On November 18, chefs and representatives from restaurants in Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia gathered at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the inaugural announcement of the Northeast Cities MICHELIN Guide. In the foyer, attendees sipped champagne, sampled caviar and jamon, and posed for photos with Bibendum and with one another. Even before the stars were revealed, the room was filled with heavy hitters including Thomas Keller, Curtis Duffy, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The ceremony also marked MICHELIN’s official entrance into the cities of Boston and Philadelphia.
As chefs made their way into the auditorium, the tension was unmistakable. Unlike the recent North America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards—where teams know they will place, even if not their exact ranking—the atmosphere in Philadelphia was far more anxious than celebratory.
The night also brought major shifts across the region. In Chicago, the biggest surprise came when Alinea, long a benchmark for American fine dining, was demoted to two stars. In New York, Sushi Sho ascended to the Guide’s top tier with a promotion to three stars, while Joo Ok earned two stars. Jean-Georges Vongerichten held on to his two-star rating—still just shy of the third star he has been eager to reclaim. Chicago saw additional movement with Kasama promoted to two stars and Feld earning both its first star and a Green Star for sustainability.
Boston made a confident debut with 311 Omakase receiving one star, while Washington, D.C., remained steady with familiar starred restaurants and several new Bib Gourmands. Across the full Northeast region, inspectors recognized 664 restaurants spanning 64 cuisine types, underscoring the scale and diversity of MICHELIN’s newly unified guide.
But many Philadelphia chefs invited to Tuesday’s ceremony are not usually part of the national awards circuit. Alex Holt of Roxanne, Carlos Aparicio of El Chingon, and Danny DiGiampietro of South Philadelphia’s Angelo’s, known for its near-constant line for cheesesteaks, were all visibly moved to be included and recognized by the Guide.
The ceremony opened with special awards, including a Green Star for sustainability given to the vegetable-focused Pietramala.
Philadelphia’s inaugural selection included three one-star restaurants: Provenance, Her Place Supper Club, and Friday Saturday Sunday. It was an especially emotional moment for Nicholas Bazik of Provenance, for whom the recognition marked his first major award.
Many guests were surprised that Philadelphia’s Vietnamese dining scene, one of the most significant in the country, did not appear anywhere in the Guide, especially given the inclusion of three cheesesteak shops in the Bib Gourmand category. It also raised eyebrows that Vetri Cucina, a twenty-seven-year stalwart of fine dining, and Kalaya, which ranked seventh on North America’s 50 Best list in September, did not receive stars.
Philadelphia’s omissions made more sense when viewed alongside the wider Northeast selections, which revealed their own patterns. Across the five-city region, MICHELIN showed a clear preference for tasting menu formats at the star level, rewarding technical precision and tightly choreographed service over genre diversity. Meanwhile, the Bib Gourmands and Recommended categories cast a much broader net, spotlighting everything from Filipino to Hunan to Uyghur cooking, and leaning heavily into neighborhood restaurants. Sustainability also played a notable role, with the Green Star additions in Chicago and Philadelphia reinforcing MICHELIN’s growing emphasis on environmental commitments. Taken together, the regional results suggested where MICHELIN chose to place its emphasis this year and where it did not.
See the complete list below:
