After announcing its arrival in Argentina in July, the Michelin guide, the most prestigious restaurant guide in the world, gave its verdict on November 24. Their selection was a total of 71 restaurants, 19 in Mendoza and 51 in Buenos Aires. There were many more than expected and yet there were cruel omissions, in addition to unusual recommendations and many doubts about the selection criteria of the twenty secret inspectors, who were eating anonymously in our country in the last year. The secrecy of the brand invites speculation and in its (little) official communication we detect several contradictions, which we will try to unravel in this note. The complete selection of the Michelin guide in Argentina It is already on its website and in its application, completely free, for consultation by all travelers in the world.
How do secret inspectors work?
In the guide launch event in July, global communications director, Elisabeth Boucher-Anselin, said that the inspectors make a pre-selection of the restaurants to evaluate in each new destination by consulting traveler sites, newspaper articles, etc. but that the process is completed “on the ground”, following local recommendations. Different inspectors go to the same place and then meet to agree on the chosen ones. As reported on their website, the evaluation focuses solely on the food, following five criteria: 1) the quality of the ingredients2) The mastery of culinary techniques, 3) Harmony, the combination of flavors in the dish, 4) The personality of the chef as expressed in his cooking, and 5) Consistency over time and in the entire menu as a whole.
The last point was one of the ones that generated the most controversy since many award-winning restaurants had opened just a few months ago. In July, Elizabeth Boucher-Anselin said something different from what was officially communicated by the guide: “it is consistency throughout the menu and also throughout the year, from January to December.” First confusion clarified.
Meteor shower
The highest award, the two stars, went to chef Gonzalo Aramburu, champion of “fine dining” in Argentina for more than a decade. Says the guide’s site: “The two Michelin stars are awarded when the chef’s personality and talent are evident in his expertly prepared dishes; his food is refined and inspiring.” Aramburu’s work certainly fits this definition.
Six restaurants received a star – “it is awarded to restaurants that use high-quality ingredients, where dishes with distinctive flavors are prepared at a consistently high level” –, four of them from Mendoza and two from Buenos Aires. The people of Mendoza are Casa Vigil (from Bodega El Enemigo), Zonda (from Bodega Lagarde), and Brindillas y Azafrán, projects led by chefs Mariano Gallego and Sebastián Weigandt, respectively, who have been doing impeccable work with local products for years. Sofía Pescarmona, owner of Zonda – “stars are for restaurants and not for chefs,” says the Michelin site, something that was not reflected in the awards ceremony – received this recognition for Mendoza with great pride. “This opens a window of inspiration for the entire country. Many kids will feel that they can build a future of excellence from a place other than Buenos Aires. It is very powerful for Argentina. “It is a symbol of possibilities.”
With respect to Buenos Aires restaurants, the star for Don Julio was not surprising (his sommelier, Martín Bruno, also won an award for his work) but it was for Trescha, a haute cuisine restaurant that opened less than a year ago, led by Tomás Treschanski, who also received a Michelin award as Young Chef. The quality of his cooking is not in dispute but it was striking that more mature proposals, which we were all betting on, have not been considered. The work that gastronomy has been doing in Mendoza in the last 10 years is undeniable, but the critical mass of Buenos Aires restaurants is enormous compared to that of Mendoza. It is the proportion that is surprising.
For Dante Liporace, chef at Mercado de Liniers, which is not afraid of controversy, the Michelin result “is the biggest mess in the history of Argentine gastronomy. I was worried about what was going to happen when Michelin touched Argentine soil. If everything here is corrupted, why wouldn’t Michelin do it?”
The green stars
Crizia and Anchoite They did have their star, but green. This distinction has been awarded since 2020 to restaurants that “are role models when it comes to sustainable gastronomy” and, in addition to those already mentioned, Casa Vigil (Mendoza), Zonda (Mendoza), El Preferido (Buenos Aires) obtained this star. Aires), Riccitelli Bistro (Mendoza) and Don Julio (Buenos Aires). In this case, the evaluation begins months before the award, when the restaurants receive long forms with verifiable information about their sustainable behaviors. “At Crizia we have come with that awareness and that education for many years,” says Gabriel Oggero, its chef and owner. “It is a culture that we love and it is a message that adds up. There are very few green stars in the world, many restaurants with 3 stars that do not have them.”
The Bib Gourmand
Buenos Aires shined in this category (“Bib” means “bib” in French, possibly a reference to street cuisine) which awards restaurants with “simple but very well-made cuisine, at affordable prices.” The seven selected are in the Capital: Bis Bistro (also by Gonzalo Aramburu), Reliquia, Anafe, Mengano, Caseros, La Alacena Trattoria and República del Fuego. The latter, a grill located in Barrio Norte, was a novelty for many. “I think they arrived because of the rankings, we have 4.8 since we opened, we are among the best steak restaurants in Capital, with better ratings even than Don Julio” – Patricio Pescio, chef in charge, tells us. A week after the award of this distinction, his restaurant, like all the guide’s winners and recommendations, doubled its reservations.
The recommended ones
Being part of the Michelin guide is an award in itself, so the 57 recommended – 42 from Buenos Aires and 15 from Mendoza – celebrated it with great enthusiasm. However, it was in this section where the most questions arose. Given the complete absence in the guide of Buenos Aires icons such as Gran Dabbang or Oviedo, the inclusion of restaurants that were outside the “gastro” radar, such as Cuarta Pared, Fogón Asado or A Fuego Fuerte, drew attention. Checking their rankings on traveler sites shows that, as Pescio mentioned, they all have very high scores. Was that then the determining factor for them to receive a visit from the inspectors? There were also a large number of restaurants selected from world cuisines, but restaurants whose proposal tells something about our culture (beyond grills), such as Los Galgos or Café San Juan, were not recommended either.
Positive impact
Let us more or less agree with the results, the arrival of the Michelin guide to Argentina is all profit. The economic impact, investments, and job creation are factors that have been proven to benefit each place that Michelin reaches. The guide also generates repatriation of talent. Argentine expatriate chefs with star restaurants such as Paulo Airaudo (San Sebastián, Spain), Carito Lourenço (Valencia) and Agustín Balbi (Hong King, China), present at the award ceremony, already have plans to open projects in Argentina. As Boucher-Anselin stated: “The first year the inspectors discover the culinary gems in the field, the second year is the year of positive impact, and it is important to measure it.”
You may also like
Image gallery
