in 41 destinations, with Dubai unveiled last year. A total of 14 restaurants won stars this year, with 11 receiving one star.
Besides Tresind, Ristorante – Niko Romito and Stay by Yannick Alléno got two stars each, retaining their stars from last year.
Omkar Walve of Avatāra, which focusses on vegetarian fine dining and describes its cuisine as ‘soulful Indian’ won the Young Chef Award, handed to chefs who stand out for their strong culinary personality. Avatāra also won its first Michelin star, along with Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Moonrise, which were added to the list this year.
The event also recognised three restaurants committed to more sustainable gastronomy, with a green star, which was awarded to Lowe, Boca and Teible.
The guide is known for its famously anonymous inspectors who travel the world and dine at establishments multiple times to determine whether they deserve to receive, or retain a star. Stars tend to have a significant impact on success: a single star denotes excellence, while three stars, the highest accolade, indicate restaurants that are extraordinary, according to the guide.
Gwendal Poullennec, the guide’s international director, who joined the event via a video call, explained how the guide has, so far, selected 16,000 restaurants worldwide, out of which 3,300 have stars and just about 140 actually have three stars. As Michelin expands its footprint, he says they have also been recruiting new inspectors, all of whom are professionals from the food industry who have completed three years on the field. They currently come from 20 nationalities and travel the world looking for memorable meals.
Issam Kazim, CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, which collaborated with Michelin to launch the guide in the city last year, said it is an important way to showcase how cosmopolitan the city’s dining is. Dubai is the guide’s first Middle-Eastern destination, added Elisabeth Boucher-Anselin, the Michelin experiences director of communications, stating that it has about 13,000 restaurants and cafes: “This is a culinary hub, and a key milestone in our culinary journey.”
The Indian attendees raised the question of when Michelin plans to finally launch an Indian edition. While Gwendal Poullennec did not give any firm plans, he did reveal that “India is part of the culinary destinations being explored by the inspectors,” and added, “Today India is very well represented in Dubai with talented chefs. It should be even more recognised and this is definetly a topic we are working on. This is just the beginning.”
