Like it or not, the presentation of the Michelin guide is one of the most important milestones of the year for the restaurant world, not an Oscar night, narrow as it is within national borders, but something like a David di Donatello of cuisine. An event, in short, that arouses expectations, rumours, bets and controversy. This is how it is, and this is how it will be, in a game of the parts that might remind one of the cinema with its rules and clichés, its corollary of sequins and behind the scenes that many know but few tell. We have talked about it, we will talk about it, without forgetting that in this calendar, everyday life is made up of something else: work, deadlines, customers, suppliers, but these mundane pieces are part of a much more complex mosaic in which the guides (in which we at Gambero Rosso also fit) are an integral part. And if the mirage of an award as recognisable as the Star - with 69 years of history and extensive geography, there are Michelin guides halfway around the world - can make you lose your bearings, it is worth listening to the warning of a navigated chef like Carlo Cracco when - in a lesson at the Gambero Rosso Academy in Rome - he exhorted young chefs to follow their dreams, not “these f@@@ing stars”.
One question, however, is still open, and that is the role of the guides and more generally the role of criticism, about which much has been said but perhaps not yet enough, since it is more often than not confused with reporting or personal attacks. We will also come back to this aspect, an increasingly urgent issue: even Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, was keen to emphasise that Michelin does not do criticism, but is a guide, a tool offered to travellers to choose their gastronomic destinations.
Michelin Guide 2024
In the anno domini 2023 - for the 2024 edition - Michelin is taking a small step forward by awarding a special prize to the sweet part of the meal, with the Passion Dessert award, we finally say. But it also takes a step sideways, widening its range of action to hospitality, announcing a guide dedicated to hotels, closely following what has been done by its rival 50 Best with its guide to the best hotels (awarding an Italian brand as the best in the world), the only rating capable of undermining the Red in terms of international resonance. Competition, even for the Redhead, makes itself felt. And this is also demonstrated by the desire to keep attention high by distilling indiscretions over the 12 months, such as the new entries in the guide and the list of Bib Gourmands, an award destined for restaurants “that stand out for their good value for money”.
A memorable edition, which brings the number of starred restaurants to 395, with 33 new entries, 26 new restaurants awarded One Star (some welcome returns to the macaron, as in the case of Roy Caceres with Orma), 5 new ones with Two Stars, two of which did not even pass the first Star (Al Rei Natura and Verso), and then two new Three Star restaurants: Atelier Moessmer by chef Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico and Quattro Passi by Fabrizio Mellino in Massa Lubrense (NA). The most dynamic regions this year are Lombardy, Campania and Tuscany, but above all Umbria with three starred restaurants in the province of Perugia. A guide that also marks a look to the future, due to the large number of young people: most of the new award-winners are under 35, and as many as 4 chefs are under 30 years of age. Still no pizzeria, on the other hand: the prize awarded in 1962 to Pizzeria Negri has not been repeated.
Three Michelin stars
There are no less than two new restaurants awarded with Three Stars: Norbert Niederkofler's Atelier Moessmer in Brunico and Fabrizio Mellino's Quattro Passi in Massa Lubrense (NA). On the one hand, a return in grand style for Niederkofler, the chef who returns to the three macaroons after a year that he does not hesitate to define as "complicated". On the other, recognition for Fabrizio Mellino, the second generation at the helm of one of the most beautiful establishments on the Sorrento Peninsula, an exemplary family affair that won the Gambero Rosso's Tre Forchette guide a few years ago.
