Why doesn't Phoenix have any Michelin star restaurants? It's complicated. And could change

Arizonans know the Phoenix dining scene is diverse, constantly growing and world-class.

"We live in the 5th largest American city but the closest Michelin-starred restaurant is a six hour drive away? Surely there's some kind of bug and the Michelin Guide website is just not finding anything in Arizona. It can't be there's nothing in the entire Valley ... not even Scottsdale?" reads a post written two years ago in r/phoenix page on Reddit.

It's not a bug. Michelin simply has not visited Arizona. And, unlike Chicago or New York, if Phoenix wants its own Michelin Guide, taxpayers will have to help foot the bill.

What is the Michelin Guide?

You probably know Michelin as the tire company represented by the cartoon Michelin Man. So why is a tire company reviewing restaurants? It makes more sense than you might think.

The Michelin Guide was originally created as an indirect marketing plan to sell more tires in France. By recommending restaurants across the country, consumers would, in theory, be motivated to take more road trips to visit these restaurants, resulting in an increased demand for tires.

Nowadays, the Michelin Guide exists in more than 25 countries around the world and is hailed as one of the most prestigious awards a restaurant can earn.

Michelin's reviewers are shrouded in secrecy. Their identities are kept secret so that chefs and restaurant staff are not tempted to offer preferential treatment. According to Michelin's website, they sometimes dine alone, but other times will dine in small groups. This variation also helps make it less apparent whether a customer could be a Michelin reviewer.

Restaurants can earn 1, 2 or 3 Michelin stars. With Michelin's original intent of acting as a travel guide in mind, 1 star means a restaurant is worth a stop, 2 stars mean it's worth a detour and 3 stars mean it's worth a journey.

More specifically, 1 star is awarded for using top-quality ingredients and offering a consistently high standard of service. 2 stars are awarded "when the personality and talent of the chef are evident in their expertly crafted dishes." 3 stars mean a restaurant is truly exceptional, or on its way to becoming a classic.

Why doesn't Phoenix have a Michelin guide?

Just because a city is not represented by a Michelin Guide, does not mean that there are no worthy restaurants. Michelin has a tendency to visit the biggest cities or those that attract tourists. In America, the guide first rated restaurants in New York starting in 2005, then expanded to Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and nearby Napa Valley.

In 2019, the guide implemented a way for local tourism boards to ensure they get a visit from Michelin inspectors — they can help pay their way.

Internationally, tourism agencies in Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong paid thousands of dollars to encourage Michelin to visit their cities, as reported by The New York Times. More recently, in the United States, tourism agencies in Atlanta and some Colorado cities paid for their own guides.

It's worth noting that the Michelin Guide does not have paid partnerships with destination marketing organizations in the original guide cities, New York, San Francisco, Napa, Chicago and D.C.

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Why cities are paying for a Michelin guide

William Pate, president and CEO of Discover Atlanta, said the tourism board there signed a three-year contract with Michelin for $1 million, or about $333,000 a year. That money is used to cover the travel costs of Michelin's inspectors, as well as other marketing and promotional efforts.

"We thought that would be a really great investment if we could get the lift of the visibility to our restaurants," Pate said.

Atlanta now has 45 restaurants listed in the Michelin Guide. Five restaurants received one star — Atlas, Bacchanalia, Hayakawa, Lazy Betty and Mujō. Ten more restaurants were awarded Bib Gourmand, which is awarded for great quality food and affordable prices. 30 more restaurants in the Atlanta guide were recommended by Michelin, but have not yet earned a star distinction.

A restaurant being listed in the recommended section means that the chef uses "quality ingredients that are well cooked; simply a good meal," but not quite up to star or Bib Gourmand status. It is possible that a restaurant originally listed in the recommended section could achieve a star the following year if Michelin's inspectors deem it worthy.

Michelin guides can affect the dining culture of a city

Atlanta's first Michelin Guide was released in fall 2023, but Pate said he is already seeing a return on the tourism board's investment. The restaurants in Atlanta's Michelin Guide have seen about 30% more traffic, Pate said. And even nearby restaurants that aren't in the guide have gotten about a 10% increase in business just from association.

"Atlanta has really a melting pot of different cuisines here in the city and we just weren't getting credit for it," Pate said. "Now it's really having the impact that we hoped it would have, which is just really elevating our entire restaurant scene across Atlanta. And that's not only visitors but also residents as well."

Some Atlanta restaurateurs were disappointed that they didn't earn a star, Pate said, as well as some residents who were upset that their favorite restaurants didn't make the cut. But Pate isn't worried.

"What I understand from other cities is, the first year of the guide they kind of set the baseline and then as they get to know the city the next year you typically see more restaurants added to the guide. Some of the ones that got one star might get two stars. So you kind of see this elevation over year two and year three, which is what we expect to happen here," he said.

That said, a Michelin Guide isn't always worth it.

Las Vegas had a Michelin Guide in the 2000s, but the Las Vegas guide was last produced in 2008-2009 and then discontinued, reportedly due to poor sales.

What earning a Michelin star means to chefs

The Michelin Guide has come under scrutiny in the past for creating a system that puts unhealthy amounts of stress and depression on chefs who are unable to earn a star, or worse, are unable to maintain their position year after year and lose a star. The Guide was even accused of driving a French chef to suicide because of alleged "warnings" that he would lose one of his Michelin stars.

