Mamani’s Michelin Star Win
The Michelin story stealing the spotlight in Dallas-Fort Worth is how brand-new French restaurant Mamani won 1 Michelin star. The conversation is largely not around whether Mamani deserves the big win. No, it’s around why this monumental win happened in the first place.
Mamani opened Sept. 2, 2025, and was one of the most interesting new restaurants of the year in Dallas-Fort Worth. Its executive chef-partner, 37-year-old Christophe De Lellis, is toiling in the restaurant daily, fine-tuning his newborn alongside a fleet of servers, chefs, managers, a sommelier and even a full-time baking director. De Lellis has told The Dallas Morning News he’s proud of his French restaurant — and it’s the first that’s really his — but that Mamani is a work in progress. It’s a great painting and he’s still holding the brush.
Yet, sometime in the restaurant’s first 48 dinners, anonymous Michelin critics ate at Mamani several times and were impressed enough with its food to hand it Dallas’ only new Michelin star of 2025.
Mamani executive chef Christophe De Lellis pumps his fist as the Dallas restaurant name was called as a new 1-star Michelin recipient at the Michelin Guide Texas ceremony. He said after the event he was both surprised and grateful for the honor.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Michelin’s Explanation
It was a move so shocking, The News asked tight-lipped company Michelin to explain.
In a statement, Michelin’s anonymous chief inspector — a person rarely heard from in the media — said De Lellis’ impressive resume helped his chances. Much of De Lellis’ professional career was working for revered French chef Joël Robuchon. Even after his death, Robuchon is one of the most decorated Michelin-starred chefs in the world.
De Lellis’ roots are in France, the home of Michelin.
Here’s Michelin: “Chef Christophe De Lellis has had a consistent background before opening Mamani,” the anonymous, unnamed chief inspector wrote to The News, “and multiple meals there proved the level of the cuisine at this new Dallas restaurant to be indicative of cuisine at the 1 star level.”
Dallas diners, this is huge.
Unpack this statement, and it says that De Lellis’ work elsewhere, likely referring to his executive chef job at Joël Robuchon Restaurant in Las Vegas some 1,200 miles away, spoke volumes about the work he has done at Mamani for fewer than two months. (De Lellis also helped at sibling restaurant Bar Colette in Dallas while Mamani was under construction.)
In one of the most heartwarming moments on stage at the Michelin Guide Texas ceremony in October 2025, Mamani owners Brandon Cohanim (left), and Henry Cohanim (right) hug executive chef and partner Christophe De Lellis, who helped their new Dallas restaurant win 1 Michelin star.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
Michelin’s Criteria
We should compare Michelin’s statement against its criteria when awarding stars. Though the company keeps much of its methodology a mystery, it has long said its critics use a five-point test while looking for the world’s best restaurants:
- Quality of ingredients
- Harmony of flavors
- Mastery of techniques
- Personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine
- Consistency, both across the entire menu and over time
It’s possible four of these five items are achievable in under two months. But No. 5, consistency “over time”: How short is too short? Dallas Morning News readers and rule-followers have flooded us with comments, wondering why Mich
