Tonight the Michelin Guide announces the restaurants recognized in its new Northeast Cities edition. This marks the first time the Boston area will be included in one of Michelin’s prestigious dining guides. In advance of the announcement ceremony in Philadelphia, the Globe spoke with Gwendal Poullennec, international director for the Michelin Guide, about Michelin’s process, the swiftly changing restaurant landscape, and Boston’s seat at the table.
Q. The Michelin Guide’s reach has grown in recent years, with newer markets including Atlanta, Colorado, and Florida — and now Boston and Philadelphia, also experiencing its first Michelin recognition this evening. How does the guide continue to grow while maintaining its identity and standards?
A. For sure the Michelin Guide is growing, and the aim of the Michelin Guide remains to be global. Yet the ambition needs to grow gradually. Why? Because we need to stay with the Michelin Guide approach based on boots on the ground and the inspection process. We need more people, we need to train people, so it takes time. The reason why we expand gradually is to avoid compromising on value and the quality of ratings.
For us, expanding coverage to the Northeast of the United States — so adding Boston and Philadelphia — makes a lot of sense because a lot is happening here on the local food scene. And for us it’s also relevant as we grow globally to be able to combine a destination with a more regional approach, to be more impactful on the world culinary stage, because all together the different cities and chefs are contributing to the attractivity of the destinations as a whole.
There is a real elevation of the culinary level worldwide. We are able today to award more and more stars everywhere, not because we are changing approach and criteria, because we do not compromise with the value. It’s because more and more restaurants are worth being recognized by the guide and are reaching now the star level.
Q. Can you tell me how many Michelin inspectors there are? How does the evaluation process work?
A. I know, but I can’t share. The way we work, we always involve local inspectors, American inspectors, but also regional inspectors and inspectors traveling the world. That’s part of the Michelin Guide methodology to provide global perspective, acknowledge all the different cooking styles, and ensure consistency worldwide, so that one star in Boston is the same value as in New York or Philadelphia or Paris or Tokyo. The nationalities and number of inspectors may vary one year to another, but what is important is to make sure we recognize quality fairly with consistent criteria.
For the restaurants, it’s a never-ending process. They are constantly under review by the inspectors, who are anonymous and blend in the crowd and are coming several times throughout year to visit the restaurants. It’s not a pay-to-play model for restaurants. If they are offering good food, we will find them. The process is the same, everywhere across the world. There are independent reviews and yearly awards for the stars. Every year we review the whole selection. Restaurants not only have to retain stars but have to earn them, to deserve the stars every year.
Q. Who are the inspectors?
A. The people working for the guide are full-time employees with backgrounds in the industry. Most of them have been trained and been in a position in hospitality. When they join, they complete two to three years of training in the field with senior inspectors. Basically, they are the finest in the industry with a deep sense of the benchmark because the inspectors on average are eating out in restaurants about 300 times a year, lunch and dinner every working day, traveling the world.
Q. Dining has changed so much over the years, particularly in this last decade. How has Michelin’s approach evolved alongside it?
A. I’ve been working on the international expansion of the Michelin Guide for 20 years now, and initially the challenge was to find new places and destinations to recognize. The world culinary scene was far from being so vibrant as it is today. There were not so many culinary hotspots worldwide. That’s changing dramatically. The global food scene is more and more dynamic, more and more diverse. We need to keep up with the pace as we expand the guide, and for sure we need also to be very openminded. We recognize the quality of the restaurant regardless of the cuisine type, the price, the destination. There are a lot of new concepts. And also you have more and more new culinary styles emerging. You have even some destinations rediscovering their own culinary identity. Chefs are not cooking some kind of global fusion food today. They are rather being inspired by their own personal stories, their own personal heritage, the local products they are sometimes even growing themselves.
Q. How does one apply the traditional Michelin lens to that increasingly diverse dining landscape?
A. For the Michelin Guide, the way to embrace that diversity was to completely internationalize the inspectors. There are more than 30 different nationalities of inspectors. They apply the same process, the same criteria, but they are traveling the world. They really have deep knowledge of all the different food cultures and identities existing today. This is of paramount importance. Today food is in a way becoming more and more authentic. The chefs are expressing sometimes their own personality. They’re not just cooking French, American, or Japanese; they are providing their personal interpretation of their own culinary heritage. I won’t spoil the results of the announcement later, but for sure diversity is one of the headlines. In New York we awarded three-star level Korean restaurants. That means a lot in terms of diversity, especially here in the United States. You have a real culinary melting pot, yet what the chefs are offering to guests is more genuine and authentic than ever.
Q. What do you think diners are looking for now? What does excellence mean for Michelin in 2025?
A. What is happening today is that more and more people are interested in good food, in gastronomy. They are ready to spend for quality regardless of the style. Some top restaurants are getting more and more casual. It’s not only luxury settings. Excellence is not luxury. You can reach the ultimate level in culinary excellence in a quite humble setting today. What the Michelin Guide is reflecting, when you look at stars, it can be a tapas bar or street food. Frankly, never before has it been so interesting to travel for good food. Restaurants are not just copycats of one another; at the star level, they are really providing something new. Some restaurants are not, let’s say, the usual suspects; they are places you really need a guide to travel the extra mile and discover a place like no other.
Q. This is the first time Michelin inspectors have officially taken measure of Boston-area restaurants. Is there any feedback from them you are able to share regarding the local dining scene?
A. In general, without spoiling the results, definitely Boston is a place with a lot of food lovers and a place with some incredible products. The reason why Boston is part of the selection this year is because we do believe the Boston culinary scene needs to be promoted. Chefs need to be acknowledged. But there is also room for more in the years to come. I do expect in a place like Boston, putting it under the spotlight of the Michelin Guide will play a role as a catalyst to push restaurants to elevate their game and to raise the bar.
Q. The guide presents an opportunity, but it doesn’t come without pressure. Do you have any advice for the restaurants that receive accolades tonight for the first time?
A. Let’s say the Michelin Guide in a way is a framework, setting a clear benchmark for the industry as well as the customers. But the advice for the guide remains simple: Work for the client, not for the guide. All restaurants can reach the star level being respectful to their own identity and cooking style. There’s not one way to the stars.
Interview has been condensed and edited.
Devra First can be reached at devra.first@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @devra_first.