Yet, many chefs around the world still dream of achieving Michelin-star status at their restaurants.

Alex Stratta is a household name in the metro Phoenix restaurant scene. He's a James Beard Award winner who has opened numerous restaurants throughout the Valley, most recently, Campo Italian Restaurant and Bar in 2022. He currently plans to open a restaurant at the Fairmont Phoenix in 2025.

As a young chef, Stratta dreamed of being the first three-Michelin-starred chef in the United States. He earned two stars for Alex, his French restaurant in Las Vegas, which closed in 2011.

"I had my name in lights on the Las Vegas strip for years," Stratta said. "It didn't do anything for me when it came to being a craftsman and somewhat of an artist."

Stratta said he's grateful for the new opportunity to relax and be more experimental here in Phoenix, though he admits his Michelin-starred days in Las Vegas were an informative and fun experience.

"I still cook with the same passion. I mean, I'm relentless still," he said. "I think I'm actually better than ever. I just don't put little gold leaves on stuff, you know? Or count the peas, or do the stuff I used to do."

Bobby Stuckey, chef of Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, Colo., earned his first Michelin star on Sept. 12, 2023 when Colorado's first ever Michelin Guide was released. His restaurant is among five total that earned one star in Colorado. Nine restaurants earned Bib Gourmand status and an additional 30 were listed as recommended restaurants.

Stuckey grew up in Arizona, working various positions at restaurants around the Valley from dishwasher to management before moving to Aspen in 1995 to work as a sommelier at The Little Nell. He then moved to California where he worked at The French Laundry for a few years before returning to Colorado to open Frasca in 2004.

"I never knew if Michelin was ever going to come. I always wanted it to, but we prepared like they were here every year. So every year we were practicing and living that Michelin experience, or tried to the best we could," Stuckey said. "I read a lot about people who say they changed for Michelin, but Frasca didn't change for Michelin, we just did what we do. You know, we're squarely in the fine dining camp and we just did our thing. We feel very lucky."

Is Phoenix ready for Michelin?

Leaving Phoenix felt like an important career step at the time, Stuckey said, because he "was looking for different work experiences that I couldn't do at that time in Phoenix." But 29 years later, he said Phoenix's dining scene has changed more than he could have ever predicted.

"I think (Michelin) would be amazing for Phoenix. Arizona deserves it. If you think about it, my grandfather went in his lifetime from Arizona being a territory to now it's the fifth largest city in America," Stuckey said. "I mean, that's remarkable growth, and the restaurant community is so much more vibrant in Phoenix now."

Stratta shouted out several local restaurants and chefs who he thinks would be worthy of Michelin stars, including chef Cory Oppold's Course in Scottsdale and chef David Brito's current work at Geordie's at the Wrigley Mansion.

"I think you're in front of the curve here," Stratta said. "I can't see it being more than two more years without having some kind of action from Michelin."

Will Phoenix get its own Michelin guide?

At this time, Phoenix tourism agencies have stated that they have no immediate plans to pay Michelin for a guide.

"The Michelin guide has informed us that they are always evaluating possible new destinations for the guide, around the world. Once all the conditions are present to highlight the quality of the culinary scene in a given city, region or country, the Michelin guide begins its process and initiates contact with local administrations. At this stage we don't have any news to share about Phoenix as a new destination for the Guide," wrote Chris Miller, a representative for Visit Phoenix, in an email to The Republic.

A representative for Michelin told The Republic in an email that Michelin's inspection teams are on the ground all year long seeking out future destinations. Once they believe a city or state is developed enough for a Michelin Guide, they enter discussions with local destination marketing organizations.

"Only the inspectors, based on their expertise and research, choose destinations," Michelin wrote. Only once a city is recommended by the inspectors are they presented with the option to pay for a guide.

Michelin isn't the only game in town

Just because Arizona doesn't have a Michelin Guide, doesn't mean restaurants don't see their fair share of national recognition. In 2022, Arizona chefs took home prestigious, national recognition at the James Beard Awards when Chris Bianco was named the best restaurateur in the country and Don Guerra of Barrio Bread was named best baker in the U.S. This year, Crystal Kass of Valentine is in the running for best pastry chef and Rene Andrade is up for best chef southwest.

Organizations like Local First Arizona, which created Devour Phoenix, are working hard to bring recognition to the state's exceptional culinary scene.

Local First CEO Kimber Lanning told The Republic she and her colleagues put together Devour Phoenix in response to seeing the state's dining scene being named 49th in the country, only ahead of Alabama, 15 years ago. She was "furious," and inspired to create Devour Coalition, a city-wide coalition of independent restaurants "who work together to advance Phoenix as a culinary destination – bringing deserved local and national attention to Arizona’s food scene," according to the organization's website.

"Arizona has gotten the short stick from national food critics," Lanning said. "When I have friends come here, they're blown away by the depth of talent that we have. You can have somebody come to stay in Arizona for a week and hit two dozen 'blow your doors off' restaurants."

While Michelin might not have recognized any Arizona restaurants yet, locals know the metro Phoenix culinary scene is top notch, and increasingly, national media outlets seem to be figuring it out, too. At the end of the day, recognition and awards are nice, but Arizona doesn't need a tire company to tell us what we already know.

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Reach the reporter at endia.fontanez@gannett.com. Follow @EndiaFontanez on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why doesn't Phoenix have a Michelin star restaurant? It's complicated