![\"Chef](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/W533DEBGAJHDJD4A2ETOI625NA.jpg?auth=21d63686c3ac977a36c211855046f859f913d414361c087c8936b45e474998ed&quality=80&height=127&width=190&smart=true\")
<\/p>\nIn a historic evening for Texas restaurants in late 2024, Michelin handed out 15 stars to the brightest culinary talents in the state. Then, Texas restaurateurs and chefs braced themselves for the selection of 2- or 3-star restaurants. The list would be shorter, no doubt. Except: There was no list at all. The ceremony ended with a celebratory Champagne toast and a poof of confetti in the air.<\/p>\n
Those who use the Michelin Guide as a travel tome \u2014 people who plan entire vacations around a single dinner reservation \u2014 probably weren\u2019t surprised, because some chefs strive their entire career to receive 1 star, much less 2 or 3. But those who haven\u2019t studied the intricacies of this complicated culinary system likely feel disappointed. The absence of 2- and 3-star Michelin restaurants suggests that Texas\u2019 eateries can\u2019t compare to the best of the best in Tokyo, Paris or Copenhagen. The tough truth is, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
Picture a 2- or 3-star Michelin restaurant in another city. Dinner might consist of a four-hour meal with edible art and food so beautiful you hesitate to eat it. There\u2019s not just one smart sommelier in the room, there\u2019s an army of them. The dishes are painstakingly concepted, sourced, prepared and plated. There weren\u2019t restaurants in Texas doing that in 2024.
\n Chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi of Tatsu Dallas sips Champagne next to the Michelin Man after his restaurant received a 1-star Michelin award on Nov. 11, 2024. Tatsu was the only D-FW restaurant to receive a Michelin star in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cInspectors today are very optimistic about the trends and what may happen in the years to come in Texas,\u201d said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, in 2024. \u201cWe do believe that it\u2019s just the very beginning, in terms of the scope and coverage.\u201d Several chefs interviewed during the Michelin ceremony said they\u2019re hopeful a 2-star restaurant will emerge in Texas at the 2025 event, slated for Oct. 28. A 3-star restaurant seems mostly out of the question.<\/p>\n
Dallas restaurateur Tanner Agar said in 2024 that economic and cultural factors in Texas will keep our list of 2- and 3-star restaurants short or nonexistent. \u201cI believe we lack the economic ability to keep a restaurant open at the 3-star level,\u201d Agar said a year ago. He said diners pay for what they want. And that\u2019s why Dallas has so many profitable steakhouses. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a hidden gem somewhere in Texas,\u201d said John Bates, owner and pitmaster of InterStellar BBQ in Austin, one of four barbecue joints to get a 1-star Michelin award in Texas in 2024. He said the list of barbecue joints in 2024 is full of \u201crockstars\u201d \u2014 and it shows that Michelin is as serious about barbecue as Texas residents are.<\/p>\n
Still, when Bates got the invitation to the Michelin event, he thought InterStellar might win a Bib Gourmand, Michelin\u2019s award for affordable restaurants. A 1-star Michelin honor for InterStellar? Forgive the pun, but that seemed out of this world. Bates remained shocked by the honor after the ceremony ended.
\n![\"Julian](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/ZW7FFOGAR5A6NONDJ33ISV44VE.jpg?auth=c5b6b330a3ddecdc37f15f02759d0af06943811c8d62be3a12dc46e657b0d971&quality=80&width=830\")
Julian Shaffer (center), bar manager at Rye in Dallas, reacts after winning the Exceptional Cocktails Award during Michelin Guide Texas Ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 in Houston.<\/p>\n
While Michelin doesn\u2019t fully explain how its anonymous inspectors operate, we do know its standards get more stringent with every star. \u201cIn the Michelin Guide,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Michelin Stars In a historic evening for Texas restaurants in late 2024, Michelin handed out 15 stars to the brightest culinary talents in the state. Then, Texas restaurateurs and chefs braced themselves for the selection of 2- or 3-star restaurants. The list would be shorter, no doubt. Except: There was no list at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/3D2V2CMBM5BALJFVSC7EMRZLWA.jpg?auth=826e325262158d5fcd35b296b3cce4fd4ad4baf685e8c0b6f551db4c907fa86a&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15150,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147\/revisions\/15150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}