{"id":2197,"date":"2026-05-30T12:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2197"},"modified":"2026-05-30T12:07:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:07:55","slug":"michelin-guide-2026-two-south-florida-restaurants-earn-new-michelin-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=2197","title":{"rendered":"Michelin Guide 2026: Two South Florida restaurants earn new Michelin stars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It may be the thick of South Florida\u2019s dining offseason, but the region is radiating even more Michelin stars with new additions in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.<\/p>\n

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The Michelin Guide\u00a0on Thursday afternoon announced that a pair of chef counters, Emelina in West Palm Beach and Mutra in North Miami, each earned one star.<\/p>\n

The French tire company announced the winners via a YouTube livestream, a reversal from 2025, when it bestowed its first-ever stars to restaurants in Palm Beach and Broward counties during an in-person ceremony at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando.<\/p>\n

The distinction comes as Michelin expands its selections to encompass the entire state \u2014 another departure from last year, when the guide limited its scope to South Florida, Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. All told, the 2026 Guide now spans 200 Florida winners after adding cities such as Key West, St. Augustine, Pensacola, Naples and Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

South Florida was no slouch this year, also picking up four new Bib Gourmands and four new Recommendeds, for a total of 75 restaurants in the region with Michelin accolades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat began just a few years ago has grown into something truly remarkable,\u201d said Gwendal Poullennec, the Michelin Guide\u2019s international director. \u201cFlorida\u2019s culinary landscape continues to evolve, which led our anonymous Inspectors on a journey from the Panhandle to Key West to uncover the best dining experiences and hidden gems to make up this year\u2019s selection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The acclaimed dining guide first rolled into Miami, Orlando and Tampa in 2022 after the state\u2019s tourism arm, Visit Florida, paid $1.5 million over three years to rate eateries in those regions. The Michelin Guide then expanded its reach to Greater Fort Lauderdale, the Palm Beaches and St. Pete\/Clearwater in 2025 after their respective tourism groups chipped in an extra $90,000 each to be part of the guide, making eateries from Hallandale Beach to Jupiter eligible to be saluted.<\/p>\n

The luxe, intimate 16-seat chef\u2019s counter Emelina in West Palm Beach is chef-owners Osmel Gonz\u00e1lez and Camila Salazar\u2019s mashup of traditional Cuban cuisine with global flourishes. Guide \u201cinspectors\u201d\u00a0\u2014 Michelin\u2019s moniker for diners who visit and critique each eatery anonymously \u2014 saluted its tasting menu and South Florida-sourced ingredients, shouting out its Redland cherry tomatoes with Cuban oregano chimichurri and 45-day, dry-aged Florida beef with green mango mojo and black bean sauces.<\/p>\n

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Gonz\u00e1lez and Salazar are hardly Michelin first-timers: EntreNos, their Miami Shores pop-up inside the coffee shop Tinta y Caf\u00e9, also earned a Michelin star before it closed last July.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe menu is what Cuban cuisine would have been today if Cuban chefs had been able to travel to other countries and find new global techniques and bring them back to the island,\u201d he told the the South Florida Sun Sentinel Thursday, as fellow chefs rejoiced in the background. \u201cWe wanted to use those ingredients we knew and loved, and respect the traditions and flavors, but also expand them in an ambitious way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Emelina, which opened in February, happens to occupy the same space vacated by Konro, a 10-seat chef counter owned by chef Jacob Bickelhaupt and partner Nadia Bickelhaupt, which closed in June 2025 after police arrested the chef on domestic-violence charges that were later upgraded to attempted second-degree murder. Konro had earned Palm Beach County\u2019s first star until the Michelin Guide stripped it away last August.<\/p>\n

Upon first touring the West Palm Beach site in December, Gonz\u00e1lez says he and Salazar were inspired by its custom-designed chef counter to craft a 10-course menu dedicated to the life and cuisine of his late abuelita, Emelina.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe wanted to recreate the golden era of Havana, the refined elegance of 1940s pre-Revolution Cuba,\u201d he adds. \u201cI know my grandmother would have loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ela Curry & Cocktails, a small-plates eatery in Palm Beach Gardens specializing in Indian street food, picked up Palm Beach County\u2019s only new Recommended distinction, Michelin lingo for eateries \u201cserving high-quality, well-prepared food with fresh ingredients.\u201d Chef Pushkar Marathe earned a Recommended nod in 2025 for his other restaurant, Stage Kitchen & Bar, also in Palm Beach Gardens.<\/p>\n

No other Broward or Palm Beach county restaurants were awarded Bib Gourmands (\u201cgreat food at a great value\u201d) or Recommended nods, with the majority of new awards heading to Miami-Dade.<\/p>\n

In North Miami, Mutra, chef Raz Shabtai\u2019s boutique Israeli kitchen, also earned one Michelin star.<\/p>\n

Below, find the full lineup of South Florida\u2019s 2026 Michelin winners broken down by county,<\/p>\n

Palm Beach County<\/h4>\n

Michelin stars<\/strong>: Emelina, West Palm Beach, 1 star<\/p>\n

Recommended<\/strong>: Ela Curry & Cocktails, Palm Beach Gardens<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade County<\/h4>\n

Michelin stars<\/strong>: Mutra, North Miami, 1 star<\/p>\n

Bib Gourmand<\/strong><\/p>\n