Could a Detroit restaurant finally earn its first Michelin star?
That’s what the city is potentially positioned for — it’s one of six cities that will be included in the upcoming Michelin Guide American Great Lakes edition, the guide announced this morning.
The full selection of restaurants receiving Michelin accolades in the guide will be announced at the Michelin Guide American Great Lakes Ceremony in 2027 — which does not have an official date yet.
The other five cities featured in the guide are Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh.
“As you can guess, the inspectors are already out, boots on the ground in the region, exploring your local culinary scenes and experiencing the many great delicacies,” said Gwendal Poullennec International Director of the Michelin Guides, at an April 8 press conference in the Milwaukee Art Museum.
These anonymous inspectors — who have already been visiting the cities for the past couple months — won’t just be coming to restaurants in Detroit proper. The search encompasses the metro region: Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb counties, Visit Detroit tells Hour Detroit.
Potential honors in a Michelin Red Guide include the coveted Michelin Star, as well as the Bib Gourmand and Michelin-selected restaurant classifications.
The press conference featured speeches from tourism bureau CEOs in the six major cities, including Claude Molinari, President & CEO of Visit Detroit — who was a large part of bringing this opportunity to the cities.
“[Molinari was] a person who’s responsible for bringing us all here together today with Michelin,” Peggy Williams-Smith, President & CEO of Visit Milwaukee told the crowd. “Over a year ago at a trade show floor, Claude met with each of us and he gauged our interest in participating in this partnership.”
How The Guide Came to Detroit
In a phone interview, Molinari tells Hour Detroit that the cities’ tourism organizations have known about the guide for about eight months.
“We’ve been joking that it has been so hard to keep it a secret,” Molinari says.
His campaign to convince Michelin restaurant inspectors to come to Detroit began shortly after the publisher announced its Detroit Green Guide. (Hour Detroit first broke that news in October 2024.) Michelin’s Green Guides highlight attractions like museums and monuments.
The upcoming American Great Lakes edition is a Red Guide — Michelin’s oldest and most famous publication. Red Guides include sought-after distinctions that highlight culinary excellence in a region.
Molinari says he’s thankful to the other tourism organizations that partnered with him on the effort.
“From a tourism perspective, it really makes sense for us to partner up so that we can all uniquely benefit from these domestic and international travelers,” Molinari says.
Molinari says he has no idea what metro Detroit restaurants the inspectors might be considering for the American Great Lakes edition.
“We can recommend whatever [restaurants], but the Michelin people are fiercely independent, and they guard their inspectors with secrecy,” Molinari says. “We won’t know who the winners are of these awards until next year, when they open the envelope on the stage.”
What Are the Michelin Inspectors Looking For?
The first Michelin Guide was published in 1900 by the tire company Michelin, headquartered in France. In 1926, the guide began awarding stars to fine dining establishments; later introducing its ranking system of zero, one, two, or three stars, and later formalized its rating process.
Michelin’s inspectors visit restaurants anonymously and rank them on the following official criteria:
- Quality of products
- Mastery of flavor and cooking techniques
- The personality of the chef represented in the dining experience
- Harmony of flavors
- Consistency between Inspectors’ visits
Today, the possible distinctions that Michelin can award to a restaurant are as follows:
- Three Michelin Stars: “Exceptional cuisine”
- Two Michelin Stars: “Excellent cooking”
- One Michelin Star: “High quality cooking”
- Bib Gourmand: “Good quality, good value cooking”
- Michelin-selected: “Good cooking”
In 2020, Michelin also introduced the Green Star, which it awards to restaurants it determines use sustainable practices. Restaurants with the previous distinctions can receive this star in addition to the other accolades.
To learn more about Michelin Guides, visit guide.michelin.com.
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