Local chefs sound off on Michelin Guide coming to Arizona

Valley chefs and restaurateurs are greeting the Arizona arrival of the Michelin Guide with excitement, curiosity and outright skepticism. 

Michelin, the French tire company behind the international restaurant accolades, announced Monday that its inspectors will rate Arizona restaurants as part of a Southwestern guide that will debut sometime next year. Restaurants from Nevada, New Mexico and Utah will be part of this dining guide, too.

Regardless of their feelings about the guide, chefs agreed that the arrival of Michelin and its anonymous diners can help put the state’s restaurants on the map and may attract food tourists who wouldn’t otherwise visit.

“I feel like it’s still our mission to make people understand that there’s really wonderful food coming out of Arizona,” says Charleen Badman, the award-winning chef and co-owner of the vegetable-forward, farm-to-table restaurant FnB. “So maybe Michelin is going to be something that allows even more people from around the world to discover what we have here and how wonderful it is.”

However Michelin’s arrival impacts Arizona, it’s already gotten chefs talking.

Michelin’s arrival: Exciting or premature?

“I think it’s exciting,” Christopher Gross, the award-winning chef and restaurateur behind the modern Phoenix fine dining restaurant Christopher’s, says. “I think it will put everyone on the edge of their chair, at least I’m on mine.”

Chefs and food lovers have speculated for years about Michelin coming to Arizona. Though the guide started as a roadtripper’s companion 125 years ago, its starred awards have become synonymous with fine dining. Michelin debuted its first U.S. guide in New York 20 years ago. Badman was surprised but pleased to learn of Michelin’s Arizona expansion plans.

“I was like, ‘Oh, really? Finally,'” she recalls.

Now, chefs are awaiting a new layer of exposure from Michelin.

“It will be good for every restaurant business here,” Lom Wong chef and co-owner Yotaka “Sunny” Martin says. “Phoenix can be one of the top cities (where) people come looking for something exciting to eat. That will be good for everybody.”

Now that Michelin has staked a claim in Arizona, speculation about which restaurants will be included in this exclusive list has begun. Badman is hopeful that some of the small, unique and off-the-beaten-path spots that have earned places on other regional U.S. lists will likewise be acknowledged.

“I really hope that (Michelin inspectors are) seeing these restaurants that are just a little different, and doing something their way,” Badman says. 

Restaurants included in the guide may be awarded from one to three stars. Other Michelin nods include Bib Gourmand, “a special distinction for restaurants that serve high-quality food at great value,” per Michelin, and “green star” restaurants noted for their sustainability efforts.

Chefs like Badman, Gross and Martin are no strangers to awards. They have all been named “Best Chef – Southwest” by the James Beard Awards. Their restaurants have also received acclaim from Food & Wine, Esquire and Bon Appetit, among other national tastemakers. That doesn’t mean they feel prepared for what’s coming.

“I know what Michelin is, but I don’t know what exactly I should be (expecting),” says Martin, who runs the regional Thai restaurant Lom Wong with her husband Alex. “Just like the James Beard (Awards).”

While some chefs may “tighten up,” as chef Devan Cunningham puts it, he and other Valley cooks don’t think Michelin will become a primary motivator for how restaurants operate. 

“On the flip side, I do think their presence will and should elevate the standard around town,” says Cunningham, who founded the southern cafe CC’s on Central with his mother, Sharon.

The chef, who stepped away from CC’s over the summer and is currently running pop-ups and working as a private chef, offered a blunt take about Phoenix’s restaurants on Wednesday.

“Unpopular opinion,” Cunningham shared in a story on Instagram. “Idk if there’s anywhere in town that deserves a star? A Bib Gourmand, probably a few. But I don’t think we’re there yet.”

His DMs have been flooded with comments from chefs, other industry folks and food influencers, he told Phoenix New Times. Most have agreed with Cunningham’s take, with one saying Michelin should humble some chefs, while another bluntly replying, “Nope!” 

Underneath that brutal honesty is a desire for the industry to grow and improve.

“I want to see us succeed. I want to see the city get recognition and be respected on a national level,” Cunningham says. “But, you know, it’s like that thing, in public, I’m going to cheer you on, but in private, then I’ll chastise you, then I’ll correct you.”

Cunningham notes he’s not an expert in Michelin’s criteria, nor has he worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant. His comments are based on his experience in Phoenix and his reading of how inspectors evaluate restaurants. 

Michelin’s mystery diners have five criteria to judge an eatery: the use of high-quality products, harmony of flavors, mastery of cooking techniques, the chef’s unique voice and personality reflected in the cuisine and consistency between visits.

“There is no secret recipe for a Michelin Star — we’re just looking for exceptional cooking, whether it’s innovative or traditional, a tasting menu or à la carte, an artful presentation or something more rustic,” Michelin explains of its star ratings.

Cunningham feels that Valley restaurants lack in two key areas: technique and personality in cuisine. He calls Lom Wong a bright spot in both of those areas.

“They’re very intentional about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it,” he says. But places like that are the exception to the rule, Cunningham notes. “It’s a lot of just the same copy and paste. I’ve seen this before, let’s go viral.”

Even while voicing concerns, Cunningham echoes his peers, calling the inclusion in a guide “an exciting thing.”

Chefs name spots to watch

So where should Michelin’s restaurant inspectors dine around the Valley? Chefs have plenty of suggestions.

Stalwart fine dining destinations like Christopher’s, Kai, and Cafe Monarch are a natural starting point.

Chefs we spoke with universally suggested Chris Bianco’s restaurants. Bianco is a long-time champion of Arizona ingredients and he put the state on the pizza map with his groundbreaking Pizzeria Bianco, but his Italian beauty Tratto is also worthy of consideration. Gross also applauded the work of Badman and Pavle Milic’s FnB. 

Restaurants with a strong culinary point of view and technique to match should also be on inspectors’ radars, according to our chefs. Cunningham suggested chef Rene Andrade’s ode to Sonoran wood-fire cooking, Bacanora, while Badman recommended chef Nobu Fukuda’s playful yet highly refined Japanese restaurant, Hai Noon.

Lastly, these chefs highlighted cozy spots they love to visit on their rare days off. Gross has a soft spot for the family-run New Mexican restaurant Los Dos Molinos. Badman hopes inspectors make a stop at Linger Longer Lounge to try the “really delicious” Guerrero-style Mexican food from chef Erick Pineda’s Requinto.

“Your soul is going to be really satisfied having a bowl of that posole,” she says.

The Martins were reluctant to call out places to watch, saying not every chef wants to be on this list. Michelin recognition can be life-changing for a restaurant and its staff, but it can also create immense pressure in the pursuit of maintaining that honor. 

The Martins, who are balancing two restaurants and two young children, are, like most other Valley restaurateurs, waiting to see what happens.

“We’re gonna do what we do, we’ve always just done what we’ve done,” Alex says. “If an organization decides that that jives with them, then thank you.”

No matter chefs’ views on the guide and Arizona’s place in it, the speculation about the state’s dining scene is unlikely to end until Michelin announces its picks at a yet-to-be-scheduled ceremony next year. 

“There’s going to be some surprises, for sure,” Gross says.