New Orleans, Atlanta, and the small Georgia town of Gay have something to celebrate. Dakar NOLA, So. Fox, and Uberto Restaurant each earned their first Michelin star at the guide’s American South ceremony in Nashville on October 21.
The region’s second annual selection includes 22 starred restaurants: 21 with one star and Emeril’s in New Orleans retaining its two. There are no three-star restaurants.
The New Stars
At Dakar NOLA, chef Serigne Mbaye connects Senegalese cooking with New Orleans ingredients through a tasting menu featuring Gulf seafood, jollof rice, and cassava.
Atlanta’s So. Fox brings together chef Myles Moody and sommelier Rachael Pack in Virginia-Highland. Wine shares the spotlight with Southern cooking, including corn dumplings with lump crab.
At Uberto Restaurant in Gay, chef Ryan Smith builds a tasting menu around farm ingredients, fermentation, and preservation at the World of Quercus resort. Dishes include blue crab chawanmushi and duck grilled over binchotan charcoal.
Who Kept Their Stars?
Alongside the newcomers, these restaurants retained one star:
- Atlanta, Georgia: Atlas, Bacchanalia, Hayakawa, Lazy Betty, Mujō, O by Brush, and Omakase Table.
- Marietta, Georgia: Spring.
- New Orleans, Louisiana: Saint-Germain and Zasu.
- Charlotte, North Carolina: Counter-.
- Charleston, South Carolina: Malagón Mercado y Taperia, Vern’s, and Wild Common.
- Greenville, South Carolina: Scoundrel.
- Nashville, Tennessee: Bastion, Locust, and The Catbird Seat.
14 New Bib Gourmands
Michelin also added 14 Bib Gourmands, its distinction for good cooking at moderate prices, bringing the regional total to 59. This year’s newcomers are:
- A Dopo, Knoxville, Tennessee
- Ajja, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Bao Toan Kitchen & Bar, Memphis, Tennessee
- Ideal’s, Durham, North Carolina
- Maiz De La Vida, Nashville, Tennessee
- Miscellanea Spirit House, Oxford, Mississippi
- Okàn, Bluffton, South Carolina
- Palmira, Charleston, South Carolina
- Rivayat Creative Indian, Charleston, South Carolina
- Safta’s Table, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Summerland, Atlanta, Georgia
- Tesoro, Carrboro, North Carolina
- The Story of “Mi Cariño”, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Tipsy Thaiger, Roswell, Georgia.
The additions range from sourdough pizza at A Dopo and sandwiches at Ideal’s to Vietnamese cooking at Bao Toan and West African and Caribbean flavors at Okàn. Michelin’s full Bib Gourmand list includes all 59 restaurants.