Atelier Moessmer - Norbert Niederkofler - Brunico, BZ
Quattro Passi - Fabrizio Mellino - Massa Lubrense, NA
Da Vittorio - Chicco e Bobo Cerea - Brusaporto, BG
Dal Pescatore - Nadia e Giovanni Santini - Canneto sull’Oglio, MN
Enrico Bartolini at Mudec - Enrico Bartolini - Milan
Piazza Duomo - Enrico Crippa - Alba, CN
Villa Crespi - Antonino Cannavacciuolo - Orta San Giulio, NO
Le Calandre - Massimiliano Alajmo - Rubano, PD
Osteria Francescana - Massimo Bottura - Modena
Uliassi - Mauro Uliassi - Senigallia, AN
Enoteca Pinchiorri - Riccardo Monco - Florence
La Pergola - Henz Beck - Rome
Reale - Niko Romito - Castel di Sangro, AQ
Two Michelin stars
Piazzetta Milù - Maicol Izzo - Castellamare di Stabia, NA (anche Young Chef Award)
Andrea Aprea - Andrea Aprea - Milan
George's Restaurant - Domenico Candela - Hotel Parkers - Naples
Al Rei Natura - Michelangelo Mammoliti - Serralunga D’Alba, CN
Verso - Mario e Remo Capitaneo – Milan
One Michelin star
Ada Gourmet - Ada Stifani - Perugia
Alici - Crescenzo Scotti
Orma - Roy Caceres - Rome
Vignamare - Giorgio Servetto - fraz. Colla Micheri
Horto - Alberto Toè - Milan
La Coldana - Alessandro Proietti Refrigeri - Lodi
Osmosi - Mirko Marcelli - Montepulciano, SI
Nin - Terry Giacomello - Brenzone, VR
Bluh - Vincenzo Russo - Furore, SA
Casa Mazzucchelli - Aurora Mazzucchelli - Sasso Marconi, BO
Contrada Bricconi - Michele Lazzarini - Oltressenda Alta (BG)
Sui Generis - Alfio Nicolosi - Saronno, VA
Votavota - Marina di Ragusa, RG
La Magnolia - Marco Bernard - Forte dei Marmi (LU)
Saporium - Ariel Hagen - Florence
Elementi - Andrea Impero - Torgiano
Vite - Simone Selva - Lancenigo, TV
Un piano nel cielo - Leopoldo Elefante - Praiano, RG
Il Marin - Marco Visciola - Genoa
Il Fagiano - Maurizio Bufi - Gardone Riviera, BS
Crocifisso - Marco Baglieri - Noto, ST
Cortile Spirito Santo - Giuseppe Torrisi - Siracusa
Il Visibilio - Daniele Canella - Castelnuovo Berardenga, SI
Dolomieu - Fiorenzo Perremuto - Madonna di Campiglio, TN
Une - Giulio Gigli - Foligno, PG
Wood - Amanda Eriksson - Cervinia, AO
Special prizes
To reward the stories of the people that the inspectors collect at table trials, stories of passions that go beyond cooking.
Service Award: Federica Gatto (Cetaria - Baronissi, SA)
Sommelier Award: Marzio Lee Valie (Esplanade - Desenzano del Garda, BS)
Passion Dessert: Riccardo Monco (Enoteca Pinchiorri - Firenze); Davide Guidara (I Tenerumi - Vulcano, ME); Giampiero Vivalda (Antica Corona Reale - Cervere, CN); Francesco Marchese (FRE - Monforte D'alba CN); Nicola Portinari (LA Peca); Gaetano Trovato (Arnolfo - Colle val d'Elsa, SI) Angelo Sabatelli (Angelo Sabatelli - Putignano, BA); Matteo Metullio e Davide De Prà (Harry's Piccolo - Trieste)
Mentor Chef Award: Gaetano Trovato (Arnolfo - Colle Val d'Elsa, SI)
Young Chef Award: Maicol Izzo (Piazzetta Milù - Castellamare di Stabia, NA)
Green Michelin stars
New restaurants awarded the Green Star for sustainability
Grow Restaurant - Matteo Vergine - Albiate, MB
Hyle - Antonio Biafora - San Giovanni in Fiore, CS
Oasis Sapori Antichi - Serena Falco e Puccio Fischetti - Vallesaccarda, AV
Horto - Alberto Toè - Milan
Radici - Mirko Gatti - San Fermo della Battaglia, CO
Dal Pescatore - Nadia e Giovanni Santini - Canneto sull’Oglio, MN
La Ceretta Osteria - Enrico Bellino - Sassetta, LI
Coltivare - Luca Zecchin - La Morra, CN
Saporium - Ariel Hagen - Borgo Santo Pietro, SI
Saporium - Ariel Hagen - Florence
Il Piastrino - Riccardo Agostini - Pennabilli, RN
Vespasia - Fabio Cappiello - Norcia, PG
Atelier Moessmer - Norbert Niederkofler - Brunico, BZ
Bib Gourmand
Announced a week in advance of the ceremony, the Bib Gourmands are those establishments that stand out for their good value for money, which offer an authentic gastronomic experience, deeply rooted in the territory due to the choice of local raw materials and a food proposal that knows how to bring back to the plate, the soul of the place, even "with contemporary dishes, sometimes creative, but always extremely tasty and varied", in a similar way to the Three Prawns in the Gambero Rosso's Ristoranti d'Italia guide.
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