Argentina will have a Michelin restaurant guide – 07/25/2023 – Food

Argentina will have, for the first time, an edition of the Michelin Guide, which will present highlights of the gastronomic scene of the capital Buenos Aires and the Mendoza wine producing region —with the famous stars that move restaurants and chefs around the world. Until then, Brazil was the only country to have a version of the guide in South America.

The announcement was made this Tuesday (25th) in Buenos Aires by Elisabeth Boucher-Anselin, director of communication for the Michelin Guide, and Matías Lammens, Minister of Tourism of Argentina.

“We want to establish Buenos Aires as the gastronomic capital of South America. This is the beginning of Argentina’s relationship with the guide, I am convinced that other chefs in the country will also attract attention”, stated Lammens.

According to the minister, Argentina entered into a partnership with the guide so that the inspectors can continue visiting the country until 2025. The total investment in the project was US$ 620,000.

The arrival of the Michelin Guide to Argentina is yet another of the initiatives that have been stirring the Latin scene — with actions from different countries seeking to highlight its reputation and attract tourists.

In the case of Argentina, in the first quarter of 2023 the number of Brazilians who traveled to Buenos Aires reached 106 thousand according to Indec, a kind of local IBGE.

The country’s capital already owns eight positions in another reference award in the gastronomic sector, the 50 Best (which has both a global and a Latin American version). In addition to parilla Don Julio (2nd), other Buenos Aires restaurants present in the regional ranking are Mishigene (15th), El Preferido de Palermo (22nd), Chila (26th), Aramburu (36th), Elena (40th), Gran Dabbang (48th) and Julia (50th).

For the first time, Brazil will host the celebration of this gastronomic chess: the ceremony that presents the 2023 winners of the 50 Best in Latin America will take place in November in Rio de Janeiro. The event, held in partnership with the city hall, will be held at the Copacabana Palace.

Unlike the 50 Best list, where votes from a series of judges are compiled, the Michelin Guide sends its own inspectors to anonymously visit restaurants and rate them. Among the criteria used are quality of the ingredient, personality of the kitchen, cost-effectiveness and regularity.

Ratings can be three stars (exceptional cuisine), two stars (excellent) and one star (exquisite). In addition, addresses can also be highlighted as Bib Gourmand (excellent quality/price ratio) and Prato Michelin (quality cuisine at moderate prices).

In Brazil, the municipal tourism departments of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are also negotiating for Michelin to evaluate addresses in both cities again.

The latest version of the red cover guide, which includes restaurants, was published in 2020 – due to the Covid pandemic, only in an online format, available on the Michelin app.

Brazil has never had a three-star restaurant, and until 2020 it was the only country in Latin America covered by Michelin, which evaluates restaurants in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the 2020 edition, the houses evaluated with two stars were the extinct Ryo (SP), the DOM (SP), the Oteque (RJ) and the Oro (RJ).

The guide was created by the brothers Edouard and André Michelin in 1900, in France, with information on where to fill up and repair the car, where to eat and where to stay. The Brazilian edition is the first in South America.

The journalist traveled at the invitation of Visit Argentina