Philadelphia is officially on the Michelin Star map.
Her Place Supper Club, Friday Saturday Sunday and Provenance all received one Michelin Star last night. In addition, Pietramala joined Michelin’s Green Star list, which distinguishes restaurants that go above and beyond in sustainability practices.
Last night’s award ceremony at the Kimmel Center was filled with foodies from Chicago, Boston, New York and Washington D.C. for the unveiling of Michelin’s 2025 Northeast Guide.
“ This is long overdue,” said Gregg Caren, the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We are one of the best culinary communities in the country, and it truly is a community. When you see them together and applauding each other and embracing each other, that’s what excites me and the people that work in these restaurants.”
Amanda Shulman from Her Place Supper Club was in disbelief after Michelin called her name to the stage.
“I’m definitely a little overwhelmed, just kind of taking it in,” she said. “This was definitely a surprise.”
“I love cooking. I love feeding people,” she added. “And I love working with the people that I work with every day. Restaurants are amazing. I’ve only worked in restaurants, and they’re the most incredible family outside of my own family.”
How does Philly compare to other cities?
Three stars for a brand-new Michelin city is not too shabby. To compare, Boston, which was also included in the Michelin guide for the first time last night, only had one restaurant earn a star — Three 1 One Omakase.
And, of course, there was also a possibility that no Red Stars would be awarded to any restaurants, as occurred to Tampa the first time Michelin inspectors went there in 2022.
Philly is still a ways away from being on the mountain top of Michelin’s hall of fame cities. In New York City alone, there are a total of 70 Michelin Star restaurants.
| 1 Star | 2 Stars | 3 Stars | Total Stars | |
| New York | 51 | 14 | 5 | 70 |
| San Fransisco | 19 | 8 | 3 | 30 |
| Los Angeles | 21 | 3 | 2 | 26 |
| Washington D.C. | 22 | 2 | 0 | 24 |
| Chicago | 15 | 4 | 1 | 20 |
| Miami | 12 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Orlando | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Atlanta | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Denver | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Austin | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Now that Michelin inspectors are visiting the City of Brotherly Love, they will continue to evaluate Philly restaurants every year — meaning it’s probable that more stars are coming.
“It’s a bright beginning for Philadelphia,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, who was in town to co-host the event. “I think it is just a beginning, because starting from today, I think with a clear benchmark, there will be a positive emulation between the chefs. They will raise the bar year after year. They will elevate their game.”
Joo Ok, a Korean spot in New York, progressed from a Bib Gourmand to one Michelin Star, and as of last night, is now a two-star spot. Tampa, by the way, now has five Michelin-starred restaurants under its belt.
Bring on the tourism
While a big part of the Michelin Guide is to honor Philadelphia restaurants, another big draw to having it in our city is for the national and international attention it brings to the city’s restaurant scene.
The Michelin Guide does indeed come from the Michelin tire company, and began as a way to encourage motorists to travel to new places and try different cuisines.
“I hope we get to get more people in from out of town, and that’s super exciting,” Shulman said. “We have the most incredible supporters in our community and already beyond. So I’m excited to see who we can welcome in from outside of our already amazing group of people.”
What’s more, the reason that Michelin inspectors came to Philly for the first time this year is not because our town lacked star-worthy spots before — this is the first time our tourism board has paid for them to come.
Caren looked at the city’s investment in the guide as a “marketing expense” that will “drive more people to our city, fill our hotels, fill our restaurants.”
“If you go to a golf tournament, you pay an entrance fee,” he said. “In this case, the business model doesn’t allow for Michelin to just send hundreds and thousands of inspectors all over the country, all over the world and do this.”
With three new Red Stars and about 20 other Michelin awards bestowed on Philly restaurants, Caren is already excited about the return on the investment.
“ I think it absolutely met, if not exceeded, expectations,” he said.
Other awards to pay attention to
While the Red Stars draw the biggest attention on Michelin’s guide due to their rarity, for most Philly diners that’s not necessarily the best rubric to pay attention to when choosing where to book a table on a Friday night.
Ten new restaurants received the Bib Gourmand award, a distinction that recognizes places that are not only delicious, but provide diners with great value. Poullenec called this award the “inspectors’ favorites” in an interview with Billy Penn last May.
Restaurants like El Chingon and Royal Sushi Izakaya received the Bib Gourmand award, as well as multiple cheesesteak and pizza spots. (If you’re wondering who the Michelin inspectors think serves the best cheesesteak in the city, Dalessandro’s and Angelo’s are the current answer, as they both got Bib Gourmands.)
In addition 21 restaurants — including staples like Vedge, Zahav and Kalaya — made the Michelin selected list. This award considers high-quality restaurants that deserve attention, but the award is not as rare as the Red Star or Bib Gourmand. To compare, New York has 84 Bib Gourmands and 208 Michelin selected restaurants.
Of course these awards are not exact science. It is a bit headscratching to even try and compare 4th Street Delicatessen (now a Bib Gourmand) with Suraya (a Michelin selected).
Pietramala stands alone as the only Philly restaurant with a Green Star. Chef Ian Graye’s name was called twice last night, as his vegan eatery also won the Michelin selected distinction. Again, Green Stars represent those on the forefront of innovation when it comes to sustainable dining.
Graye emphasized his goal is to try to have as “little impact on the environment as possible.”
“Restaurants in themselves are just inherently wasteful,” he said. “We try to combat that as much as we can. Simply being vegan in and of itself is a huge part of that — really lessens our footprint — using things as close to home as possible, working with amazing farms in this region and the surrounding towns outside of Philadelphia has just been great.”
A ‘scrappy community of chefs’
“There is a real dynamic in the U.S., that the culinary scene was very lauded already in some key cities and gastronomic hubs, but today, more and more is also happening outside of New York, outside of San Francisco,” Poullennec said of the Guide’s expansion.
Chad Williams of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and a fresh Red Star, said that he’s ready to look “onwards and upwards.”
“You know, it brings the light here, and it gives everybody a north star of what we need to shoot for,” he said. “Because the talent is here, the chefs are here, the servers are here, the sommes are here. We just needed that light to shine on us so we can go forward.”
Graye was humbled by the honor, noting that the award came as a “complete surprise.” However, he was excited for his Philadelphia culinary “family” on the Michelin stage.
“Seeing all my peers up on stage, it’s so awesome to be part of this small, but scrappy community of chefs that are really pushing to compete with the bigger cities in the area, and I think tonight we showed that we can do that.”
Philly’s winners
Red Star
Her Place Supper Club
Friday Saturday Sunday
Provenance
Green Star
Pietramala
Bib Gourmand
Angelo’s
Dalessandro’s
Del Rossi’s
Dizengoff
El Chingon
Famous 4th Street Deli
Fiorella
Pizzeria Beddia
Royal Sushi & Izakaya
Sally
Michelin Selected
Ambra
Forsythia
High Street
Hiroki
Honeysuckle
Illata
Kalaya
Laser Wolf
Laurel
Little Water
Mish Mish
My Loup
Pietramala
River Twice
Roxanne
Southwark
Suraya
Vedge
Vernick Food & Drink
Vetri Cucina
Zahav
The post 3 Philly restaurants received Michelin Stars last night. What does it mean? appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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